Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[ls1ac]

I was out visiting our friends in Crow Oregon on their farm when a cold snap came in. He noticed that the water stopped working about 4AM but did not tell me until 7AM. He was not used to sub zero weather and his pipes were not deep enough to be below the frost line. I am from Wisconsin so cold is nothing new. Got a torch and a heat lamp and got the pump house warm and the down pipe open to the hose bib. Got the house going and told him to keep a low stream running.
The summer before I had asked why there was no insulation in the pump house and no heater for cold weather. He said it never gets that cold. It is now insulated and has a heater.

I keep a large and a small diesel generator in Wisconsin, the small one will carry the essentials and the large will run the whole house load. Living in the country power outages can last a week.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Yep, that works ...... except when you are on a well and the power is out -

That happened to me in Connecticut. The power was out for 3 days, so, no water. The temp dropped to -18 degrees F (NOT windchill).

What did I do? A fireplace insert kept us sorta warm in the family room, kerosene heaters in the bathrooms and kitchen kept the pipes from freezing (left the under sink cabinet doors open).

Yep.
I grew up in a house that was little more than insulbrick nailed on a rough framework. We had a well and since the house was so badly built (was little more than a 5 room shack) we had to leave the water trickling all winter. That poor old pump ran 24/7 for months on end. If the power went off my dad would just disconnect the pump and let all the water drain back into the well. Could be days before we had water again.
In fact I actually have some pictures that I recently found while clearing out my mother's apartment.
Some are even conversation appropriate.

[ls1ac]

We are now going into a miner maunder minimum. Should be interesting.
I love the wording.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Yep.

What year was your bus? We were still using our '59 to haul wood twenty years later. I guess it's not that epic. Still a cool memory.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

My son in Austin is really screwed right now. No power and freezing temps. They are all huddled in one room trying to stay warm, and now the pipes are freezing.

this was the first thing i said to my co-worker yesterday when i saw the headline about their temps and the rolling blackouts. texas is screwed.

my neighbors got a natural gas generator i can plug into anytime(he overkilled the sizing, he could run his a/c off it if he wanted, so plenty of capacity for me to hotwire my furnace and fridge onto it), on top of my work having a small 2k watt generator i could 'borrow' if needed.. i also keep a propane heater for the garage. so i'm ready for the apocalypse whenever it decides to show up.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

What year was your bus? We were still using our '59 to haul wood twenty years later. I guess it's not that epic. Still a cool memory.

Mid to late 50s is all I remember. They all look about the same. We didn't have it long since the whole camping thing died out fast with my dad.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

My son in Austin is really screwed right now. No power and freezing temps. They are all huddled in one room trying to stay warm, and now the pipes are freezing.

My friend is in Austin as well. Fortunately he's in the downtown and seems protected from the blackouts so far. But he's almost out of food and other necessities. Some stores weren't open today and the ones that are had super long lines. Insane.

[spike021]

So I finally had some time and went to my local post office about my lock being jammed.

USPS wants me to pay $50 for the lock to be replaced, even though I didn't cause the damage and I will be moving in one month.

So now I need to decide if $50 is worth it to be able to get the tax docs and stuff currently in there.

I just put in a temporary mail redirect to my parents' place from today until the day I move out, which is when I'll put in the permanent redirect request for the new apartment's address.

But this really sucks.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by spike021

So I finally had some time and went to my local post office about my lock being jammed.

USPS wants me to pay $50 for the lock to be replaced, even though I didn't cause the damage and I will be moving in one month.

So now I need to decide if $50 is worth it to be able to get the tax docs and stuff currently in there.

I just put in a temporary mail redirect to my parents' place from today until the day I move out, which is when I'll put in the permanent redirect request for the new apartment's address.

But this really sucks.

Drill it out?

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Drill it out?

Still can't, it's federal property :\.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

They have a gas stovetop, so can still cook, but I don't know how well that would work for heat.

My Honda generator is only a 1000. I used it primarily for power years ago for my hunting trailer. It sure saved us in San Jose once. A giant pine tree came down in a storm and snapped the power pole in our backyard like a toothpick. We were out of power for 6 days while they put in a new pole. I could run one fridge, the tv, and the blower on our gas heat stove at once if I powered them up in the right order.

My son just text me. The problem with the water is the water company lost power. He says it is 9° right now. They are hanging out in his truck.

Could try boiling snow on the cooktop. We once lost power in NH for like a week, and that's what one of my classmates did. Makes the house humid though, and that comes with it's own problems. Bonus, you have hot water for coffee/tea/hot chocolate.

Make sure his truck is outside and the tailpipe isn't blocked by snow btw.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by spike021

Still can't, it's federal property :\.

So why is it your responsibility to pay for the lock if it is their property?

Pay a homeless person $5 to do it on the DL?

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Spuds

So why is it your responsibility to pay for the lock if it is their property?

Pay a homeless person $5 to do it on the DL?

welcome to the convoluted nature of a government-ran business.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Spuds

So why is it your responsibility to pay for the lock if it is their property?

Pay a homeless person $5 to do it on the DL?

Good question!

I may as well find a homeless person for it, since last time it broke and possibly this time it was someone trying to break in.

Originally Posted by soundman98

welcome to the convoluted nature of a government-ran business.

Yeeep.

Don't get me wrong, I have respect for USPS (my father and my grandfather were both letter carriers for years).

But this kind of bullshit is ridiculous. If it's a USPS-owned box, then why are they passing its maintenance on to me? Like wat.