Good morning!!!!

[pennwalk]

I have never tried it but I have heard that if it gets cold enough you can use your pressure washer to make snow. Now THAT would be Christmas decoration.

Chris

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning.
It’s 30 with a high of 40 for today under clear skies and breezy. Yesterday was grey and damp with a little over 1/2” of rain. The ground is getting pretty squishy.

Yesterday’s breakfast was followed by a trip to Costco, then the rest of the day was in the shop puttering around doing things like changing the batteries in the outside temperature sensors and cleaning up. Never got to the tractor.

I was awakened at about 4am this morning by a text message from the generator telling me that there was a power outage and it was running. Got another one in about 45 minutes letting me know that the power was restored and it shut down.

Today is a quick trip to Newport News early this afternoon. Want to get to the grocery this morning to get ingredients for a pot roast that I’ll put in the crockpot in the shop for tomorrow night’s band get together. A good christening for my new “kitchen” countertop.

When I built this place almost 40 years ago, I made the decision to be able to exist without outside utilities for an extended period, but my strategy was unconventional at the time. I built it to be as tight as possible with sprayed Urethane insulation, triple pane casement windows, etc and a lot of attention to detail in sealing it up, reducing the amount of energy required to heat and cool it. I am entirely dependent on electricity, using it for pumping water, making heat with a ground source heat pump, lighting, cooking, pretty much everything. So I included robust backup systems with multiple layers. In the last four decades we have weathered hurricanes and ice storms with power outages lasting over a week at a time without a hiccup. To make it as efficient as possible, there is no provision to burn wood (or anything else) for heat, as I viewed a chimney as a draft that I could eliminate.

I sometimes miss having a fireplace, I have plenty of wood that I end up giving to my neighbors, but I can’t deny how well everything has worked without one.

 

[pennwalk]

PJ, Why are there so many crooks in the world? Why is it so hard to make an honest buck?

Chris

 

[m7040]

Good Morning.
It’s 30 with a high of 40 for today under clear skies and breezy. Yesterday was grey and damp with a little over 1/2” of rain. The ground is getting pretty squishy.

Yesterday’s breakfast was followed by a trip to Costco, then the rest of the day was in the shop puttering around doing things like changing the batteries in the outside temperature sensors and cleaning up. Never got to the tractor.

I was awakened at about 4am this morning by a text message from the generator telling me that there was a power outage and it was running. Got another one in about 45 minutes letting me know that the power was restored and it shut down.

Today is a quick trip to Newport News early this afternoon. Want to get to the grocery this morning to get ingredients for a pot roast that I’ll put in the crockpot in the shop for tomorrow night’s band get together. A good christening for my new “kitchen” countertop.

When I built this place almost 40 years ago, I made the decision to be able to exist without outside utilities for an extended period, but my strategy was unconventional at the time. I built it to be as tight as possible with sprayed Urethane insulation, triple pane casement windows, etc and a lot of attention to detail in sealing it up, reducing the amount of energy required to heat and cool it. I am entirely dependent on electricity, using it for pumping water, making heat with a ground source heat pump, lighting, cooking, pretty much everything. So I included robust backup systems with multiple layers. In the last four decades we have weathered hurricanes and ice storms with power outages lasting over a week at a time without a hiccup. To make it as efficient as possible, there is no provision to burn wood (or anything else) for heat, as I viewed a chimney as a draft that I could eliminate.

I sometimes miss having a fireplace, I have plenty of wood that I end up giving to my neighbors, but I can’t deny how well everything has worked without one.

You were very forward looking 40 years ago when you built the house and that is paying off in the long run both in energy cost and the ability to keep going during outages. Living in a 200 year old house we have limited options but fortunately power outages are pretty rare. If they last more than a few hours we will hook up the inverter Honda to keep fridges and freezers going but it will not run the AC or the well water pump. The wood stoves work without power so we can always stay warm and the propane Vulcan allows us to continue cooking just fine. One time living in Texas we had to move into the motorhome for a week following a hurricane. Houses there were set up for AC and the windows were fixed and could not be opened. Talk about cramped living conditions with 9 kids and 4 of them in diapers

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 32˚F frosty, heading to the mid 50s.

Wngsprd, I have the same insurance co. as my brother but it will be several months before my policies need to be renewed. If they go up 50% I will be looking also.

Mostly the 8 minute fitness burn is harder than I thought, my legs start to burn on the stationary bike and I can sustain my heart rate at 115 but they expect you to reach your max heart rate, mine is calculated at 140. I will have to slowly work up.

Drew, Mom had her propane tank filled at $2.99 a ?, don't know if it is sold per pound or gallon. The gauge only shows % still in tank and they never fill it past 80%.

With all underground electrical and natural gas for heating, the only time our electricity was interrupted was during the 2020 February when 2 hour rolling blackouts that lasted for a day and a half.

 

[txdon]

Don upon further review you folks turn cold after the 15th to 20th of December

Yikes, that's the week the "farm" will be open every day for the kids on Christmas break and I am subject to work. Now during the week the petting zoo people give a short tractor trailer ride every 30 minutes so the older, retired tractor drivers are just scheduled for continuous trailer rides only on weekends, until December 16th - 24th. Thanks for the warning so I can prepare.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 45F @ 5:15AM.
A steady rain this morning. Showers continuing this afternoon. High around 50F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
The rain seemed late, not starting here until 2AM. The winds did deliver on the forecast promises, though. Had to bring the hummer feeders in on the south side of the house because they were being slammed into the sliding glass doors. Got pretty wet doing so. The wind just pushed the propane BBQ off the back porch and turned it over. Not going any further, so it can ride the rest of the storm out just where it is.

Hope the winds hold and your skies remain blue, David.

I've been using UPS units from APC for many years now. The batteries seem to be a weak link, as they seldom last more than a few years. My plan is to replace the current crop of batteries with deep cycle marine batteries from WalMart as they fail. Cheaper than what the manufacturer offers, and triple the capacity/run time. When shopping for a UPS, make sure to get one that produces "sine wave" power. Computers and other sensitive electronics will thank you for it.

That's pretty shocking news on the job front, Paul. Anything you can do documentation wise to insure your reputation remains unsullied?

Glad your generator is holding up, Drew, but hope you don't have to use it much longer.

Got new tires for the truck while I was in town yesterday. I was happy to find them in stock, but I sure didn't like the price. Also got some large patches to try and fix the flat on the side-by-side, but had to go to another store to find the right glue.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!

 

[daugen]

Don, 3.99 at TSC this morning here, much better deal where you are

 

[txdon]

Don, 3.99 at TSC this morning here, much better deal where you are

Is it sold by the pound or gallon?

Some noise reducing ideas for your generator/home.

3 ways to soundproof your generator - Property24

Avoid getting slapped with a fine and keep the peace by blocking out generator noise using these soundproofing solutions.

www.property24.com

 

[Mark P.]

Good Morning Everybody, currently 42° going to 52°

PJ - you are the kind of man we need running this country..with Popg as your second....
Daugen - hope electricity comes soon.. If you walk down the lane and see what happened take a pic..

Hope everyone has a great day..

 

[gstrom99]

here in BC gas is $2.17/L, about $8.00/US gal - yikes.

$3.39/gal in Iowa

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, going up to 43 and down to 21...
Wind last night was pretty fierce. lost power a few times.

PJS - sounds like a good reason to walk away. Hope new job works out great and makes you happy.
Mostly - the motion sensor does have some functions that activate on fast on/off, maybe one of them got tripped. one regular 3 way switch and the sensor itself acts as the 2nd switch.
Drew - good luck at the dentists. Think the crew is waiting for the wind, guess lines too far apart for them to jumper across like they do by me.
Wngsprd - no Maybach for Christmas. Wonder how many miles/gallon that gets, but think owners wouldn't care.

I have a UPS on my network box. The laptops are always charged and my work phone is my hot spot when the world falls apart. Generator in the garage gets a good workout from the falling ash trees, usually 1/month. Though they are thinning out somewhat. I still have a dozen or so dead ash in the woods. Every now and then we hear a huge crash and I go look to see where one fell.
With this wind have to be careful of falling branches, I still have a few to clean up.

With part of my HD credit I bought some outlets and switches to replace old ones that are failing.
Might work on some more panels today, trying to get all the outer walls covered first.

 

[gstrom99]

End of pellet stove. The thing wasn't even one winter old.
I wont have one of those killers in my house.
Called the company that sold it to me and they refunded all that I paid for it and also came and picked it up.

No pellet stove for me, either. I didn't want to be buying pellets and relying on electricity. Wood stove for me. It's more work (I need the exercise anyway), and a bit dirty, but I have plenty of "free" wood (pay for saws, fuel, maint).

 

[Rich B1]

Good morning! 23 now, was 21 when I crawled out of bed. High may be 35 today. Partly cloudy now.

Didn’t sleep good last night. Woke up about 1 and never really went back to sleep. So doubt I work too hard today. May be energy conservation day.

Did clean up, replace bulbs in the kitchen overhead light, helped the better half set up the tree, etc. yesterday.

Our Maine Coon cat Louie is really into Christmas. The tree was no more than up, and he planted himself under the tree.



He was real “helpful” while she decorated the tree. So far, his partner in crime has ignored the tree. This is Oreo’s first Christmas and we were concerned she was gonna mimic him. Time will tell.

My “big” generator is a 3500W Troy Bilt that I got at an auction for $100. It is noisy…but does the job on the rare occasion we have used it. Has a Japanese built Briggs for power, after the storm this summer, it ran for 4 straight days and sipped about 3 ounces of oil. I know the low oil sensor on the little Honda (1000W) will shut it down long before there is any concern about engine damage. If it isn’t sitting level, the low oil shutdown can come into play.

Everyone stay safe out there!

 

[PJSprog]

21°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 41° today.

Been having some issues with the garage door opener not always wanting to open the door. Sometimes it would start then stop after about six inches. Had the tech come out yesterday morning to look at it ... broken spring. He replaced both of them and lubed everything up again. Runs like a new one now.

That's a beautiful cat, Rich.

Good morning, all.

 

[scaredychicken]

Good Morning

catching up again

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .24 inches rain

Power washing went well

Look to get that finished today

Interesting watching the news coverage of Mauna Loa. Nationally, seems more dire, with the DKI highway the major artery between east and west and the perils of air quality. For most of its life Saddle Rd was pretty much a single lane adventure. Locally almost a cautious celebration with an eye on crowd control being a major issue while looking at what may be happening in the near future. Air Quality reports, while warning tend to highlight that except in immediate vicinity so far most effects are high altitude at this point.

Volcano National Park is happy to report they are only place on the planet where you can observe 2 active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kīlauea.

I found the recent tornado activity very sad, so much destruction

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[scaredychicken]

wngsprd - i thought of you when i saw this ... cheers

 

[KilroyJC]

yes that is exactly what is needed. Gen sits near kitchen window, noise gets through, need to reflect it out to woods, sorry squirrels, better you than me

Go on YouTube and see some noise reduction videos - it really doesn’t take much to send sound toward your neighbors

 

[rswyan]

33F and partly cloudy @ 13:45, heading up to a high of 37F or so. LWS reports that the low hit 24.3F here this morning.

Good progress yesterday.

More fish tank maintenance, had a few where the algae growth wasn't just on the glass but had just about completely filled the tanks. Getting that removed was a treat. Still have one to go but it doesn't have fish in it currently.

Also drew another 30 gallons of water for pwc's, probably have used at least half of it so far. Forgot to switch the water off of bypass when I was done.

Woman worked on unloading the shelves along the south wall so I can take them down to put up foam board insulation. Had her remove all the canning jars first, which She proposed storing in a (unfinished) closet downstairs. That way they will be at the bottom of the pile since I was planning on keeping them.

What I really want though is for us to go through all the kitchen and dining room stuff and sort out what we are keeping vs. stuff that is going to go away (through whatever means)

Eventually the subject of dinner came up and I suggested running down to Kabab and Curry in North Canton for take-out since we hadn't been there in a while and because Wally World is on the way and I could pick up the LED tubes that are needed for the fish room.

She wasn't keen on that idea, largely because She didn't want venture out in the wind and cold. Told Her no worries - I can manage it by myself.

Ultimately, She decided She needed to go ... to keep an eye on me ... or something ...



Driving at night, with the headlight glare, is becoming more problematic for both of us but I think more so for Her (cataracts)

Worked out good as She thought that Her food hit the spot and was the best She has had from there in some time. I thought it was really good as well. Should have enough for several more meals.

After dinner I headed back downstairs and worked some more in the fish room.

Did not get any work on the dahlias or any sanding on the mud done.

This morning The Woman got all cleaned up (after She served me coffee ... ) and announced that She was going out "to get a few things" ... and then promptly disappeared down into the basement.

She didn't take Her phone so I can't call her so I'll have to head down here in a bit and check on Her.

Part of the last order from Amazon is "out for delivery" so they could be showing up at any time. Would be good if I can get Her out the door before that happens (She just left) so they have a clear path to pull through.

Agenda for today:

Maybe refill hopper feeder if it needs it.

Get the last two dahlias pulled out of their grow bags.

Sanding of the drywall mud, then skim coat after that's done.

Probably more work on fish room later.

Hope everyone has a good day ...