Generator...check
Check oil, fuel, start-up, proper incoming voltage...check
Backup fuel...check
Sump pump...check
Backup sump pump...check
Snow blower...check
Check oil, fuel, start-up... check
Chainsaw...check
Start-up...check
Sharpened chain...check

Well, at least I have my essentials! Not a direct hit where I live but I guess were ready for the storm that is going to trickle down upon us. However, we have had rain for about week straight so the ground is soaked. Still have leaves on some of the big trees. Heavy winds, lots of rain and a mix of wet, heavy snow can still cause some significant damage. Large, widespread Cat 1 hurricane according to the weather forecasts and across HEAVILY populated areas.

Good luck to those on the East Coast! Stay safe, warm and dry!

Don't forget flashlights and batteries, You never know when you'll need to find the generator - our luck has usually been in the 2AM range.

A supply of candles is a good idea, too. In addition to light, they have a calming effect, we've found.

We didn't find out about hte storm in time to even make searching for a generator rational. Our power lines are underground, and we're pretty far inland, so we're hoping. Our power has been fairly flakey, unfortunately, but they did some repair work a few weeks ago, so maybe it'll be better.

Got a camp stove and plenty of fuel for that, a lantern, and sufficient candles. Making sure the cell phones are charged.

Plenty of food, canned and frozen, and I've got an extra tank of propane for the grill.

Cleaned, tested, and tightened all the gutters. Looks like I'll probably need to put up new ones pretty soon, oh yay, but they'll do.

Checked the block's storm drains, they all (superficially at least) look clear.

Raked up leaves this morning, but that didn't really help by evening. Heh.

We'll see how it goes.

I got an email about hurricane preparation the other day at work.... I live in Dallas!!! you would think they could target the audience a bit more...


I hope that those of you who are in the affected areas make it through safely.

I bought a Stihl 250 chainsaw (with EasyStart -- it's true!) today and I spent some time cutting branches all over the property and then splitting many of the logs. I love the power-to-weight ration of this thing! Since we now live on a wooded 13-acre property, there's no shortage of fallen branches to be found and a fair number of downed trees from storms past. I now have enough firewood to last a few days, should I need it.

We're on well water out here, so if the power goes out, so does our water. Because of that, we've stockpiled bottled water and we'll fill a few buckets to have on-hand for flushing toilets.

I cleaned the gutters over a month ago before leaves started falling. There was a lot of accumulated sludge in there -- likely would have made decent compost... Now most of the gutters have got dry leaves in them. If I have time tomorrow, I'll clear them out with my lightweight shop-vac in blow mode. I'll just take the top portion (minus bucket) up the ladder with me and have it it.

We'll need to buy a couple sandbags to put against the basement door since the bell trap drain outside it tends to get overwhelmed in sustained downpours.

Whatever happens, we've got great neighbors and I'm sure we'll all pull together if we need to make food raids into West Virginia.

Hey maaaan, I heard they got guuuns in West Virginia. Be careful, maaayn.

I have one of these little guys.. They are a little monster....! One thing you may want to think about, is getting a carbide chain from Ebay... They don't cut as fast as a steel chain, but they last forever between sharpenings.

One thing to note on that saw. When i bought mine, the store i bought mine from said changing the fuel line on it is a pain in the freaking Butt... So, i have been using Trufuel exclusively in the saw... I am not sure if you are familiar with this product or not.. It contains 0 ethanol, and has a premix of oil, as well as fuel stabilizer. The 0 ethanol is the big thing... The one downside to the fuel is it's about 6$ US a Liter.

Here is a link to amazon
http://www.amazon.com/TruFuel-50Fuel-Pre...ywords=tru+fuel

I dont know if you have an O'reilly's by you or not, but they supposedly have it for around 5$/L

I use to use a shopvac to do the gutters.. I don't know if you have a leaf blower or not... One day when i was using my shop vac, i had an epiphany.. and devised this frankenstein.... It eliminates the need for a ladder, and makes cleaning the gutters a 5 minute project instead of 30 minutes...

Nice leaf monster.

The shop where I got the saw said to use at least 89 octane fuel. They also sold me a 6-pack of oil/fuel stabilizer -- add one per gallon. They actually filled the saw and added bar oil for me at the shop at no charge. Nice place. Not exactly the cheapest, but service was great.

I used it again today to proactively take down a large branch that was hanging low over the driveway.

http://www.naturalnews.com/037731_Hurricane_Sandy_preparedness_prayer.html

Sounds like you guys are in for a bad one.

That's almost redneck! You'd do well living down here

Be safe people!

I always have different types of batteries on hand from Costco. Also a Cyclops all charged up ready to go (up to 15 million candlepower) and a bunch of small flashlights. Also checked the LED on the whole-house surge protector on the panel to make sure that is functioning. That will protect everything plugged in the house from destructive surges that will try to enter from downed power lines when we are on main power. Sump pump has come on a few times from all the rain we currently have.

The radar is showing we are right on the edge of the hurricane. Our cold front is going to meet with the Sandy. The weather we are going to get is hard to predict because of this. My weather station is currently showing our temperature at 5°C. I just hope it doesn't drop and hover around 0°C. Rain, snow or even an ice storm is possible.

[quote=a401classicThat's almost redneck! You'd do well living down here [/quote]

Hey, if it means a 30+min job is turned into a 5 min job.. Well, i'm ok with that. Using this setup is pretty amazing at cleaning out the gutters...


Hope everyone that is in the path of the storm doesn't have any significant issues.

Hope everyone in path of Sandy is safe, thinking about all of you...

thanks, it's really just getting going here in northern VA where i am. i expect to lose power at some point too. hoping it won't be out for more than a couple of days when and if it does go out.

we moved all of the important stuff out of the basement just in case it's even worse than the forecast think. by tomorow late morning going into the afternoon we should be through the worst of it.

the winds are getting really powerfull with 35mph sustained and 50-60mph gusts and it's gonna get worse by 9pm then we should really start getting the worse of the storm.

i too hope that everyone who is or will be affected by this system makes it out physically unharmed and with as little property damage as possible.

Like Ron White says, "it's not THAT the wind is blowin'; it's WHAT the wind is blowin'"

All y'all be safe.

A home theater safety message from your friends in Dwight:



(and yes, we unplugged ours!)

Yes'm.

Lost power 15 minutes ago. Not good. Computing on battery power.

Stay safe everyone. I thinking of you guys!

I've wondered about you, Jack! What's it like in Cleveland now?

Frankenstorm it is.

Lots of folks without power and in cold temperatures. Hope things turn out OK for everyone here.

NOW you tell me...

In fact, unplug just about everything - even if it's in a surge protector; items that took a hit with Isaac:

* iMac main video cable
* EP500 "hidden" fuses
* EMO Pre-pro internal fuses
* EMO amp internal fuses
* Garage Freezer
* XBox power cable

The last two items were not plugged into a surge protector.


Hope y'all make it through OK.

Freezer would be brutal! I unplugged the coffee maker - definitely can't live without that.

Our power went out at 3 this morning. Ontario Hydro's circuits were so overloaded at that hour that even the automated power outage system couldn't handle the calls. Doesn't sound like we'll be back on the grid any time soon.

No way am I unplugging the freezer. I want as much cold into that thing as I can get before/if the power goes out.

This is why you buy a whole-house surge protector. It will protect everything plugged in your home. Unlike plug in surge protectors that are plugged into a single outlet, these are installed on the electrical panel. Unlike plug in protectors, whole-house protectors stop the surge before it enters the home. Unlike plug in protectors, whole-house protectors are actually rated to handle transient surges and follow proper electrical code and theory to provide "protection". It acts as the path of least resistance and diverts what could be a destructive surge outside to earth ground.

I have a whole-house surge protector as well, but I've always wondered if it works as well with surges as much as lightning strikes.

In other words, is it only designed to act above some certain level well above "normal" or anything and everything above nominal "normal"?

What is your model? A rating of 50,000A is typical/minimal for a whole-house protector. This can even handle a direct lighting strike and not become overburdened. However, also keep in mind this is only half the protection, the other half is your homes ground system. If that is compromised so is the protection.

I took a tape measure to see how many ft my ground system is from the panel. So the whole-house protector is connected as close as possible to panel keeping all the connections as short as possible. Ground connection is buried 5 ft away from the panel. 2 10ft ground rods.

[NERDALERT]I believe you meant to say "I want as much heat out of that thing as I can get before/if the power goes out.[/NERDALERT]

Just got arount to browsing some pics and news from the storm. I'm speachless. All my best to those of you who are in the dark (thus likely not reading this) and I hope you all remain safe. Remember, the clean up poses it's own dangers. Be careful and remain optimistic.

So you didn't get hit at all Murph?

Wishing all that is affected by the storm well. Be safe and God bless.

I'm looking at this one. But need to replace the main service panel along with it...

Why do you have to replace the panel? Is there a pdf file for the installation? I couldn't seem to find one.

No not at all. It made that very unusual turn inland instead of sliding up the coastline. A nice change for us, not so nice for the areas it did hit.

Whew! First chance to get back here to tell you what's been going on.

Lost power Monday night. 50 degrees inside my home today. Power is still out in my neighborhood, but today, for the first time, I saw power trucks driving around my town. Didn't see one stop and fix anything but at least they are in my area. I've been taken in by friends (Bruce and Jan) and am doing fine.

Widespread outages in the Cleveland area. 250,000 without power. They expect to have most folks back up and running "by the weekend."

Wow. Holt tight Jack!

Maybe they're passing through for the sandwiches and beer?

As Andy said, "Holt tight". And say hi to Jan and Bruce!

Yeah, what Mark said. Thanks for the update, Jack.

Many traffic lights out. Surprising courtesy and patience being shown by most as they wait their turn and then go when they should. 5th straight day of rain. Everything is waterlogged.

Although I still have time to edit my post after Mark's well deserved finger pointing, explaining my error will prove more fun....

"Holt tight." is a local joke that I didn't indent to type but it came out that way. It basically makes fun of people around here where one of the local euphemisms is the word "holt" for "hold" as in "He had him in a big wrastlin (wrestling) holt." or "He had a holt of him like an angry crab."

I blame our proximity to Newfoundland.

I blame it on too much typing with the indent finger while on conference calls.

You win Fred!! I was wondering who would notice the second one!

Power back on overnight. Good to be home in my own digs. All is well.

Where's the ::like:: button?

I clicked Notify because I want everyone to know about it.

Good to hear, Jack!

Thanks guys. Busy throwing out, and replacing, food that spoiled in the fridge and thawed in the freezer. There's no place like home no matter how humble.

Good thing chocolate chip cookies have a good shelf life!

Yes they made it through just fine.........right up until a few minutes ago.

I want. They need to make a 3d printer that prints using cookie dough.

Glad to hear, Jack.

Thanks Sean. I suspect Jan and Bruce are as happy I'm back in my own digs as I am.

You’ve gotta love unions! (don’t get me wrong I hate management more). We’ve been busting our butts for the last three days and nights loading cargo planes with bucket trucks, equipment and personnel from Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project (the two main local utility companies) to fly them back East to help restore power. Some of the first APS people to arrive in New Jersey were turned away because they are not union, Arizona being a right to work state.

Dean, I think that is a rumor being spread for political gain. The same claims out of Alabama were debunked earlier in the week.

I could certainly see those sort of rumors being spread and I am basing my comment only on conversations with APS union guys who we flew out yesterday. Also they didn’t say that the non-union workers were coming back to Phoenix but instead were diverted to other locations. The guys I talked with also said that everyone going from now on were going to be union. I'll make a point to talk with some of the non-union guys when we bring them back.

I talked with a couple of SRP employees we launched out earlier this evening and they said the company is now only allowing union employees to go. They said no specific explanation was given and the as far as they know no non-union workers have come back early but don’t know what they are actually doing while there.

It's a shame that even in a crisis like this, people can't put their differences aside for the betterment of so many.

Yeah, that is stupid.

AND please let's not castigate the entire labor movement because of some bad decisions by a utility company in NJ.

Thanks for the follow up, Dean.