A Once Red Barn

We had a meeting with the roofing company and the solar panel reps today. For reasons even he wasn't able to explain, OilMan elected to meet them in their office rather than have them come to our house. We underestimated how long it would take to get there, as it was out in the Laguna at the end of a bumpy mostly gravel road. We passed this barn on the way there, but OilMan was in a state about being late, so I waited until we were on the way home. The exposure was all wrong, but I took the picture anyway because I liked the general 'well used' look about the place...the cows lying down at the right side of the barn, the farm machinery and bales of hay in the middle and the sagging roof and mostly nonexistent paint of the building on the left.

By the time OIlMan and I had asked our questions, signed the contract, and said our goodbyes to several people who all seemed to be part of the family, I kind of understood why OilMan's  only explanation for wanting to drive all the way out there was 'I wanted to see their office.' It was definitely not what we expected, but somehow made us think we had chosen the right people. It was unassuming and obviously part of a large family compound. Our questions were answered professionally and we left.  Our tentative starting date is October 28th.

A discussion with the solar panel guy convinced us that a gas powered generator was the best way to go as a back up for when (not if) dear old PG&E turns off our power in what they are calling a 'public safety outage'. OilMan who has poured so much time, money and effort into this garden is rather nonchalant about it all even though we will have no water if the power goes out. He says we'll just go to Dana and Jim's because, not being on a well, they will still have water....
 
I'm just glad that we will be putting cleaner energy into the system. It is totally impossible to get any information about who will be affected by these 'public safety outages' but we're pretty sure it will include us, since it seems, to include most of Sonoma County.