MY WORKPLACE
Is still closed, due to no power.
OUR HOUSE
Has no power and is 45 degrees inside it. We can run propane or electric heaters. I just haven't gone full bore on heating as it would burn through all our fuel quicker. Plus the wife had taken the kids to another house and has now returned to town with the kids but is now staying at another friends house who just had her utilities restored. I had driven to her house to see if power was on this morning. The damage, downed trees and lines, on the roads to her house was incredible. Side note: This friend's house has a small tree down on the lines to the house. But the lines have held and the tree is supported by another tree. So if the incoming Nor'Easter doesn't finish the job the friend's house has a chance of retaining the utility services.
RUMORS
A couple of days ago I read a comment on a blog post about their being bodies pulled out of the wreckage everywhere along the coast in New Jersey/New York. The poster said that the body count was not being reported in the news. Last night, while talking to a friend of mine, I got a similar story but this time he sourced a friend of a friend. This time he knows someone who knows someone who works with heavy equipment and his guys are clearing wreckage and finding bodies everywhere in the town of Sea Cliff, New York (Long Island). The information has not been seen by him on the news.
THE GENERATOR
I had a lesson in generators and cold weather this morning. It was 22 degrees outside, where our 4k watt generator is staged. I started the generator as usual, open the fuel line, flip the on-switch, make sure choke is on low then pull on the starter cord until she fires up. After she if fired up slowly move the choke to full throttle. This time I went through the motions...open fuel line (CHECK), turn on (CHECK), throttle closed/low (CHECK), pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, (PAUSE) "Hmmmm...this sucker usually starts by now. Generator failure? Naw!", pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord then she started up. WOOHOO! I slowly moved the choke to full throttle then she shut off. HUH!??! Thoughts went back to the five generator failures that I am aware of. Yes, there is one more failure that I know of since my last report. This was one generator of the same brand line as mine and my neighbors. We're hoping ours last longer. Now back to the issue at hand. I moved the throttle back to a closed position then, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, (PAUSE-PUFF-PUFF), pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, then she started up! This time I let her idle (warm up) at low throttle before SLOWLY raising the throttle to full. And now she's humming along merrily.
GASOLINE
The gasoline rationing continues. I was lucky and found a relatively short line today while going to the county EOC.
TABLE LIP HEATING
Tables with lips trap the heat from space heaters running beneath them. It creates a nice warm area between the top of the table and the bottom of the lip. Try it some time, it's neat because you don't have to be near the heater just have access to the lip underneath the table.
ALTERNATE MEAL PLAN BETA
I caught a potential snack in the mouse trap in the attic today. It's nice to know backup food is around should the need arise in some scary apocalyptic future. You do have an alternate meal plan...right?
THE DAY...
Was spent calling county churches to see who would be available to provide warming shelters for county residents. Following this volunteer detail my son and I went to help a friend and restaurant owner open up his restaurant for business even though it has no power or running water. We got a nice salmon dinner out of it.
COUNTY EOC FACILITY SHOWER FOR THE WIN
Before starting my volunteer work at the county EOC today I was able to get a hot shower there. It's little things like that a hot shower that raise the morale.
YOU HAVE WHAT!?
So after a long day I get to the nearby friends house, her house is heated, and the women folk (the wife and her friend) are talking about how the cupboards are bare. SAY WHAT!?!!! Prepper nightmare #5 initiated. I have eight gallons of water in the cars plus a variety of energy bars and some MREs but not enough for the eight mouths who are now in the house. At least I could hump it back to our house, where tons of grub exists, if necessary. They've now gone to the supermarket as the incoming Nor'Easter is expected to start impacting the area by as early as 6AM. I had the car perfectly pre-positioned on the steep uphill driveway to give it the best chance for getting out in the morning as I may have to battle freezing rain, ice and sleet to get from point A to B if needed. Let's see where the wife parks it when she returns. I swear she is the ultimate anti-prepper. It's gonna drive me batshit crazy!
LESSONS FOR THE DAY:
In cold temperatures, motors take longer to warm up. Keep them on low throttle for a bit then bring them to full throttle.
Tired prepper. Over and out.
Is still closed, due to no power.
OUR HOUSE
Has no power and is 45 degrees inside it. We can run propane or electric heaters. I just haven't gone full bore on heating as it would burn through all our fuel quicker. Plus the wife had taken the kids to another house and has now returned to town with the kids but is now staying at another friends house who just had her utilities restored. I had driven to her house to see if power was on this morning. The damage, downed trees and lines, on the roads to her house was incredible. Side note: This friend's house has a small tree down on the lines to the house. But the lines have held and the tree is supported by another tree. So if the incoming Nor'Easter doesn't finish the job the friend's house has a chance of retaining the utility services.
RUMORS
A couple of days ago I read a comment on a blog post about their being bodies pulled out of the wreckage everywhere along the coast in New Jersey/New York. The poster said that the body count was not being reported in the news. Last night, while talking to a friend of mine, I got a similar story but this time he sourced a friend of a friend. This time he knows someone who knows someone who works with heavy equipment and his guys are clearing wreckage and finding bodies everywhere in the town of Sea Cliff, New York (Long Island). The information has not been seen by him on the news.
THE GENERATOR
I had a lesson in generators and cold weather this morning. It was 22 degrees outside, where our 4k watt generator is staged. I started the generator as usual, open the fuel line, flip the on-switch, make sure choke is on low then pull on the starter cord until she fires up. After she if fired up slowly move the choke to full throttle. This time I went through the motions...open fuel line (CHECK), turn on (CHECK), throttle closed/low (CHECK), pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, (PAUSE) "Hmmmm...this sucker usually starts by now. Generator failure? Naw!", pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord then she started up. WOOHOO! I slowly moved the choke to full throttle then she shut off. HUH!??! Thoughts went back to the five generator failures that I am aware of. Yes, there is one more failure that I know of since my last report. This was one generator of the same brand line as mine and my neighbors. We're hoping ours last longer. Now back to the issue at hand. I moved the throttle back to a closed position then, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, (PAUSE-PUFF-PUFF), pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, pull starter cord, then she started up! This time I let her idle (warm up) at low throttle before SLOWLY raising the throttle to full. And now she's humming along merrily.
GASOLINE
The gasoline rationing continues. I was lucky and found a relatively short line today while going to the county EOC.
TABLE LIP HEATING
Tables with lips trap the heat from space heaters running beneath them. It creates a nice warm area between the top of the table and the bottom of the lip. Try it some time, it's neat because you don't have to be near the heater just have access to the lip underneath the table.
ALTERNATE MEAL PLAN BETA
I caught a potential snack in the mouse trap in the attic today. It's nice to know backup food is around should the need arise in some scary apocalyptic future. You do have an alternate meal plan...right?
THE DAY...
Was spent calling county churches to see who would be available to provide warming shelters for county residents. Following this volunteer detail my son and I went to help a friend and restaurant owner open up his restaurant for business even though it has no power or running water. We got a nice salmon dinner out of it.
COUNTY EOC FACILITY SHOWER FOR THE WIN
Before starting my volunteer work at the county EOC today I was able to get a hot shower there. It's little things like that a hot shower that raise the morale.
YOU HAVE WHAT!?
So after a long day I get to the nearby friends house, her house is heated, and the women folk (the wife and her friend) are talking about how the cupboards are bare. SAY WHAT!?!!! Prepper nightmare #5 initiated. I have eight gallons of water in the cars plus a variety of energy bars and some MREs but not enough for the eight mouths who are now in the house. At least I could hump it back to our house, where tons of grub exists, if necessary. They've now gone to the supermarket as the incoming Nor'Easter is expected to start impacting the area by as early as 6AM. I had the car perfectly pre-positioned on the steep uphill driveway to give it the best chance for getting out in the morning as I may have to battle freezing rain, ice and sleet to get from point A to B if needed. Let's see where the wife parks it when she returns. I swear she is the ultimate anti-prepper. It's gonna drive me batshit crazy!
LESSONS FOR THE DAY:
In cold temperatures, motors take longer to warm up. Keep them on low throttle for a bit then bring them to full throttle.
Tired prepper. Over and out.
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