I’ve received some sound advice from some of my readers regarding my troubles with Windows 10. Among the suggestions was to switch to Apple. I had considered the matter prior to my Microsoft purchase. Once purchased however, stubbornly, I resolved to do as much with the Windows 10 operating system as possible.

With the suggestion from my step daughter to become better educated, I went to a bookstore and bought the book entitled Windows 10 For Dummies. The book purchase was easier than getting organized for a new Apple purchase and it was considerably cheaper.

The book has helped a great deal. In one session I managed to get organized for skype, set up my computer access password, and with the help of my step son set up my printer. That is quite an achievement considering the amount of floundering I was doing.

I even found games that I had downloaded at some point and promptly lost track of them. My, my, what a little bit of education will do to make life a lot easier.

Along the way of discovery, I was told that Microsoft has sold Apple a version of Windows 10, so no matter what company produces the product, Windows 10 will be the current operating system for todays computers.

I’ve been on the look out for information regarding solar and wind power. In brief this is what I’ve found. According to the pundits in California, wind and solar power accounts for only 30% of what is needed by the consumers.

And yet the Province of Ontario, which is locked into 20 year power commitments at uncompetitive prices, has been showing a surplus of power. And that is with the Nanticoke generating station mothballed, it is reported to be the largest of its kind in North America.

Ontario is boasting the highest energy prices in North America, according to MPP Toby Barrett in his report dated April 4  2014.

Today Ontario electricity prices are higher than ever and due to rise again November 1  2016.

This year it is reported that as Ontario spends more on solar energy, less than 1 % of solar energy power is put back into the grid, as reported by Debate Post, dated July 22  2016.

The residents of Ontario seem to be held at ransom by their own government’s inability to make sound decisions.

In Alberta, the late honorable Ralph Klein brought in privatization of the electrical system in spite of the best advice telling him not to. What we have on each electric bill is the following, a fixed administration fee, a total energy charge, a transmission charge, a distribution charge, a rate riders credit, a local access fee, all with GST added, and a distributor billing fee.

The extra charges amount to 2.5 times the amount of the actual cost of the electricity used. I know this is all part of the cost of doing business in a free enterprise system, but wages also need to keep pace with the cost of doing business.

I hope the Provincial Premiers are watching the failures of the Ontario government as it fumbles around with the high cost of energy. We all need to be watching that spectacle and hope that our own premiers don’t  go down that road.

There is much talk about getting off the grid and with Ontario’s example, getting off the grid would pay.  Today solar panels can be installed on the roof in 4 hours costing anywhere from $2000.00 to $10,000.00.

That may seem like a lot of money but if your power bill is $2000.00 a month, a ten thousand dollar installation isn’t so bad. If you can’t relate to any of this, just check out what is happening to power users in Ontario, it will make you thankful you live out west.