Scattered Sundays

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nothing new or exciting happened this week, so let’s chat about some life updates on things we’ve already discussed. Let’s gooooo!

It’s now been 6 weeks since we got our (used) Nissan Leaf, Lando CaLeafian, and it’s been mostly great! I love a lot about EV life and also have some regrets about this particular model.

Pros: It’s been bonkers amazing for saving money on gas. As I mentioned before, we are high mileage drivers. It’s based on where we live (zero stores are walkable and our preferred grocery store is a 20-mile roundtrip) and just the fact that we have kids and those kids do things.

Locally, the price of gas has dropped about $.80 in the last 6 weeks but it’s still always more expensive on the West Coast than in other parts of the country.

Based on an average price of $5.15 per gallon (it was around $5.79 when we got the Leaf and is now $4.59 on average), the combined MPG of Troy’s ancient truck and my Subaru (Subbacca), and miles driven since mid-July, since getting the Leaf we have saved $773 in gas.

Since Lando has become part of the family, I have only filled up my Subaru twice. Before it was at least once a week. Yep, we drive A LOT.

For the most part, we have not had a bump in our power usage by charging at home. And that’s all thanks to our solar panels (an update on those in a bit!) and the very sunny mid to end of summer we’ve been having.

The one time I had to pay to charge the Leaf, it was $8.60 at a public charging station for a full “tank”. My brother-in-law who is much better at figuring out all the detailed math of things, calculated that on average for charging many EVs, it is about $1 per an equivalent gallon of gas.

When Troy doesn’t have the Leaf at work, we use it for everything around town. Since the fuel is “free”, we find ourselves doing more things just for fun than we ever would have if it meant paying for gas.

The kids want to go to Target to walk around? Sure, let’s go. Target is an hour roundtrip which means I’d never go for just no reason and would always combine it with other errands all in the same area.

Another thing I like about the car is that the trunk is huge. Like HUGE for a small compact hatchback. The trunk is way bigger than any of the Civic hatchbacks I drove in my youth, and also bigger than the Civic sedan I once had.

The car is also incredibly fast. Most EVs have a lot of torque which means they can get up to speed very quickly. We drive the car in “eco mode” about 90% of the time because it reduces the “get up and go” power of the car and thus it extends the range of the battery. Just like if you drive a gas engine car on cruise control for better MPG.

But when the car is off eco mode, it’s FAST. And it’s very easy to switch back and forth between modes.

And this doesn’t show me in a very positive light and lays bare my inherent momentary acts of pettiness, but I use this speed to occasionally show off. Again, I’m not proud.

There have been a few times when I’m coming up to a red light and there is a large vehicle in front of me. And IF the left lane is empty and IF the vehicle has a “prius repellant” bumper sticker near their tailpipe, well my pettiness mode activates.

I’ll move over to the left lane and once the light turns green I will freaking SMOKE THAT TRUCK OFF THE LINE. Like I’m a half mile ahead before they’re barely in first gear. And I giggle each time and then put the car on eco mode and try to remember that I’m almost 41 and should be better than that. But I’m not.

Cons: I hate hate HATE the backup camera and radio in this car. It’s like 2003 technology at its absolute worst and it’s in a 2019 vehicle. My 2016 Subaru base model Outback had way better technology than this 2019 vehicle.

The Leaf is one of the most affordable EV models out there and my guess is that it is because they give you the absolute bargain basement crap for radio/backup camera. That being said, Troy’s ancient truck doesn’t even have a backup camera.

One of the oddest parts of their system is that your phone will not stay connected to Bluetooth without jumping through a ton of hoops. I don’t put my hands on my phone while driving, so being able to answer or make calls hands-free is something I have come to rely on.

The mileage range for the battery is also pretty low (~160 miles) compared to newer EVs and the Chevy Bolt (~247 miles). At the time we bought the Leaf we could not find a used Bolt in our price range anywhere in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho. Not a single car!

In hindsight, I wish I had paused and waited 2-3 more weeks and looked harder for a Bolt. I think it would have made a lot more sense for our lives. We have made the 160 range work but there have been two times where things got a little dicey and I really could have used a longer range.

Another thing that makes me wish we had waited for the Bolt is that the Leaf has a different input option for Level 3 chargers (the ones you see out in public that are super fast) vs almost every other EV out there.

It’s called a CHADeMo charger whereas almost all other EVs use something called a CCS charger. Most public chargers I’ve been to have only ONE CHADeMo charger out of 8 total chargers. And Electrify America won’t be installing new CHADeMo chargers in some states.

There was an incident during Jack’s soccer tournament where I was looking for a public charger and all the CHADeMo ones were broken. It made me nervous and I hated not having additional options/choices.

Teslas have different inputs as well and there are a ton of aftermarket adapters to allow Tesla owners to use the CCS public chargers. To date, there is not a single one that I can find for Nissan.

I’ve talked to Nissan dealers and they also don’t know about any available. That sucks as it would increase our public charging options by 700%.

As of 2022, all of Nissan’s new EVs use the CCS plug to make public charging much more streamlines. This is something to consider if you’re in the market for a used Leaf in the future. Let our mistake help you make a decision that works best for you.

It is what it is at this point, and I am hopeful that someone will create an adapter in the future. We only ever need public charging maybe 5-10x per year. In those moments we can always take my (gas) car, but I can’t tell you how nice it is to NOT fill that thing up with gas as much as I used to.

Bennett turned the corner after his tonsil surgery last weekend, but as of Tuesday, he seemed 100% back to normal. To the point where he was being so loud and bonkers, we were kind of missing the “recovery phase, Bennett”.

For the first week, Troy and I had taken turns sleeping in his room on his trundle bed. After that, we realized that it would be a lot more comfortable for Bennett and a parent to sleep in our king-size bed, and for the other parent to sleep in Bennett’s bed.

Wednesday night was the first night we put him to bed without any pain meds at all. He had been sleeping very well through the night for the last few nights but we were still giving him a little hit of Tylenol before sleep.

He’d toss and turn a bit from discomfort around midnight but would be able to go back to sleep with a quick snuggle or back rub. At 2 am on Thursday morning, he woke up with leg cramps; something we haven’t seen in two weeks.

They’re so painful for him and often take 1-2 hours to pass and for him to go back to sleep. It was like his body flipped a switch from a super painful throat to painful muscle aches. And perhaps the pain meds were also keeping the leg cramps at bay.

Alert: we’re on top of this and working with our ped on an EDS diagnosis, AND I had chronic leg cramps as a kid. We know all the things and we are not in search of suggestions/solutions/MLM products.

Thankfully because he was feeling so much better this past week he was able to go to a day camp. He loves this camp and one of his little besties was there this week. Everyone in the Cook family was happier to have him out of the house for a few hours a day.

A month or so ago I shared that we got a new pan organizer for our kitchen. Our previous one was plastic and only lasted 18 months before our heavy pans shattered it. I did a lot of research and ended up getting this metal organizer that is designed to hold cast iron cookware.

All the photos showed it being used upright, but it was too deep for our drawer. I took a chance that I could lay it on its side, and it has worked beautifully! I never hold my breath anymore while putting a skillet back in the rack.

On Thursday we officially met our goal of having 70% of our energy needs produced exclusively via our solar panels. Our solar company explained that 70% of our yearly production (March 1 thru March 1) would happen from May through early September.

The panels were installed and online in mid-April, but our spring and early summer were SO weird and cold. I’ll fully admit that I was nervous about hitting our goal, but July and August have been sunnier and hotter than normal and we were off to the races.

Our peak production day was in July when we produced a whopping 74.1 kWh in one day. July’s average was 56.1 kWh produced per day. In August (so far) we have been averaging 51 kWh produced per day. The biggest difference in production is that the days definitely start getting shorter in August.

As fall is fast approaching, our production levels will start to plummet soon. We’ll eke out the remaining 30% of kWh production very slowly between September and next March. November is typically our rainiest and grossed month of the year, so I’m assuming we’ll barely produce anything that month.

And because it seems like some people coughMTGcoughcough seem to think that solar is a bad idea because “the lights won’t work at night” (🙄) that is um, false. Because…science and the power of net metering. Maybe look into it?

The only time we have been been in the dark at night is when we’re eating dessert and hiding it from the kids.

Our very sunny and hot summer has also made me so very happy that we have a clothesline. Even on an overcast day, our expandable/retractable clothesline can dry at least three loads of laundry.

An electric dryer is one of the biggest energy drains in most (American) homes. Line drying outside isn’t possible all year in my climate, but using a clothesline for 3-6 months a year still makes a huge difference in energy output.

And remember my mantra to embrace “B- work”? Focus on what you can do and not everything that you can’t.

READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Angela left this five-star review on our Whole30 Pot Roast {Pin this recipe}:

This was delicious! Followed recipe except subbed tomato paste with a pinch dried basil for marinara, and did not put any veg except onion in the instant pot. I’ve never been a fan of carrots and potatoes cooked with roast. Made mashed potatoes and green beans as sides. Thanks for sharing a great and easy recipe!

ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK

Freezing Basil – Learn all the tips and tricks for how to freeze basil to build a freezer stash of this incredible herb. Freezing basil is a great way to preserve it without needing to know any special kitchen skills. {Pin this tutorial}

Air Fryer Curly Fries – These frozen Curly Fries in the Air Fryer are so deliciously crispy. Baked, not fried, this easy air fryer side dish is simple to make and cooks in only 15 minutes. {Pin this recipe}

Drying Limes – Learn all about drying limes in a food dehydrator or in an oven. Dehydrating lime is a simple project for adults and kids and makes amazing additions to sweet and savory dishes. {Pin this tutorial}