after i returned home, i grabbed my things and left for belmont. i wore a fleece neck gaiter that also included a head covering underneath my bike helmet. despite all my layers, i could still feel the cold. coldest spots were my cheeks and lips, they'd lost sensation and i was afraid they'd get frostbitten if i stayed out any longer. the ride was effortless as always on the ebike, but because i wasn't expending as much energy, i didn't generate enough body heat to keep me warm.
when i got to belmont, i could smell burnt food as i was stashing away the ebike. when i got inside the house, the kitchen was filled with smoke as my father battled some taro cake he burnt on the stove. he scraped off the black bits but it still tasted like char. my mother came to the rescue and made me some wonton soup, my default lunch whenever i come to belmont.
my father was preoccupied with his batteries, that's why he wasn't paying attention to the stove. he'd assembled them all together and had them connected together while he set up our two 100W outdoor solar panels and connected them in parallel to charge the anker power station. unfortunately there wasn't a lot of sun today and we managed to eke out 30W of power at best.
i helped my father make a new set of cable: XT60i on one end, ring connectors on the other end. this cable was a hack, allowing us to recharge the anker with our DIY LiFePO4 batteries via the Xt60i port used for solar charging. my father soldered the XT60i end (making sure to jump the middle connector to the negative terminal) but crimping on the ring connectors. we found our crimping tool set, with the swappable die used for crimping insulated ring terminals (AWG 22-10).
once we finished making the cable, we connected the aolithium LiFePO4 battery to the anker power station. the anker recognized the power source right away, thought it was solar panel, and began recharging. the incoming power was 220W - which is the maximum for a 12v battery as the anker is limited to 17A input. however, if we wire the batteries in series, the voltages add up, and we can get 24v for two batteries (400W of charge), or 36v with three batteries (600W).
while my father was busy with his batteries, my mother was busy in her room watching chinese drama and knitting more hats. another package of yarn arrived today, this time from temu. she asked me to make some popcorn.
i'm getting better at popcorn making, made it enough times that i now know how much to add (at least with the equipment at my parents' place). i added a little more flavacol salt this time because it was slightly bland last time. i think i got the perfect amount, and nearly all the kernels popped.
as for me, there wasn't too much to do. it was still too early in the week to water the plants in the grow room. there was nothing good on television. i did go outside briefly to fill up the birdfeeder. no birds showed for the first few hours until late afternoon when they finally discovered the sunflower seeds.
for dinner my father father braised a pair of red snappers. my mother cooked some bokchoi with eggs and wood ear mushrooms. the snappers weren't too fishy so i could eat it, but had dangerously sharp and hard bones.
i went home after dinner. go outside was like stepping into outer space, so cold and desolate. if you weren't properly dressed you'd freeze to death. i hauled the ebike back in the basement as it's supposed to snow later tonight (1-3") but should be over by the time i wake up in the morning. depending on road conditions, i can either take the ebike or find some other way to get to belmont.