And I already explained 'gathering data' was me calling an installer, asking about the model and writing down their estimate on a notepad. Then a day or a week later trying another. What more do you think someone would do in this case? Should I stand up a key:value store with an auto-scaling back-end and some APIs?
Calling it data gathering is probably a bit of a stretch - It was mainly scribbled notes from calling a 'certified vendor' and asking them if they have any of the models on the list.
Invariably the price for the approved model, and installed by the approved installer, was at least 2x the price of getting a similar model installed by a local company.
We have booked a local guy at $2500 for an installed system that meets our needs. Where even after the rebate from QC the cheapest 'program applicable' solution we found would have been $5600 + travel for the installer.
The scummy part of the same program here in QC is that they have a specific list of models that qualify, and a list of installers. Any deviation means no rebate
I have been gathering data from both lists for almost a year and have yet to find a combo of model/installer that comes out to any less than double or triple what a properly sized system would cost to have installed outside of that program.
I was the guy building linux systems from the trash in 1999. And then complicated distributed systems for fun. Now I want to leave everything at defaults, or just turn on dark mode and be done with it.
Working in tech has ruined tech for me. Hopefully not forever...
You don't even need to be that different. I showed up in a western farming town at 15 years old. My hair was long for a boy, and my 'city' clothes got me harassed from the first day I arrived in that town. Isolated morons. The lot of them. They fear anything that is not exactly like they are.
I find that some of the manual labor and stress involved with trying to keep basic infrastructure running is easier to handle than the stress I get during my day job.
Like somehow when my stress is tied more closely to survival, it tickles the fight side of the fight-or-flight response more so than the flight response that you have to squash to maintain a job.
Having said that. We are not really that utterly remote. There is a gas station, Post office, and small grocery type store, about 18 minutes away.
That 18 minutes can seem daunting sometimes if the plows haven't been out in the middle of winter though...
I'm sure there are moments of regret when I'm standing outside with a kettleful of water I warmed up to thaw the pipes to restore function to my toilet. But in general I don't think I regret it. I feel strangely anxious every time we go to the city now.
Obviously.