John C Daley

Steve,

But we put up with a lot to get this place: our water is compromised by salt water, our house is on a pier foundation, etc. The latter is what made getting a loan impossible for people; it took me 19 different insurance companies before I found one that would insure this house.

Is the water affected by salt spray?
What is the issue about the foundation?

Allen,

the person that was getting a laptop, just so it can sit on their desk, plugged in all the time, that crowd is shooting themselves in the foot...

This is music to my ears, and your comments afterwards are also clear.
I understand cable clutter, i try not to move a thing.
Mini Computers are not something I have heard of, I just bought a new desktop with windows, having changed from Apple.
Somebody else suggested I try Linux, is it good for computer mugs?

A separate idea for a roof on a fence would be using old roof tiles and have the overhanging each side so water drops out past the wall surface.

This is a useful guide to the subject, since it deals with the need to have water storage when you actually have a city water supply.
That sounds strange, but in South Africa it happens.
It gives insight even for Rainfall collection schemes.
The whole website has good insight to plumbing a home.
backup-water-large-home/
'A backup water system stores municipal water in a tank on your property and uses a pressure pump to feed your plumbing when supply is interrupted.
A typical system consists of the storage tank, a pump with pressure control, a filter to protect the pump, and the plumbing that connects it to either your whole house or selected outlets. hen municipal supply runs, the tank quietly refills; when it stops, your taps keep working from storage.'
Calculating Peak Simultaneous Demand
Installers typically assign a flow rate to each fixture type — showers, basins, toilets, kitchen taps and outdoor taps — and then estimate how many are realistically open at the same time.
For a large home, a conservative working assumption might be:
- Three showers running together
- One basin tap
- One toilet cistern refilling
- One kitchen tap
Adding those flows together gives a peak demand figure in litres per minute (l/min). The pump must comfortably exceed that figure at the working pressure your home requires — typically around 2.5 to 3.5 bar for normal domestic fittings.
Pipework diameter matters here too. Undersized pipes create friction losses that choke flow regardless of pump power.
A good installer calculates the pressure drop across the full pipe run, not just the pump spec sheet.

Jeff are you talking computers in general rather than laptops?
I use desktops everyday, but not laptops.

I often wonder if the fixation with laptops is practical.
I only use desktops and have since about 1983 in my business.
I choose not to attend meetings where laptops exist, I believe a properly run meeting works better with no laptops and somebody taking notes.
I take my own notes on paper and transpose later.
I believe this takes less time, is more accurate and creates a better 'considered' document or outcome anyway.

I refuse to work anywhere that mentions  Non Disclosure Agreements, they are not agreements, they are demands.

Non disclosure of basic facts of the project may be the cause of all the confusion as Daniel has mentioned.
I hope to remain simply an observer of process here, to see if anything actually is achieved.
So far the process has failed to achieve anything other than more confusion.

Is that a sheeps foot roller you are using?