Massive ice storm in MA - state of emergency declared!

We have the Winter Storm Watch here for Friday. Just ducky! I'm leaving for Springfield, Mass and then Warwick, RI tomorrow (driving, of course).

JB Sparks wrote:Smitty, looks like you live on one beautiful piece of property.

Thanks! Finding this place when we were house-hunting......it was one of those once in a lifetime things with my pay scale -- think I had some help from some good friends & relatives who've passed on..

mr1precision wrote:Wonder how Smitty's doing????

I'm OK -- My bar is FULLY stocked! ........and I've updated my avatar to reflect that fact!!

But seriously, thanks for asking! -- my power came back on Sunday @ about 3PM. My generator must've heard me making fun of it's country of origin, because it decided to toss out a small VOLTAGE SPIKE , which promptly cooked my ballast in the ceiling fan & nearly set my motion detecting light on the porch on fire! I was pissed -- the 2 lights I use & need the most! But I ordered the ballast & motion sensing device right after it happened & I already have the ballast installed -- that was FAST shipping!! Still waiting for the other unit.......

Sounded like a firecracker went off in my kitchen when the ballast fried! I knew something bad was gonna happen when all my lights suddenly got VERY bright -- like the sun! Happened when the furnace & circulator were running, then the sump pump kicked on -- think it unbalanced the load between the two 120V legs of the windings. Might have had 2500W on one leg & only 400W on the other -- Oh well. At least I was WARM!

Smitty,
Glad your up and running! Still no power here yet. Thats what happens when you live in the woods i guess. Yeah, the weather doesnt look good for Friday or Sunday. That won't help. We havent done Christmas shopping yet. Maybe we'll go during the height of the snow storm. No lines!
BTW, thats a nice avatar! I gotta get me one of those.

Wood'nCoal wrote:We have the Winter Storm Watch here for Friday. Just ducky! I'm leaving for Springfield, Mass and then Warwick, RI tomorrow (driving, of course).

I'll wave to you when you drive by! I am scheduled to work OT tomorrow. Lucky me. Maybe I'll get like 3 days of it!

Wood'nCoal wrote:We have the Winter Storm Watch here for Friday. Just ducky! I'm leaving for Springfield, Mass and then Warwick, RI tomorrow (driving, of course).

I live in Warwick! I'll wave to you when you drive by! I am scheduled to work OT tomorrow. Lucky me. Maybe I'll get like 3 days of it!

EDIT: Dang, I quoted myself and can't delete it!

mr1precision wrote:Smitty,
Glad your up and running! Still no power here yet. Thats what happens when you live in the woods i guess. Yeah, the weather doesnt look good for Friday or Sunday. That won't help. We havent done Christmas shopping yet. Maybe we'll go during the height of the snow storm. No lines!
BTW, thats a nice avatar! I gotta get me one of those.

Yeah, it's a trade-off : live in the country, & deal with a few power outages......or live in the city..... & deal with traffic, *censored*, dope dealers, thieves, unlicensed immigrant drivers, nosy neighbors, ridiculous taxes, corruption, etc, etc, etc!

Hope you borrowed your father's generator! There's still a few people in town here who still don't have power either -- & the city is screwed in some sections. On the road today, I saw power crews with plates from Ohio, Missouri & Indiana! They even brought their own tree crews. MAN! When I went to bed last Thursday after the power went out, I had no idea what was really going on until I got some text messages from friends asking how we were doing............I thought they were planning an intervention!

Yeah... were gonna get hammered again with this next one tomorrow, PLUS another one Sunday night! Looks like I'll be teaching rookies how to install tire chains on Monday morning.... It'll be a loooong day for me. I've forgotten what it's like to work indoors..... nice & toasty warm looking out at the snow.. I'll be soaking wet from head to toe, freezing & pissed at the end of my day. After sending a 20 ton truck sideways down roads with cars parked on both sides for 10 straight hours, & having people trying to pass me with bald tires......I'll be in bed by 8!

My power came back on Thursday night! Yippeeeee!!! I feel very lucky even though it was just shy of a week. So many more wont get theirs back until after Christmas.

I spent most of the day plowing and i think I'm looking forward to spring. I usually enjoy the winter but it seems to be coming on a bit too strong for my taste.