iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The HOA in our previous home didn't allow solar, even though all of the surrounding communities did. It was one of the big motivations for us to move to a more rural location, knowing we could do what we want. Our current billing cycle, with 7 days left.

Screen shot of our current power numbers, with 608.1 kWh exported to the grid.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

King of the Hill was way ahead of the curve on that one.

Bobby: "111 degrees? Phoenix can't really be that hot, can it? Oh my god, it's like standing on the sun!"
Peggy: "This city should not exist. It is a monument to man's arrogance."

040

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

My favorite. Yes, I sometimes have the mental age of 8.

A picture that says, "Penistone Town Council," a town in the UK.

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Ah, my hometown, where a brewery took that event and turned it into a beer.

Burning River Pale Ale, from Great Lakes Brewing. The can features a city skyline in the background and a burning river in the foreground.

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Last day of our current billing cycle. We won't quite hit a MWh net export, but it'll be close (depending on whether or not my wife charges her car when she comes home tonight).

2.2 MWh generated, 1.3 MWh consumed, net export of 906.9 kWh before noon on June 22.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I'm no expert, but this doesn't look all that good.

Stripes for Virginia through 2025. The right side is a lot of red.

020

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Before I read the words to go with it, I thought it was a link for an Alien sequel.

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

The last time I played games, it looked like this.

A screen shot from the Dungeons of Moria, with the map, player, and monsters drawn with plain ASCII characters.

062

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

To paraphrase the "hottest day ever" climate change meme from the Simpsons...

Bart: "This is the weirdest spring weather of my life." Homer: "The weirdest spring weather of your life, so far."

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

We don't get paid for our excess, it's just banked until/unless it's needed later. Which for us is overproducing spring/summer for our fall/winter heat pump usage. No complaints about the lack of a payout because there aren't any penalties for peak/offpeak "withdrawals" that many have.

Energy consumption/production through late afternoon, with 68.4 kwh generated resulting in a 52.6 kwh net export to the grid.

110

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Hell yes. That includes running the heat pump overnight and this morning before the temperature warmed up.

Energy consumption/production for today so far, with a net export of 43.9 kWh

140

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Yep. Two days of record heat (84 Tue/86 Wed) in central Virginia, followed by this right now.

A patio, yard, chicken coop/run, and trees all covered in a new coating of snow.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

This is what protects us from oil shocks (easier than going outside and taking a picture of our roof).

A picture showing energy production from solar panels along with consumption. The totals are 12.8 kwh consumed and 61.0 kwh produced, for a net export of 48.2 kwh.

011

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

It happens so frequently here that a satire headline from 2017 turned into a meme.

Headline from The Onion: "'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Moxie from Virginia would say hello, if she would just wake up.

A black poodle, sleeping on her side in a doorway.

130

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Love using focaccia as a pizza dough, which I'll be preparing this afternoon for our usual Friday night pizza. Takes just a few minutes to prepare the dough, then press it into a couple of cast iron pans.

Two pizzas with mushrooms and onions, topped with provolone cheese.

040

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

250 days for me (26 in my childhood), and because I'm old-ish, it's likely even more because I was born before the earliest year of 1970. And this is pretty damn striking.

020

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Amen to that. From our most recent bill.

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

100% in our home. Haven't had an electricity bill (other than the grid connection charge) since winter '24.

020

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Reminds me of this old but goodie (equally fake).

050

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Superman has always been woke.

A cartoon from 1950, with Superman talking about how Americans are made up of many different races, religions, and national origins, and that to talk against schoolmates for those reasons is un-American.

060

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Posted countless times throughout the years, but it always bears repeating.

Isaac Asimov in 1980: "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’"

021

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

"We're gonna need a bigger monitor."

A scene from Jaws when Sheriff Brody (Roy Scheider) first sees the size of the great white shark, before saying "We're going to need a bigger boat."

030

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

We've gone FTL before, why not again? /s

A screen cap from CNN saying that the shuttle Columbia was traveling 18x the speed of light.

020

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

Since my wife decided she wanted to raise chickens, we get to see all the different colors every day.

Just over two dozen eggs, in colors from off-white and pale brown, to blue and chocolate brown.

110

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

This meme never stop being funny. And by funny I mean terrifying.

Bart Simpson saying, "This is the worst killer heat of my life." His father, Homer Simpson, says, "This is the worst killer heat of your life - so far."

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

Friday was pizza night for us. I used a focaccia crust this time because I was otherwise engaged, and it takes only a few minutes to prepare the dough. A small with mushrooms and red pepper, and a large cheese, both with provolone.

040

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I read this book years ago, and it becomes more true every day.

The cover of the book, "Idiot America" by Charles P. Pierce. It shows George Washington riding a dinosaur as if it's a horse.

020

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

Lived there for almost 10 years, and by the time I left, I was more than tired of one of their favorite sayings, which now apparently includes measles.

A person wearing a t-shirt with the map of Texas on it, and the slogan "Everything's bigger in Texas." Apparently including measles.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

A different SF universe, but it still applies.

William Shatner's "Get a life" from the Saturday Night Live episode.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

My bread bakes over the last few days. Details for each are in the alt text. #breadsky

75% whole wheat bread, with an 8-seed mix and psyllium husk powder for additional fiber. 100% hydration.

Whole wheat chocolate ricotta muffins with coconut and walnuts (plus mini sweet potato ricotta cheesecakes).

Pizza, with a 75% whole wheat crust. Leftover alfredo sauce, mushrooms, and provolone cheese.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Makes about as much sense as this.

Inhofe holding up a snowball to "prove" climate change doesn't exist.

000

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

For those old enough to remember this meme...

Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, "Baghdad Bob", saying that food prices are down, and there is no inflation

0170

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Because fools vote for them?

100

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Our summers/winters in Virginia are probably more extreme than the UK, ranging from 0F at the coldest to 100F at the hottest. But our energy usage for cooling is MUCH lower with our heat pump than it is for heating. Summer is when our PV generates the excess power we use during winter.

220

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

In one of the later polls before the election, climate change ranked 21 out of 22 issues. Almost everything else was more important than climate change to my fellow Americans, and it showed in how we voted. The irony of "Democracy in the US" being in the #2 spot isn't lost on me.

010

Mark Zec @markzecwrites.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I grew up with gas stoves, but I don't miss them one bit. I'm not a fan of our particular electric range (the controls are garbage), but it came with the house, so I'm not going to replace it. Bonus: it's powered by sunlight.

120