RATS NO POWER.. I hate Ice Storms.. Bummer..

[HouseHobbit]

As many in Dayton I have no power..
I have a heavy line ran 150+ feet across the street from a friend.. I know not to draw too many amps..
I can run one oil filled Heater in the back, and my computer and a light..

I am alone in the apartment Building all the tenants have places to stay.. Thank God..
As the manager, My purpose now it to make sure none of the water pipes freeze..
I will drop to single digits tonight..They say..
This shall be very interesting..

I hope they hold out, the pipes.. I hate repairing 50 year old pipes..

Now at 48 degrees here inside, I will have to Hug My cat tonight , and Katastrophe hates being Hugged..

Glad I am a furry little hobbit..
I wish now my beard was longer..

If you hear of a ice Hobbit on display some where in the next few days, would someone kindly Show up and thaw me out..
Thanks...

[OBIO]

We were lucky in that we did not get as much ice and sleet as they were expecting to hit. We still got about 5 inches of ice/sleet. Then it warmed up just enough to begin melting the ice/sleet and the underlying snow...then it got butt cold again. Now my drive way, which goes up hill to the road, is about 8 inches of solid slick ice. I have no idea if I can get the van up the driveway or not....but I will have to give it a serious try come Friday. Have to attend the funeral of my nephew, Wayne, who died in a house fire Saturday morning.

Hobbit,

Please do what ever you need to do to stay warm. Don't want to hear that you were turned into a Hobbitcycle.

OBIO

[Wittpilot]

Luckily my power only fluttered a few times over this way.... Back country roads were still pretty rough this evening coming home... the ice was slowly turning into slush.... which is is just as bad if you ask me!

-witt

[rayrey10]

Not to be a horse's rear end, but it was 78 with sunny skies and a light breeze in South Florida. I'll send some heat your way.

[Wittpilot]

"Rear-end"???? More like being the whole horse!!!!!

[OBIO]

I did a test run today to see if I could get the mini-van up the driveway. It was a bit rough, but the van made it without breaking too much of a sweat. I have been really impressed with how well the van, a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE with a 3.3 liter V-6, gets around in winter conditions.

OBIO

[Willy]

My mother in law has an 02 Grand Caravan and that front wheel drive really helps it on bad roads.

[HouseHobbit]

Well another night of cold, perhaps tomorrow the power folks will show up here..
God Willing,
It is 37 degrees inside tonight, and dropping..
Hopefully I can hold off Mr. Freeze a little longer..:snowman:

Had a wonderful chat this evening on Skype with Tim, and Talon, and Nonato, and my Sister..
Very Nice to speak with each of them..
:salute: :salute: :salute:
have dicovered if you try to glue a live cat to your head to keep warm The Cat gets really MAD!!
Learn something new everyday..:isadizzy:

Thanks guys for the Chat, it did help me take my mind off the angry cat glued to my head..:banghead:

[Trans_23]

Hang in there Hobbit. Hope you get some sleep tonight. :sleep:

[Willy]

Hope they get your power back on soonest!

[nigel richards]

:guinness:
Six years ago my wife and I finally decided for similar and other reasons to become self-sufficient (freeware is best). Everyone said we're crazy. They're probably right! But we've enjoyed every second doing what most other folk only ever dream of. They say: "sounds like too much work".
My answer to this is that all the fun in life is in the 'getting there'.

Bought five acres of paradise and built single handed my stone cottage (two feet thick walls) from stones my wife and I gathered (no, she didn't carry the big ones!). We loved doing all the woodwork too, and are lucky to have a cheap, plentifull supply of local Chestnut lumber.
No one ever told me that building could be so much fun: almost addictive, particularly the stonework. If any of you guys are interested, I'll upload some pics here sometime.

Now, we eat our own produce: eggs, poultry, fruit and veg etc. With a few head of cattle, soon we wont be buying beef either. The milk, cream, yogurt and cheese are the real Macoy! When we yearn for fish, we dress warm, take our flasks of coffee (fishing's best during the cold months here) and nip down to the beech 700 yards down the track.

All our electricity is from solar power, we cut our own firewood and draw water from a mountain spring one km away. washing and watering is done from a well. Yeah, dug that myself too!
The power we store is ample for our needs: my wife cooks delicious tradional food on a wood stove and the oven bakes pies and bread like nothing I've ever tasted!

So I've got all that free electricity for TV, lights, stereo and, yes you guessed: FS.
The system has already paid for itself and is extremely reliable. It's a great feeling of security when occaisionally the nearby village is in total blackout due to bad weather or power cuts. The solar panels are even working during a blizzard as long as you routinely scrape away the snow.

Nowadays we love it when we get snowed in. Log fire, homemade wine and beer, eats and treats, simming...hey, its just like Chritmas!

So give it a thought gents. Go Solar! :salute: Best Regards, Nigel

[robcap]

I just read your post, very inspirational.
I'm going to be selfsufficient (electrically) soon, I'm going to install solar panels on my new to built garage.
Looking forward to seeing some pictures of your place, and hearing about your doings!

Cheers, Rob

[nigel richards]

:ernae: Sounds great Rob! You guys in the Netherlands are pretty advanced in self-sufficiency.
You wont regret the investment and most people dont realise that direct sunlight isn't essential.
For the photos: I'll have something up in a couple of weeks. Stick around pal!

Cheers, Nigel :salute:

[HouseHobbit]

I have Power!!! They Just finished hooking up my Home..
And there is MUCH Rejoicing!!!!

Off to un-glue this cat from my head...

Thank God...

[CWOJackson]

Fortunately our place came with a 10k generator in the garage. Several times my wife wanted me to get rid of it so she could expand her gardening materials into it's alcove. In the past week she's decided we should keep it.

[rayrey10]

Glad to hear that. I'm sure the cat is happy.

Forgive my ignorance but what is the alternative when the power goes out and you need heat? Wood burning stove, chimney, things like that? Is there any way to use natural gas/LP?

The furthest north I have lived was Camp LeJeune, NC and that's well south of the Mason-Dixie Line.

[Willy]

I use kerosine when the power goes out. I've got a couple of large kerosine heaters stashed in the basement that I drag upstairs and several kerosine lamps. Not the brightest light out there and I'd hate to try to read by them, but keeps me from bumping into stuff in the dark. Mostly use the lamps unless it looks like the power is going to be out for a while.

I was without power for 3 weeks because of a major ice storm during December 2000 when I lived on a mountaintop down in Arkansas. Had the kerosine heater going, using the lamps at night and cooking on a BBQ pit that I made the summer before. Mrs Willy, the kids and I got by for that 3 weeks and look back on "roughing it" fondly.

[robcap]

For the photos: I'll have something up in a couple of weeks. Stick around pal!
Cheers, Nigel :salute:Yeah, really looking forward to your pictures, and also to the installation of my own power supply.

[rayrey10]

I use kerosine when the power goes out. I've got a couple of large kerosine heaters stashed in the basement that I drag upstairs and several kerosine lamps. Not the brightest light out there and I'd hate to try to read by them, but keeps me from bumping into stuff in the dark. Mostly use the lamps unless it looks like the power is going to be out for a while.

I was without power for 3 weeks because of a major ice storm during December 2000 when I lived on a mountaintop down in Arkansas. Had the kerosine heater going, using the lamps at night and cooking on a BBQ pit that I made the summer before. Mrs Willy, the kids and I got by for that 3 weeks and look back on "roughing it" fondly.

Ok. At least you have a way to keep warm. After hurricanes you can lose power for a few weeks and if it's hot you are going to boil. I have a generator but in a effort to conserve fuel I only run it during the day so sleep can be a hard thing to come by when it's in the high 80's+ and 100% humidity.