Good Evening.
WU says 30F and cloudy (but sun peeking out occasionally) @ 14:00, calling for a high of 31F. Outside sensor here says 37F but it's mounted on the front door frame. Clinton Station reports the low this morning was 7.8F.
Had a doctor's appointment yesterday @ 14:10, Woman got a text message from a neighbor as I was heading out around noon to drop Her off, asking if our power was out too.
Sure enough, when I got back home it was. Was fairly local but spread over a good-sized area, effecting around 30K customers south and west of Akron. Including the doctor's office where I had the appointment.
So I tried giving them a call and got no answer. Phone system probably not working due to a lack of juice.
About 13:30 I get a call from another office of that physicians group and the lady informed me that the local place here where I was supposed to have the appointment was without power/closed but if I wanted to run out to the Copley office she could get me in @ 14:30 with another doctor.
Sure, you bet ...
So I threw on some fresh duds and headed out. Got there in plenty of time in spite of the mileage difference (3 vs. 20+ miles) and got seen by a very nice lady physician. Came away with a 'scrip for some Prednisone and Amoxicillin.
Backstory on that was that about 3 or 4 days after my last checkup where I got the flu and shingles vaccinations I had a sneezing fit. About 30 or 40 sneezes in the space of an hour with a runny nose.
Reactions to the vaccinations never got any worse, so nothing much to speak of.
Woman had come home a day or so before that with something where She had similar symptoms but with lots of coughing and a bit of a sore throat and congestion which eventually settled down into Her chest. Of course, being the generous type, She promptly shared it with me ...
And that was where mine headed ... down into my chest. Didn't get any sore throat or fever and the mucus was clear.
At any rate, it caused me to miss a medical appointment I had scheduled for a test this past Monday because I didn't want to be spreading whatever it was around.
Wasn't really feeling all that bad, just a little weary/tired ... but I figured I'd get a jump on it and nip it in the bud ... before it developed into something worse.
After the doctor's I headed down to Menards and hopefully picked up the last 2 fittings which are needed for the re-plumbing of the water lines coming into the house from the well. That was the 3rd trip to Menards since I last posted ...
More pipe and fittings were picked up previously, along with some 1/2 and 3/4 non-metallic conduit and fittings for those.
Swung by the pharmacy on the way back and picked up the 'scripts then fueled The Woman's car up before heading off to pick Her up.
In the interim I've started working on cutting and sweating copper pipe for that project ... 1" copper from the entry all the way to the pressure tank.
Designed that with 1 union so it can be mostly screwed together and be easy to remove in case the pressure tank and other components need to replaced and/or it needs modified in the future.
Have a 1" spring check valve that I originally got for the water line over to the barn, subsequently found out that it's really not the correct type for that purpose ... so, since I have no other use for it, it will placed first on the incoming line ... just after a tee and stub out for a pressure gauge (which will show the amount of back pressure on the submersible pump)
Then followed by the Cycle Stop valve.
All filter housings and elements have been cleaned and de-mineralized so plumbing those together and getting them mounted is next on the list.
Only hold up there is I'm waiting on a big rebate check from Menards which will used for the UV filter/sterilizer.
Idea being to get a lot of it put together and plumbed up so that relocating/reorienting the pressure tank can be done with minimal down time with having the water off.
Got hopper, nyjer, and both suet feeders refilled day before yesterday along with scattering some seed for the ground feeders ... so I figured that I better get out there today and recheck the hopper feeder at least. Was surprised to find that it was not completely empty. Refilled that plus scattered some seed for the ground feeders.
Got Cub started up and let it warm up while I was filling the feeders and then moved it over to the barn. Shut off the fuel valve and left it running to drain the fuel in the line to the injectors.
Fired up the Kubota while I was moving the Cub to let it warm up. Surprised the loader valve was not frozen at all. Threw a 5 gallon can and 2 jugs of Power Service in the bucket when I came back and then headed back over to the barn.
Dumped 1 jug of PS into the 275 gallon IBC tote that currently has the dispensing pump and hose on it and then stuck the nozzle in through the vent hole and ran it a while to mix in the PS. Had somewhat less than 275 gallons in the tote ... so probably close to good as far as anti-gel aspect goes. (one jug of PS treats 250 gallons)
About that time the Cub ran out of fuel so I walked over and turned the key to the "Off" position and stuck it my pocket.
Went back and got the 5 gallon can refilled (for the torpedo heater) and stuck it back in the bucket then cleared the snow off the Kubota's hood and removed the fuel tank cap and topped it off.
Headed back to the house after that, left the 5 gallon can of diesel by the front of the garage door, will move that in tomorrow and refill the torpedo heater and then move the Kubota over into the barn.
Spent an afternoon out on the Cub the day after my last post, got all the leaves blown off the back and west side. Also some extensive work with the Stihl handheld blower cleaning out the hosta beds around the trees. Looked good.
Next day you couldn't even tell that I had done anything ...
And so it goes ...
Drew ... yes the syrup was Mrs. Butterworth's ... chock full of that delicious high-fructose corn syrup ...
MG ... yes ... there is a very noticeable difference in the utility room as far as temperature. Will be interesting to see what it's like when it's finally all done.
Heading down here in a moment for more fun and games in the utility room.
Hope everyone is having a decent day ...
by the hotel (wife likes it). Stopped at the Apple Store in Park City this am for appointment for her iPad. No fixing, they are ordering another that I'll grab at the Christiana Store. So other than the fuel to pick it up, free replacement.
. I absolutely hate scammers, Donny know how they do it, but it’s a shame that this happens 
