never prepared for the little stuff

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by melbo, Nov 17, 2005.


  1. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Got a call yesterday at 3:00PM. Powers out. Wife and Daughter at home...

    No biggie. Most of MY important stuff (electronics), is on UPS backups so I don't worry. Call to the Electric company and register the outage. Get home an hour later and still no power. I had traced my lines all the way in and saw nothing wrong. Then I see a new 'digital' meter on my service panel. Must have been installed that day.

    I then realize that we are having guests over for dinner. 2 recently graduated new Marines and their families + my son. Uh Oh, Roast is in the oven and cooling fast. Showers are needed and lights too. Plus we just had a 40 degree temp drop and have no heat.

    I fire up the generators. Like I always do... Can run almost the whole house off them if I am careful and don't run much 240Volt stuff. I notice the Big Gennie acting funny so run inside..

    (backup), I normally shut everything in the house off and then start adding Amps/watts to turn things back on within the Gennies capability

    ... so I run inside to see what the problem is

    I see that my daughter was running from TV to TV and trying to get them to come up as she was trying to catch our son on the news... I had turned the Stove breaker back on and as she tried to fire up 3 TV sets, and the Stove plus whatever other small stuff was still plugged in, I noticed the lights running like they were on a Dimmer set low. WIfe was trying to make coffee -browning out big time-

    We burned up the large Flat panel TV, One of the PCs, coffee maker, Ceiling Fan(electronic control), the Microwave, NAD AV receiver, and a bunch of other stuff. Brown outs and a lack of proper power seem to fry this stuff. I didn't gripe as usually when we lose power she is asleep and knows nothing of it.

    Made a list today and I lost $7200+ in stuff. Funny though, the power came on 20 minutes after I started my Generator process.

    I guess this isn't really about my burnt up stuff, but more on the fact that I rushed through a few of my normal procedures because of the evening that was planned. I know better and have a normal "power up" checklist I follow.

    We'll see what Insurance does.

    melbo
     
  2. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Sorry to hear the bad news melbo.. We let our guard down for one minute (like I did when I was broken into) and bad things happen. Expensive reenforcement of things we already know.
     
  3. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Man that sucks Melbo
    Time to look into a 200.00 transfer switch.
     
  4. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    Yikes.... sorry to hear that....
    You've got a pretty positive attitude about it.... I always tell myself .... I might as well learn from things rather than throw a tantrum.... (I still get p---ed though :0)
     
  5. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    Yeah. Always thought I was the Human transfer switch Quig.
    I turn off the main and all the 240 stuff. I just didn't realize that the 'girls' would try to run EVER STINKING 110 CIRCUIT i have at the same time...

    Easy to solve the problem. Buy a bigger. better, faster gennie :p maybe diesel...
     
  6. Bear

    Bear Monkey+++ Founding Member Iron Monkey

    Hey Melbo..... I kinda liked the "Neo" avatar a little better.... you gonna change it back after you're calmed down a bit?????.... gonna give me nightmares...... :D
     
  7. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    haha, yes that's a mean Chihuahua, Melbo. :eek:
     
  8. monkeyman

    monkeyman Monkey+++ Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Have you looked at the automatic ones? They have the ones that automaticly turn on when the power is off for more than like 2 seconds and switch back when the power comes back on and the put them out in sizes that will run the whole house with no problems. One of the main brands I know of is Guardian, most of them run off natural gas or LP but I think you may be able to get them in gas or desil too.
     
  9. E.L.

    E.L. Moderator of Lead Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    That sux buddy! Why can't life's lessons be a bit less painful???? [punch]
     
  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member


    Because we the people are hard headed and refuse to learn without a stroke of the cane. Or so said our grandfathers. Which is not throwing rocks at Melbeaux, but is probably true of most of us as well. We go for the lessons, pay for the lessons, and pay no attention until the truth lifts up it's left hand and smacks us around. Don't believe? Wait until SHTF day, and see what is not in your BOB that should have been. We are all here to learn, and I know that I for one keep saying I'm gonna follow that line of thinking, but so far ---


    Grumble. That said, I'm unhappy that Our Boy had a loss, but it is in reality only money, recoverable with enough time. (And I bet it doesn't happen twice, Our Boy (all 33 years of him) learns quickly --.)
     
  11. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    I must have not stressed enough that it was This Boys Daughter who *****d everything up.
    I can do no wrong. I am me... She is not.

    :lol:, J/K Yeah, I screwed this one up and it was the haste of the moment trying to keep the dinner party rolling.

    THis reminds me of another melbo screwup that was totally avoidable... Clyde's fault.
    Coming soon to a post near you. "Wallet full of Christmas Cash to give to the wife, Cell Phone to Ear while Checking out of the Grocery Store"

    I'm a total moron sometimes. I should have been an engineer. I can see the future but sometimes have trouble finding the send button on my mobile. :eek:
     
  12. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Being an engineer is no help. Send button? Wazzat? And then, once known what, then wearzit?

    Dial phones and slide rules should never have died. [beer] ;)
     
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