Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 04, 2013, 04:20:45 PM
Well, the 'something' lady calls me about 1pm all worried that the 24/7 people won't be able to make it and she's planning on staying with a friend tonight so she can make it the five miles tomorrow and she would like for me to see if I can get her a generator because they are all gone in the few towns around there and she'll repay me and she knows how to run them because she sold one she had when she decided to move and the new landlord said she couldn't have one but he lied and now she wants one and I could deliver it to my in-laws and... Fortunately, my battery went dead about then!
Of course, there's not a cloud in the sky all the way to Kansas City, nor any precip on the radar. The temp is still in the upper 60s here and at my in-laws house and the weather station says the storm won't even get here until Thursday night around midnight!
OK, short story. I just completed installing the wheels and skids on the generator without taking it out of my Highlander. Dumb idea, but I plan on getting some help to move it to my small trailer tonight at church. It took two of us just to get it into my car, there's no way I can get it into the trailer by myself. The trailer has a 5 foot tail gate that should make it fairly easy to unload, gravity and all!
And I can stop and gas up the generator without worrying about spilling gas inside the car.Now, if I could just figure out how to get that 'something' lady's hot air converted to gas, we could disconnect the power from the electrical line and run the generator for several month for free!!!
No wonder I worked up a sweat!!! It's still 74°F!!
Terrible temp for the time of year!!!
Post by: RNKIII on December 04, 2013, 05:22:14 PM
You should get your Utilities to put the cables underground... At least here they hire squirrels to run up and down the lines and knock the ice off...or at least provide entertainment for those of us left in the dark.
Good luck with the generator..you know they never start when needed, only when being tested.
Who is supposed to keep the fish from freezing?? Maybe the 'something' hot air lady.
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 04, 2013, 07:49:36 PM
Of course, the generator us for my wife's folks who live on their farm, miles and miles from the nearest electrical substation. The only thing buried around there are the 200' deep wells used for irrigation!
The fish just dive down to the 45-50°F water. The pond has already had ice on it just last week. But it's rarely more than a quarter inch thick; no ice skating allowed!
I don't bother making a hole in it unless it stays frozen for several days. Cold water has a much higher oxygen level than warm. That's the main reason we have a pump and water fall the rest of the year, the splashing helps introduce more oxygen into the warm water. The fish don't really hibernate, but their metabolism really slows down and they are a 'hardy' breed, not tropicals, at all. Basically they are just colorful carp! 
I assume the cold air is from the same mass that is hitting Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas right now, special delivery from our Northern Neighbors in Saskatchewan? Maybe a little from Alberta, also. Extremely cold, high pressure 'bubbles' build up in that area and there's not much to keep it from speeding down the eastern slopes of the Rockies or the Plains. It usually not very thick which means it slides under the much warmer and wet air coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. The rain falls through the very cold air and, if we're lucky, it is just sleet/ice pellets. If the cold layer is a little thinner, the rain doesn't quite freeze before hitting the trees/power lines/etc. but it then realizes how cold it is and proceeds to change to a solid!!
And thus concludes our class in Ichthyology, Geography, Meteorology, Urban Development, Farming and Physics. There will be a 100 question essay test tomorrow. Please go over your notes tonight! The test will be 95% of your grade for the semester, BTW.
Post by: kimmer on December 04, 2013, 09:20:12 PM
Time for another blanket on the bed. Tomorrow we have to be 16 miles up the road by 11am and that's gonna be a fun, and very cold, drive. Seat heat on high!Best of all, they are predicting SNOW for us here on the beaches for Thursday night.
FUN! FUN! FUN!Everyone stay warm and I hope no one is shoveling snow.
Post by: Highmac on December 05, 2013, 12:37:56 AM
Today's forecast is for upper 40s, with winds up to 25mph and rain in the afternoon. Sometimes they get it right
Looks like being an interesting day for Frances - just checked the Shetland forecast
I'd be interested to see links for your forecasts so we can "share".
Post by: gunug on December 05, 2013, 08:29:57 AM
I thought the current was supposed to keep England warmer in the winter; I guess it's a good thing her horses are wearing jumpers!
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 05, 2013, 09:25:13 AM
I now have the generator loaded on the trailer and tied down securely (I hope! The thing is not actually mine, after all). It is also covered by its original plastic 'sack' and a tarpaulin. Reading the instructions there was a comment about not letting it get rained on. WHAT?! Just what kind of weather would wreck havoc with power lines and NOT have rain?!
OK, this one, maybe. But even after the sleet/ice, rain is in the forecast again over the weekend... which is exactly when the power could still be out. 
The lady who will take possession of the generator woke me up about 6am to say she would be a little late at my in-law's house. I guess she forgot that they already have 24/7 help? I can foresee a conflict between her and the 'Sitters' if she is as controlling as she seems to be...
Then, she calls back 30 minutes later asking for me to stop and buy her for de-icing fluid in case her car doors freeze up. I'm now carefully checking the caller ID, to say the least!
The cold/storm is now 're-scheduled' for 6am Friday. Slowed down by the Ozarks "Mountains" possibly. I still think it will mainly go north of us. Problem is this lady seems to be getting her weather info from TV, not the weather service. Oh well, this business is keeping me busy and 'off the streets and out of trouble!'
Oh, the forecast and weather? The high for today is already past: 60°F at midnight. It's now 49 forecast to hit ~33 tonight at midnight. But it will continue to hold or decrease to ~20 by midnight Friday. Hopefully, the skies will clear and the Sun will melt/sublimate what ice does form tomorrow. But the Saturday forecast is for overcast and 31 for the high. Another round of cold air and probable precip Sunday.
Post by: kimmer on December 05, 2013, 04:14:08 PM
They are now talking a nice accumulation of snow, although the amount changes based on which weather site and/or weather person you believe.
Here's the site for our weather:Pacific Northwest: covers NW Oregon and SW Washington:
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/
Local forecast:
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?l...72#.UqD4lGRDt74
And they just issued a Winter Storm Warning for us:
QUOTE
...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM PST FRIDAY FOR
THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM PST
FRIDAY.
* TIMING...BEGINNING AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...MOST LIKELY AROUND1
OR 2 AM FRIDAY...AND DECREASING FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
* SNOW LEVELS...NEAR THE SURFACE
* ACCUMULATIONS...1 TO 2 INCHES...WITH AREAS NEAR 4 INCHES.
* IMPACTS...ROADS WILL LIKELY BECOME SNOW COVERED AND ICY.
THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING FOR SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TO 4 PM PST
FRIDAY.
* TIMING...BEGINNING AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...MOST LIKELY AROUND1
OR 2 AM FRIDAY...AND DECREASING FRIDAY AFTERNOON.
* SNOW LEVELS...NEAR THE SURFACE
* ACCUMULATIONS...1 TO 2 INCHES...WITH AREAS NEAR 4 INCHES.
* IMPACTS...ROADS WILL LIKELY BECOME SNOW COVERED AND ICY.
We have provisions on hand and if the power goes, we do have propane for the fireplace and a propane cooker, so we don't have to try to go down the hill.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 05, 2013, 05:43:57 PM
Looks like no weather-caused traffic problems in Greenland...
Post by: Frances144 on December 06, 2013, 10:01:33 AM
http://myshetland.co.uk/arctic-conditions/
Bloomin' heck, it's cold.
I was quite scared for once! The horses are all fine and ignored everything.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 06, 2013, 11:11:00 AM
Post by: kimmer on December 06, 2013, 12:32:39 PM
Other areas around us do have a few inches, and the roads are slick. Schools closed, deliveries slow or not happening, blah, blah. It's a non-event? Still we are staying home and not driving down our hill.Frances glad you are okay, and hope everyone else is as well.
Post by: jchuzi on December 06, 2013, 07:53:57 PM
The major problem was keeping it fed with gasoline. During the 7 day outage (thanks a lot, Hurricane Irene!), we shut it down every two hours in order to conserve gasoline, since we didn't know if we could get fresh supplies (we did). That means that I set the alarm to wake me every two hours so that I could turn it off, then wake up two hours later to turn it on. I didn't fancy refueling a hot generator in pitch darkness. Also, it was very noisy and gave off noxious fumes.
We replaced it with a Briggs & Stratton propane-powered generator. We would have preferred natural gas but that's not available in our area. The B&S comes on automatically within a few seconds of an outage (I had to manually connect the gasoline generator and turn it on) and shuts itself off automatically when power is restored (it's also very quiet). It is attached to a 100 gallon propane tank that should last for many days in the event of an emergency. It also exercises itself once a week (using minimal fuel) to keep everything lubricated. I had to manually do this with the gasoline generator and I almost always forgot.
The first generator was a lot cheaper (around $600 at the time) compared to the B&S (about $6000 for everything, including the electrical work) but we're much happier. My advice: If you have the cash, go for propane or, preferably, natural gas.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 06, 2013, 10:47:42 PM
Since it is a rural location, propane has always been there. So the obvious emergency power supply is a larger, automatic, propane powered generator. It is much more expensive, of course. And requires an electrical contractor to establish the connections and prevent feeding the power lines accidentally! I'm pretty sure it will also require a permit and inspection by the utility company.
This type of backup power also eliminates the problem of by elderly In-Laws from having to deal with maintenance, connection and fueling. This will give my wife and her much more distant Sister a lot less to worry about, Winter and Summer!
However, the part-time sitter wanted to replace the portable generator she had recently sold, so I picked one up in my area since they already out-of-stock because of the approaching storm in her location. It is called "portable," but there is no way a 67 y.o. woman would be able to remove it from her SUV!
It was hard enough for me and a male clerk to get it into my SUV! I asked young neighbor to help me move it about four feet horizontally form my car to the trailer. Removal was a snap because of the ~5 foot tailgate. And that trailer is how I expect to move the thing to the lady's new house. How she uses it (and keeps it fueled) will be her problem!
Post by: RNKIII on December 07, 2013, 09:31:53 AM
-7f right now and we won't get above single digit highs for the next several days.... So cold it can't even snow (some good news somewhere in there). Maybe a little water-proof fire place/gas log would be appreciated.
Bob K. Rnkiii
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 07, 2013, 10:10:09 AM
Now, I don't plan on joining the fish for a swim for several months, but I haven't seen any fish-made signs asking for heat yet.
"Water-proof fire place log" sounds like a great idea... from M$ or maybe some government bureau!
Our Crepe Myrtle chandelier
(Just a few feet from the pond, BTW)
Post by: krissel on December 08, 2013, 10:28:42 PM
My folks have had a setup like Jon's since just before the Y2K scare. Mom was sure they would be out of power for weeks. Of course it didn't happen but the generator came in handy now and then.
We had been trying to get the guy who originally installed it to move it away from the house but he kept stalling. It was located under the window to my Dad's bedroom and he could smell the exhaust each time it came on for the test run or when the power had gone out. I spoke to the installer myself after Hurricane Irene and he kind of looked at me like I was paranoid but agreed that he would do it.
More than one year later, after a few days of the generator being on after Hurricane Sandy, the carbon monoxide alarms in the house went off. I put boards up over the windows and wall near it and it ran for another couple days before finally dying. It was over revving, eventually shutting down and could not be fixed. One company came out near midnight and worked for 45 minutes or more on it but ultimately gave up, said the part needed was not available since it was too old. (Would you believe they didn't charge anything? Just apologized for not fixing it and left. Amazing!) The original guy installed a new one and turned it 90ª so the exhaust was not going toward house. Two days later, carbon monoxide again so we shut it off. 'Fortunately' the power came back after day 12.
We insisted he move it this time and it is now located up next to the propane tank about 35 feet from the house where it should have been in the first place. My folks had a yearly maintenance agreement with this guy for 12 years but suffice to say we don't have one with him now. It is important to check the oil and battery regularly, though as the test runs each week do make these things subject to eventual failure if not maintained.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 09, 2013, 10:17:28 AM
You bring up my biggest concern in this whole thing: reputable, knowledgeable installation and repair/response in the years to come! Not being closer than two hours to their home means this thing needs to be very reliable. Since it was decided to hire 24/7 'sitters,' their home is now virtually a 'nursing home,' even though they are both still fairly mobile.While we have another forecast of freezing rain/sleet today, my wife's folks got much more 'stuff' last week. She drove over last night to take her Mom to an appointment this morning. The doc's office called just before she arrived advising that the appointment was canceled due to the roads still being dangerous. My wife had called only a few moments earlier to say she was moving only about 15 MPH because there were still icy patches on the roads, the overpasses and bridges were not as well sanded in the rural areas as we enjoyed in the "city," of course. We're hoping for some Sunshine tomorrow, finally! Not to mention more normal temps!
Post by: Xairbusdriver on December 10, 2013, 07:17:26 PM
The previous 'pole barn' was lost in 1973 when a tornado pulled up some of the poles (actually steel girders) along with their concrete filled 55 gal drums! The metal drums has rusted away but that much concrete is pretty heavy... and they were buried, of course. I suppose it made a loud, 'cork popping' sound but we didn't hear it inside the storm cellar because of the other roaring noises.