Good Morning!!!! 76F @ 5:00AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 98F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
We're still under a Red Flag Warning, and PG&E did start in with Public Safety Power Shutoffs east and south of here starting at 5PM yesterday. Maps published earlier in the day by them showed this area would be effected, too, so I rushed through my day getting ready to go dark, and then the lights stayed on. I'm relieved, but more than a little annoyed that this utility is acting in such a terroristic fashion. Now they're saying they're going to do it again tonight.
The water tank on the fire truck has a slow leak, but it only took five minutes with the garden hose last night, 24 hours after filling it, to bring it back to full. I can live with that.
The county building department has opened a temporary office in the Paradise Public Library to better serve Camp Fire victims, so I thought I'd try it out yesterday. Walked in at opening time and was the only customer for about ten minutes, but there was only one gal working there. Still, the interruptions were short, and we got through my application for the solar power system building permit and all the accompanying documentation, only finding one major shortfall. I hadn't completed a generator plan, and need to send them a spec sheet and another document explaining how the generator will integrate with the rest of the system. Evidently this was missed in my two previous visits with them, one with this particular clerk. Better late than never, I guess. I have a meeting with the system designer this morning to gather what I need for the new doc, and hope to get it done before 5PM when the lights may or may not go off again.
In the "People That Shouldn't Be In Customer Service" department, I stopped by the Subaru dealership yesterday to pick up the IAC valve gasket. The clerk behind the counter told me it was on order. I explained to him that the person I talked with Friday told me that the gasket was in stock, and that the bolt I also needed would have to be ordered. He told me I could just pick up the gasket when the bolt came in. I asked him to check his stock to see if he had the gasket on hand so I could take it with me now. Just then the person I'd spoken with earlier walked up and told the clerk to give me the gasket and put the one on order into inventory when it came. Common sense eventually prevailed, but it was another example of common sense not being so common these days.:confused2: So getting the IAC valve back on the van to get it running again is on the agenda for today, after I do my assignment for the building department.
I wasn't the only person buying E0 gas at the fuel depot yesterday. Lots of folks don't like putting alcohol laced fuel in the small engines on their generators. FWIW, I paid $6.88/gallon, almost $3.00/gallon more than what regular is selling for here. And with the government's ethanol mandate being increased for next year, again, that situation will only continue to deteriorate.
My buddy at the motorcycle shop had the brake caliper I needed, and also a small elbow to help out on the breather line on the red bike as well. :thumbsup:
And when I got home, the postman had delivered the new helmet I ordered back in July. It was supposed to be sent in an expedited fashion, but they chose to use DHL, which doesn't deliver in this area. That added another two weeks to the delay as it bounced from one carrier to another, finally ending up with the post office. FWIW, US Customs only took a day to do their job (the helmet came from the Netherlands), and it was a Sunday. I saved a bit over two hundred bux, so it was worth the wait. I'm very happy with the fit and function so far, at least trying it on in the kitchen. And the metallic red is an almost perfect match for the red bike...:cool2:
