Solar panels for free?

A company called Citizenre is claiming that they will install photovoltaic panels on your home for no upfront cost, then charge for the electricity generated - at a lower cost than your local utility charges for the same kilowatt hours. You can read more on Wired.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Especially when the business model smells of multi-level marketing, which this one does. Nevertheless, it's an intriguing idea.

Xcel energy's Solar Rewards program pays $4.50 (part rebate, part renewable energy credit) per DC-watt of capacity when you install a PV system. That's designed to cover about half the cost of installing a PV system, which runs in the $20,000 ballpark for a typical home. I'd like to know how much Xcel spends per watt to build a new coal-fired power plant?

Back to China!

Our adoption agency called yesterday with good news. They received our travel notice from the Chinese government, which means we can travel to China as soon as we can schedule the necessary appointments with the US Consulate and the various Chinese agencies. Most likely, we'll be going over around March 5 and returning 2 weeks later, with Elizabeth (a.k.a Fu Ni Ying) in tow!

Energy Efficiency

Today I attended a seminar on home energy efficiency put on by the Colorado Energy Science Center, which is loosely affiliated with the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colordao. It was informative, and inspired me to look more closely at improving my own house, which was built in 1971.

Coincidentally, today's Rocky Mountain News had an article on green homes.

A few years ago, we had cellulose insulation blown into the attic and it made a huge difference, most noticeably in the summer. We found that we didn't need to run our swamp cooler nearly as often, nor nearly as long, after our attic is well-insulated. The house stays more comfortable, and it cost only a few hundred bucks.

Did you know that the avergage home leaks 60% of its air every hour? Yep, that means you're paying to heat the neighborhood with your furnace. That's usually the best place to start - fix problems with insulation and leaky windows and doors. If you're house is old like mine, your walls may not even have insulation, and even if they do, it may have settled or been installed poorly, which makes it nearly useless. To remedy this situation, you can have insulation blown into the walls to fill those gaps, and it's supposedly guaranteed not to settle if you find a good vendor to do the work.

How about replacing your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents? These run on 25% of the power, and last 10 times as long. Their quality has improved recently, too, with the use of electronic ballasts that reduce some of the flicker and slow starts that plagued earlier incarnations. You still want to avoid the cheapest, lowest-quality CFLs, though.

Now I just need to figure out how to harness the 60+ mph winds that regularly blast us here on Green Mountain to generate electricity. I can use the savings to pay to fix my roof which keeps getting shingles blown off.

Para-sledding in Wyoming

The scene:

• February 3, on the high plains south of Laramie Wyoming.
• Steady winds of 30-40 mph out of the west, with gusts of 50+ mph.
• Lots of blowing snow.
• About 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

The equipment:

• One used tarp, about 12 ft x 6 ft
• About 60 feet of rope
• One sled (later replaced with a $10 Kmart inflatable "tube" sled)
• Really warm clothes

Add it all up, and you've got para-sledding!

Amy, Andrew and I spent the weekend with my sister Lynette and her husband Jeff Morris on their 40-acre spread south of Laramie. After battling the brutal winds all the way up I-25 and then on I-80, I figured I could get my revenge by putting all that blowing to some good use.

Jeff and I rigged the "sail" and had some fun while the wives watched with amusement from the comfort of home. We both got a few good runs in, although next time, I'd use a bigger sail for more speed!

Like I've said before, enjoy the snow, and in this case, the wind too!

Elizabeth Grace

That's the name we've chosen for our daughter. We still don't know when we'll travel, but we hope it will be in the next few months. We'll go to the Jiangxi province in China and see for the first time, followed by several days at the American consulate in Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) where we'll finish the paperwork. Upon arrival back home, she'll be a US citizen!

Enjoy the snow

For the 5th time in 5 weeks, Denver is getting pounded with a snowstorm. You've got two choices when faced with this situation. You can whine about having to shovel your driveway, yet again, and complain that the city is doing a crappy job of plowing the roads, or you can enjoy it! I feel like a kid again when it's snowing. I wake up early, subconsciously sensing the early glow brought on by billions of ice crystals reflecting the pre-dawn sunshine, and anxiously jump from bed to see the sublime flakes falling. This morning, I watched a bit of "Thomas and Friends" with Andrew before donning my running gear, including gaiters, gloves, hat, and trail running shoes, and went for a run on green mountain.

Not into running? How about sledding? If you don't like sledding, there's gotta be something wrong with you. There's nothing like zooming down an icy hill at dangerous speeds to bring back fond memories of childhood.

Too cool for sledding? Haul the family up the hills for some skiing or boarding. Yesterday, we trekked up to Breckenridge, visited my brother, and took Andrew skiing. The snowflake lift at Breckenridge exists for the sole purpose of providing ski-in, ski-out access to a bunch of homes and condos. It starts from the edge of town on Four O'Clock road and deposits skiers a ways above the base of Peak 8. From there, you've got perfect green runs for teaching kids how to ski. They don't check lift tickets here, either, so no worries about money.

Andrew was giggling with excitement as we took 3 great runs down the easy slopes here. The faster we went, the bigger his smile got. A think a skier was born yesterday.

Pillow Fight League

Look out, WWE - there's a new kid on the block. The Pillow Fight League! What could be more fun than watching women with stage names like Boozy Suzy and Betty Clock'er duke it out with pillows?

Read more about it here.

Pike's Peak Marathon

I've been running for years, and I completed my first marathon - the 2005 Boulder Backroads marathon - with a time of 3:18:25. That's about 7:34 per mile, but 8 minutes and 25 seconds too slow to qualify for the Boston Marathon (for my age group). I finished 47th out of 697 people, which I think ain't too shabby.

But that was all on relatively flat roads. This year, I'm considering running the Pike's Peak Marathon, with an elevation gain of 7815 feet to the summit at 14,110 feet. I remember finishing the Boulder Backroads, exhausted, thinking that it was nuts to run 26.2 miles. But by now, the pain isn't as vivid in my mind, and I'd like another challenge. I've got a few weeks to decide - registration opens on March 1st, and they fill all the slots quickly.

Our adopted daughter!

Introducing the soon-to-be newest member of the Swanson family...


Her Chinese name is Fu Ni Ying, which roughly translated means lucky, brave girl. She was born on April 15, 2006.

Amy and I started the adoption process in August 2005 through Chinese Children Adoption International, a really great agency which is located in the Denver metro area. We decided to adopt because we know there are so many children who, without adoption, would grow up in an orphanage or in a foster home. We chose China because of it's abundance of abandoned girls. We also learned that many of these kids are born with conditions that would be easily treatable here at home, but due to lack of funding and lack of availability of health care, often go untreated in China. So then we signed up for the waiting child program, which connects adopting families with children who have a variety of medical conditions. Last week, we received a call from the agency that brought us together with Fu Ni Ying, who has club feet - both of her feet are turned inward. This will probably require many months of treatment to correct, but most people with club feet, if they receive good treatment at a young age, recover completely. I understand that Mia Hamm, the famous soccer player, was born with club feet, and she obviously gets along just fine now.

So what's next? Sometime in the next 2-4 months, we'll travel to China and bring her back home with us! Until then, we'll be anxiously waiting!

7 hours driving for 3 hours of skiing

This morning, Amy and I sent Andrew to Grandma's house so we could enjoy a day of skiing. (Thanks, Mom!) We were on I-70 by 7 am, but the icy roads from yesterday's snow storm made it slow going. It took 2 and a half hours to get to Mary Jane - a drive that usually takes less than 90 minutes. We hit the slopes at about 9:00 am, and enjoyed some great powder. The snow underneath the new Eagle Wind lift, on the back side of Parsenn bowl, was great. While waiting to get on the lift, I overheard a guy say that Berthoud Pass -- our route back home -- was closed due to an avalanche. We stopped at my trusty 12-year old 4-Runner for lunch, and confirmed the news on the radio. A huge slide took out 2 cars and closed the pass, probably for the rest of the day. We were fortunate - we drove through the same spot 90 minutes before the slide. Check here for some photos.

That led to a 4-hour drive home, through Kremmling and Silverthorne. Not our best day ever in the mountains.

Earn my turns - from the backyard

I've been waiting a long time for enough snow to ski on Green Mountain, the 6,800 foot hill and open space park adjoining my backyard. After we got our second blizzard in 8 days, dropping about 3 feet of snow, the time had come! Yesterday I put climbing skins on my telemark skis, and went from my backyard, at about 6000 feet of elevation, to the summit.


The powder was perfect, and I got a great run of about 600 vertical feet. I earned my turns, as they say.

Later in the day, I went with Andrew and Amy up to bear creek and we cross country skied from Little Park to Lair 'O' the Bear. A great way to enjoy the snow.

Lightning in a blizzard

Last night, my family was eating dinner at home during Denver's second blizzard in a week. It's December 28, it's below freezing, heavy snow is falling and the wind is blowing hard. Amy and I both saw a bright flash out the window, and then looked at each other in disbelief. "Was that lightning?" she asked. "It couldn't be, " I said. "It must be some truck's headlights. I've never seen lightning in a snow storm before."

Boom

Did I really just hear thunder? Maybe it was just the wind. But then a few minutes later, we saw another flash. This time, I opened the window a crack and listened carefully. About 5 seconds later, I heard the unmistakable rumble of thunder.

Good Things

After reading through the comments on our blog it appears that we have done an awful lot of pointing out things that are different in China. Not all of these things are bad, just different; pointing them out is not the same as complaining about them. We haven't done as good of a job at pointing out the things we really enjoyed.

Public Transportation: The bus system in Hangzhou was really good. With light rail coming near our house soon I'm hopeful that I'll be able to use public transportation here more, but somehow I doubt it.

The Food: Yes, picking bones out of every last bite of food was annoying to us, but the flavor of most everything we ate was really good. Much better than Chinese food you get in the US.

The People: Most everybody we met was very generous with whatever they had, especially with Andrew. We rarely encountered a day out when Andrew wasn't given some fruit, candy, or small trinket by total strangers. The people we knew personally were also very helpful with everyday things like translating menus and showing us around town.

The Parks: We really enjoyed being in a garden city like Hangzhou. Compared to other Chinese cities we were in the number and quality of public spaces was excellent. Walking around the lake and the surrounding hills could easily make any afternoon enjoyable.

The Community: Our apartment was in the "burbs" of Hangzhou with many young families. It was great to watch Andrew play with all the kids in the courtyard. It was nice that the ladies at the store got to recognize me. I didn't hesitate to let my son ride the horse in the front of the store while I gathered up the few things I needed. It was a small store so I could hear him call to me from anywhere in it, still I'd never do that in the US.

The Experience: All the new things we saw every day made each day unique and fun. For the amount of time we were in China, there was little chance of getting in a rut.

Sleep deprivation

Between jet lag and late-nights working with the gang back in Hangzhou, I haven't gotten much sleep lately.

• Saturday (on the plane): 2 hours of half-sleep
• Saturday (at home): 2.5 hours
• Sunday: 5 hours
• Monday (Christmas): 8 hours - finally!
• Tuesday: 5 hours (after working til 3 am with the Chinese team)
• Wednesday: 3.5 hours

The surprising thing is that I seem to be doing fine - despite Amy's protestations that it's made me grumpy (that's actually due to a combination of the work situation and daily cleaning of dog messes). Maybe 3-4 hours of sleep is all I need?

Wildlife

It's been a while since I've seen any wildlife. In Hangzhou, and the rest of China, I never saw any wild animal larger than a bird - and not many of those, either. We didn't even see any roadkill.

Back home in Lakewood, I went to sleep last night to the chorus of a yapping pack of coyotes. This morning, I went running (in the snow) on Green Mountain, just outside my backyard, and spotted a whole herd of deer. I almost always see deer on my morning runs here, and often see foxes, coyotes, racoons, and rabbits. All of this just a few miles from downtown Denver. It's good to be home.

My Fabulous House

We really liked our apartment in Hangzhou, it far exceeded our expectations. However, I didn't realize how comfy our own home was until we had been away from it for so long. I've always thought we had a nice enough house, not the nicest or worst among the people we know. What I didn't know was how nice it is to have carpet in the bedroom and a washer big enough to wash your comforter. The strangest thing to me is how big my kitchen sink is - it just seems monstrous.

Bye Bye Daily Adventure

Although it was exceedingly pleasant to be able to ask the butcher at the store today for exactly what I wanted, I already miss the daily adventure of living in China. My biggest adventure today was having to shift into 4 wheel drive to make it up the driveway while trying not to stall the car because it had a dead battery after 4 months of sitting unused.

I'm unlikely to go looking for bed sheets and accidentally stumble across the wholesale meat market complete with live fish and a big sign stating "Wholesale cuts of American Beef" complete with pictures.

I didn't even have to bargain for anything. I tried bargaining for the guy at Checker to install the new battery in the truck, but it was a no go. Boring, Boring, Boring .....

Zai jian, Zhongguo

Goodbye, China! We're flying home today. If all goes well, we'll depart from Shanghai airport Saturday at 6:05 pm, and land in Denver on Saturday at 5:55 pm. That's right - we arrive 10 minutes before we left. Ah, the magic of timezones!
We really enjoyed our stay here. It was a great experience. We look forward to being back home, though.

Hooters in Hangzhou

Hooters - that uniquely American sports bar chain - has set up shop in China. They have 2 locations in Shanghai, and one in Hangzhou which opened yesterday. We joined another ex-pat couple there after dinner, mainly because I was curious to see what it would be like in China. Hooters sends some of their American waitresses to China to train their Chinese counterparts, and they've done a pretty good job of replicating the American Hooters experience here. They wear the same tank tops and orange shorts, and they're really friendly and talkative, which is very uncommon among Chinese waitresses, in my experience at least. Andrew repeatedly asked us, "why aren't they wearing pants?"
My Chinese co-workers didn't seem to understand the appeal of such a place - in fact, sports bars are almost non-existent here. One of the problems is that satellite TV is illegal, and you don't get much in the way of good sports on Chinese television. The Shangahi Hooters put up a satellite dish anyway, but the landlord in Hangzhou isn't willing to break the law, apparently.

Friends

Before we came I imagined that I would spend my time hanging out with the wives and children of Brad’s co-workers. The wives would be much like my friends at home: highly educated women whose husbands make enough that they have the option of staying home. They would of course all be fluent in English.

The reality is, of course, much different. Most of the guys Brad works with are young and don’t have wives or children. I can’t think of even one of his male co-workers that has a child living in Hangzhou. Some of them come to Hangzhou to work leaving their wives (who also work) back in their home towns near their parents. There are a couple of female co-workers with kids around Andrew’s age, but they are obviously working with Brad all day, not hanging out with me.

Both parents work in nearly all the families here. In most cases there is also a resident grandparent or nanny to watch the kids. When that’s not the case, there is always daycare. There is one family in our complex where the mom works and the dad takes care of their daughter nearly full time. They both speak fluent English and their 5 year old does too. We’ve had a good time getting to know them, but I’m not sure our association rises to the friend level.

So what do I want from a friend? Somebody that I can discuss more than the weather with. We can complain about our husbands, our respective governments, and our kids to each other. The Chinese people we have met have been more than generous with their time, advice, translating services, babysitting services, and especially food, but not so much their innermost thoughts.

I’ve made many acquaintances but very few friends. The few friends I have made are expat wives like myself. They are fun to hang out with and we can easily talk, but I am leaving a little disappointed with not having made any good Chinese friends.