generators-- all night ihave been listening to the ad for an instant on generators-
and i have to agree -the powergrid looks darn fragile to me- all thosse spindley towers
wandering thru the wilderness would not survive a stick or two of explosives
with that frigid -47 degree temp in chicago we would have had massive deaths if the power grid hicupped
-living without elecrtricity for 24 hours should be a mandatory course given in any high school
- there are a few creative ways to deal- which kids don't even realize
having been on the end of nature's wrath and lost power, there are things to do
especially if you are about to lose water because of electrical pumping-
say you live in new england -- in a normal type house - husband- wife- two and a half children with a dog. and a terrible storm is imminent...
you gather together all the clean water jugs and fill them for drinking - and stasjh in firewood
and then you fill the bathtub - because a half a bucket of water will cause the contents of a toilet to go away
you put a couple fire bricks in teh fireplace so you can sit a pan on them to boil water for coffee
at that point you have the basics of life under controll- if not coffee tehn rahmen noodles.... whatever,
then in wintter you run around and drain the pipes where necessary.
i bet there is not one kid in 100,000 that even knows water pipes can be drained... or how to do it.
bud should be here to tell me what the correct numbers would be--- but being correct never stopped me.
i have - in my car - an inexpensive " inverter" -which basically turns the car current into a household type electricity.
one's car usually starts- unlike a portable generator which you really meant to pull that rope
and start every week-- but got too busy.. those inverters don't produce much electricity-
but light bulbs don't use much- so if you have a fat 50 foot extension cord with a "shop light" on the end-
that has been my immediate solution to loosing power-- gives you a few minutes to get better organized---- your car works ( until you run out of gas...) even plug in one thing at a time.. like a sump pump, refrig, or maybe microwave.
there are numbers to learn about-- like what's watt... ( that was a bad one !!!) a fat extension cord is critical because electricity flows like water and squeezing it thru a skinney cord makes it angry--
an instant on generator is wonderful - now that i have one- it is right up there with sliced bread.
we are raising an entire generation of children totally dependent on artifical means of support.
we did have 2 camera people pull out thie phones to figure out how to start a fire..
i have watched teens pile up firewood-- kindling on top.. add some newspaper to the top of that, light it
and be bewildered--" why it does not "catch"".. when i remind them heat rises- they kenew that from somewhere- but neve thought it applied to reality in having kindling and fire source going on the bottom .
i could have a field day with children's education... like.. everyone's second language should be sign language- that would put all kids on a n even keel to being bi lingual- i have discussed my experience with latin and spanish in daily doggies before- my opinion of latin has not changed.
*****
today 9:30--- judy and i are leaving for gloucester senior day caare center -- loaded withpoo pickers, crayons, stamps and stickers plus bentley and sizzle. to see what we can do to enliven the atmosphere-- we are learning the day care centers are very needy-- and with less funding-- some of these assisted living places are doing very well-- and concievely should be paying SDP to entertain.
storm due at noon- we shoudl be back-- to put the plow on and wait- it is fun to push snow around... this could be ice-- that is not as much fun.
