In 2006, Western New York was hit by a Surprise October Snow Storm. The storm knocked out power here for three days (and up to two weeks in some areas). My basement was flooded because the sump pump had no power and I lost hundreds of books. Thousands of my books were saved because Patrick and his friends assembled shelving the summer before and the shelved books (other than those on the bottom shelf) were fine. After power was restored, Diane and I considered buying a generator. But, like most things, it was relegated to the back burner. But Hurricane Sandy changed everything. Watching the devastation, and people with generators who couldn’t find gas to run them, galvanized us. Diane and I decided on a natural gas standby generator. We contacted the people at Capital Heating and got an estimate. Their three man crew showed up on time, worked hard, and had everything in place in one day. We rewarded them with pizza and wings. As global warming creates weather havoc, we feel more protected with our new generator. For more information on the Generac Guardian, click here.
Cool. I never was able to find what that neighbor bought, but this looks great. How often do you have to test it, and what does that entail?
The blog is much faster. It was getting very slow to load.
You’re quite perceptive, Rick! The disappearance of the blog happened because of a transfer from an old, slow Server to a new, fast Server. The natural gas generator goes on automatically every Saturday at 3 P.M., runs for 12 minutes, then shuts itself down. Once a year, Capital Heating comes out and services the generator (changes the oil, lubricates everything, etc.). If the power goes out, we’re protected!
I’m afraid if I had one of these I’d discover that the stereo sounds better on generator than on line current (audiophiles obsess about stuff like this), and my gas bill would go through the roof.
Bill Crider and I both have the Guardian, Art. And, I have to admit, the sound system you put together for me does sound better when the Guardian is running…
You’re back! OK. Way to go, Patrick. Or WordPress, whichever the case might be.
I haven’t heard from Patrick, Jeff, so I’m guessing the guys doing the transfer from the old Server to the new Server relaunched my blog. However, there’s still the problem with the blog only appearing in Internet Explorer and not appearing in Firefox or Google Chrome… It’s always something!
Good to have you back, George.
Consumer Reports reviewed generators in their October issue. Generac seemed to score well. I bet those installers were surprised and happy with the pizza and wings.
Diane and I always take care of the workers, Drongo. You have to take care of the people who take care of you. The workers appreciated that I bought top-of-the-line pizza and wings.
George, the blog is appearing in Firefox, or at least my Firefox.
Bill Crider says that my blog is back in Google Chrome, but my Firefox doesn’t see my blog yet. Maybe tomorrow morning…
At my house, we were fortunate to have a generator during the 2006 October snow storm. We couldn’t run a lot of appliances, but at least we had the refrigerator and the furnace working. Ours, however, is gas operated, so we would be in trouble in the event of a gas shortage.
Exactly, Lauren! I watched those TV reports of people in NYC and New Jersey with generators frantically trying to find gas to power them. The natural gas generator should solve that problem! Happy New Year to you and Patrick and your family!
The Kelleys – stimulating the economy for the 34th fabulous year!
Way to go.
😉
Stimulating the economy worked today, Jeff! The DOW is up over 300 points!
Jackie says she’ll be over to mow your lawn this spring as long as you’re offering pizza and wings!
I wonder if the old electricity in this house would have to be upgraded first. Need to look into that.
Our biggest problem with the installation of the generator, Patti, was that the original electrician who wired this house didn’t clearly label his work in the circuit box. So when the electrician wiring the generator arrived, we had to help him when he would shut down a circuit by shouting down what room was on that particular circuit. The circuit box is in our basement so Diane was on the first floor watching the lights go on and off, I was at the foot of the stairs in the basement and the electrician was in the farthest corner of the basement where the circuit box is located. There were some bizarre moments when half the lights in the living room went out, but the other half stayed on. Who divides a room into two circuits???
Whoever did this building did the same thing! We used to have fuses blow out and half the living room went out and the hall. Or another controlled the other half the living room and the bedroom. Weird. That’s why we had it rewired and circuit breakers put in. We haven’t had any problems since then. The landlord paid for half the cost.
Jeff, that rewiring is well worth the money! The electrician who wired our standby generator told us that our sump pump and our microwave should have their own circuits. But, they don’t. They’re both on circuits with lights and outlets. Diane and I are pondering whether to call in an electrician and have those issues fixed.
I forgot to pop back in to say the blog is appearing fine in Safari (which you always forget when rattling off the list of browsers…).
You’re right, Rick. I should have mentioned Apple devices. My blog shows up on my iPad, but still is missing in action in FireFox and Google Chrome.
Happy New Year Dr. Kelley! My brother said to say hello and wish you a Happy New Year!
Thanks, Lauren! Here’s hoping 2013 is a great year for all of us!