Egads Download Failed Retrying

[Christina Smith]

Installingsoftware on your PC comes easy for most users, but some are plagued by the egads installation failed error code 0x80040c01. The error can occur on any program, most notably the Microsoft Edge and Chrome browsers.

My intent was to inform those tempted to invest $20,000 in "resiliency gadgets" that they are likely to be disappointed by these investments, and to note that the likely results of good social ties with one's neighbors are many times more satisfying and productive.

Martin, Thanks for your reply. From a linguistic point of view, I believe the statement I quoted is a clear example of a dichotomy ("A separation or division into two; a distinction that results in such a division. " - Wiktionary).

That being said, I understand your point, and believe that some blending of the two is worthwhile - maybe communal resiliency. Perhaps I misread your quote because you allowed me to fill in my $20,000 resiliency wish-list. I wholeheartedly agree with you that interpersonal and community relationships are vital.

I also believe that there are certain constructed (and purchased) methods of resiliency (insulation, good tools, wood stoves, rainwater harvesting) that are good investments and are not mutually exclusive from building a strong community.

I think what gets my hackles raised by quotes such as yours - is that people are right now out spending $20,000 on new cars, European vacations, etc. People are dropping $20,000 on online masters degrees! So I don't see the point in dissuading people from making investments in a comfortable low/no energy future.

Re: getting to know your neighbors. I live in a small town in Maine. Yesterday was very windy and cold. Power was out for a couple of hours. Anyway, we went to a local orchard for cider and apples. On the way home, the car in front of us stopped suddenly in the middle of the road. A big dead tree had broken and it fell across the entire road. Within a few minutes, four or five vehicles stopped. Without anyone saying a word, we all got out and dragged the heavy tree onto the shoulder, picked up the branches still in the road and were on our way. The woman in front of us lived a very short distance away. She went home to get a broom to finish the cleanup.

Stephen,

On my road in Vermont, wind storms usually drop a few trees onto the road. Those of us on the road who own chainsaws know this, and we put a chainsaw in the vehicle when we drive down the road after a stormy night. The first chainsaw to arrive at a downed tree clears the road. A few neighbors don't have chainsaws -- they usually wait patiently for one of us to show up and cut up the tree. (Or show up at our door to drink a cup of coffee until we go down to the tree together.)

Stephen and Martin - Those are great stories, and I think many of us share the value you place on community - cooperation, friendship, etc. But I still don't see how these values preclude technical responses to carbon

Ironically, when you listed your $20,000 price tag, one thing I thought of was a new chainsaw and tools to cut up wood. Someone has to have the tools to share... and someone has to lead the way when it comes to building comfort and efficiency upgrades.

Ethan,

I believe in having good tools that you use regularly. Some investments in "resilience," though, are features that aren't used daily -- they are planning for an apocalypse. And the thing about the next apocalypse is that it probably won't look anything like the last apocalypse.

If you need a steel stove that drips used motor oil on unnecessary books you're willing to burn, by all means get an Armenian-style stove. But I don't think you should buy that type of stove if you don't need one right now.

There is another aspect to this. It's one thing for enthusiasts to discuss adding and maintaining the equipment and technology to go off-grid, but we know from experience that the pool of people willing to do even basic maintenance and repairs to our existing low-tech housing stock is very small.

So this change would necessitate a whole new industry being established to keep these individual self-powered houses going. Then it begs the question: If these houses rely on outside help, and are increasingly controlled by networked controls, how resilient are they?

It's worth pointing out here that "the grid" is essentially community (working with your neighbors). Even with modern technological advancements it is still almost certainly the most cost effective way of providing water, sewer, and electricity above a certain population density. Where the grid is failing us it's probably because we're failing to invest in necessary maintenance and improvement. I would completely contradict Mr. Lstiburek in that I think the grid works so well in most of our country that people take it for granted, to the point that maintenance and improvement costs look like unnecessary expenses.

I agree with you, Martin. I will add that Dr. Joe seems to be comparing the present to a fantasy of 'the good old days', which is probably inaccurate for most people. As Martin says, the calculation varies with location, but in many places in the US and Canada, more people have more reliable water and electricity than did their parents and grandparents. From the US perspective, his faulting of 'the government' is misplaced, since electricity is dominated by private enterprise mixed with convoluted government partnerships and regulations. On the other hand, I would love to see government and infrastructure both improve, which will require voters to vote more intelligently.

Guys, I'm sorry but the curmudgeonly outlook in this thread will finally drive me to cancel my subscription. Why continually question others' motivation for design improvements, rather than address these designs on their own merit?

How can you dismiss anyone outside of Flint for wondering about their water supply? Just across the river from me an entire community is questioning the safety of their water supply ( -ny.gov/water-department/pages/2016-pfos-contamination-water-crisis-update).

Perhaps a more nuanced discussion of scale jumping - resiliency at a community level - might be interesting. Instead we get scolded for contemplating anything ... other than what? For the life of me I don't know. Maybe a grid-connected pretty good home is all that is acceptable here? Even this will be filled with a few high tech gadgets...

If the pinnacle of Green Building that can be dreamed up here is lending your neighbor a chainsaw... maybe I'm in the wrong place. Acquaintances of mine are currently building a energy hog mansion up on a hill. I'm sure they'll have a bunch of gadgets... and I'm sure most of these gadgets won't work when the power is out. Is this better? Is this worse? Does it matter? I'm sure they'll lend me a tool if I need it... But do I think they should downsize, insulate better, and... egads... install a cistern!?! Yes! Is theirs in any way imaginable going to be a "Green" home - whether they lend me tools or not - NO!

The fallacy of the complaints about "high-tech" sustainability/resiliency/green solutions is that they are so often blind to the "high-tech" gadgetry which is propping up the dominant/conventional version of the modern built environment.

If I was confident that there was a lot of information here on GBA regarding low-tech solutions or alternatives to the Foam+Plywood+ERV+Minisplit way of putting a pretty good home together, I would find the criticism posed here to have merit. But I see little of it. So the narrow window of acceptable practice instead seems unnecessarily confining. Thanks for all your assistance regarding air sealing, proper insulation, etc. I think just a little dose of Treehugger.com is needed over here.

Construction is a conservative industry. Sometimes out of self-interest, sometimes as a reaction to past experience where adopting new approaches has lead to widespread envelope failure, and sometimes because the consequences of the failures can be the financial ruin of the builder.

I guess we are all looking for something different from this site. I'm encouraged by any consensus that emerges as to how we should be building. I see a narrowing of options as eliminating unviable approaches. I don't think an industry where everyone starts from scratch and individually designs each part of envelope is useful or viable way of proceeding. If two or three alternatives emerge as dominant for each climate zone that would seem to me to be a good thing.

I didn't take Martin's description of being off-grid as an injunction to abandon resiliency, but rather a realistic look at the consequences of being self-reliant. My own house relies on low-tech to try and build-in the resiliency necessary for its rural setting and the twenty+ power-outages we have each year. I'm happy knowing there is nothing I can't easily fix myself, but at the same time find it tiring to always be on call to step in and keep the place functioning. When the grid comes back up I'm grateful and happy I can continue to benefit from such collective endeavours.

Ethan,

I certainly hope you don't cancel your subscription to GBA. This site has all kinds of articles, most of which are practical. We also occasionally publish opinion pieces (where a wide variety of opinions are expressed).

I don't think that anyone has scolded you. The site provides examples of, and advice on, community-scale solutions as well as individual solutions to technical problems. And I think that all kinds of gadget advice is available here.

I agree completely. If one house has a PV system that is producing more electricity than that house needs at any particular time, it certainly makes sense to share that extra power with a neighbor who needs it -- and to have an accounting system that fairly allocates costs and credits. (That last part can be tricky, but it's doable.) The grid is far more efficient than batteries.

Thanks for the info on your inverter, Martin. If you ever have time (ha!), a break down of the equipment you've purchased over the years with costing would be appreciated. I always, personally, find "real world user's" experiences in regards to "fringe" technology quite illuminating. Sometimes it's not so fringe--sometimes it is.

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