@jtsanders
You Kept Your Electricity! Life Is Good!
When I lose electricity I immediately remember that it is without a doubt the best value of anything I buy.
CSA
We live in a cold area, and a power outage is challenging.
Our friends had a power outage and she had a gas stove which kept the house from freezing. She also had flashlights and LED battery camping lanterns.
We have a fireplace which would be some good, and all the other emergency stuff mentioned above.
No need to unload the fridge and freezer, a few days without power wonāt spoil the food, just do not keep the door open too long.
We got lucky here in NH this time. The storm missed us completely. But I have no doubt our turn will come soon. Iād like to get an auxiliary generator, but I just never seem to get to hiring an electrician to put a transfer switch in. I think I have an inherent distrust of small contractors.
For those who had to shovel their cars out today, you have my sincerest sympathy. To pvtpublic and all you out there with similar photos, be careful. I had my first heart attack after clearing my driveway. I knew something was wrong when I went back into the house, and it kept getting worse until I ended up in CICU. I have a very close friend who now makes me call her before and after I clear my driveway after every storm. Thank God for a friend like that. Sheās a gift that I donāt deserve.
@the same mountainbike
"But I have no doubt our turn will come soon. Iād like to get an auxiliary generator, but I just never seem to get to hiring an electrician to put a transfer switch in."
I bought a generator about 20 years ago. I still havenāt put in a transfer switch. A friend whoās a certified electrician easily installed a switch and short cord/plug on my furnace and well pump, at those devices. I can safely switch household circuits off and plug into a cord to the generator. Itās not as nice as a transfer switch, but he did it in a few minutes for free. It covers essentials. You donāt want power to feed back into outside lines, endangering linemen.
Itās easy to run a couple cords for lamps and Iāve got Coleman lanterns. We can survive this way and have, PITA.
By the way, my best friend since 5th grade died of a heart attack in 2010 @ 62 from a massive heart attack while fighting snow on his driveway. A neighbor saw him and tried CPR, but had no success. Hire somebody if you need to or wait til spring.
CSA
Naw. If it happens, it happens. Itās been a good run.
My affairs are in order and I have nobody depending on me. It isnāt a philosophy Iād recommend for someone with dependents, or for someone with strong religious beliefs, but it works for me.
Our minister who is from Texas but has been in Western NY for many years made a joke from the pulpit today. What do you call a day in Buffalo when 2 feet of snow falls?- Answer- Tuesday.
I have a generator , so I would find running water the most important.
I remember the bad ice storm that hit here in Wisconsin in the late 70s.
I think it affected the entire Great lakes region.
Everyone came to mom and dads to hunker down, then they lost power too.
Dad and I spent some time disconnecting the pipe from the well to drain all the plumbing.
Lucky for us my dad was a resourceful guy and we had light by the camping lantens and camping stove for cooking.
It sure was nice to have their big fireplace to help keep the house at least a little warmer than the neighbors.
He also had put in a emergency pantry in the basement a year earlier and it was well stocked to keep all of us fed.
Yosemite
My wife was from a farm in rural South Dakota. It was kind of a shock to me when I first visited in the winter time. They were all prepared for long term power outages with the old lanterns and stoves and food. But then a blizzard could come up and youād be blocked in for a week with the power out so you had to be self-sufficient. Me, I prefer the city with a generator and snow blower.
Wish I had more speed ,I have the "upgraded " 3 megs (extra charge) Fiber trunkline 2 pair copper coming to the casa ,I wanted to dump the landline due to my financial woes at the present ,but the provider wont let me (sez ,they need the phone line to provide the DSL,DUH ,the phone line is already there ,how come I cant use it for the internet ?) The basic service for both is about $100 a month and I very seldom use the landline I am beginning to think someone is pulling my leg ,any thoughts ?
After about ten years with DSL and about 1.5 toward the end, we dumped it in favor of bundled cable. Now weāre running 55+ with landline and TV for less money. Had to buy a new router but needed it anyway. Only took the guy less than an hour for everything. Yeah, DSL is phone line so gotta have both.
But what has me curious ,is that the physical phone line already exists , can it not carry the internet service seperately ?
The DSL is provided through the phone lines to the telephone switching office. I canāt tell you the actual telephony logic, but its not the wire but the service. You have to have the service to get the signal to the phone company switch to be able to get either voice or data service from there. Usually there are two or three pair of voice wire coming in and they may use one pair for voice and the other for DSL, just not sure anymore but they arenāt going to give you DSL without voice service. Now dial up just uses the same voice pair of wires.
But like I said, DSL was a great improvement to the dial up we had ten years ago, especially when trying to work out of my home office. But we only got 1.5 with DSL and they refused to upgrade for our neighborhood when two blocks down they were getting 10. They just refused to spend any money. So with cable for less money weāre at 55 instead of 1.5.
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The phone line might carry the internet service only but it is not going to happen so it doesnāt matter.
Ohā¦it IS a spammerā¦