I’ve got the Power, for now
January 30, 2011
I went to a friends house Saturday night and while I was there I got a call from my neighbor telling me that our power was back on. While I am happy that it is back on, I’m unhappy it took 4 days to get it back on. I was very lucky that I had a place to go to sleep and eat in warmth. Many people had nowhere else to go. I don’t have the answer, but 200,000 customers without power is unacceptable.
I heard on the radio that the Governor of MD wrote a scathing letter to Pepco.
And guess what? We are getting more snow and ice sometime between Monday night and Wednesday.
I was plowing for most of the outage so I had to throw out 99% of what was in my fridge. There’s nothing in there now so if the power goes out again, and it almost certainly will, I wont loose anything else. I have a friend who has a whole house generator and they ride out theses outages brilliantly. Perhaps it’s something to think about down the road. Truth be told, I’d love to get partially off the grid. Creating my own power using wind and solar. It would be nice to get something back from the power company.
Until then, I’ll keep the fridge un-stocked until after the next storm.
Pepco = Crapco
January 29, 2011
According to my neighbor, our power has been out since Wednesday. I called Friday and was told it would be on at 11pm…maybe a little later. Its Saturday. All the streets around our street have power. One of the spokespersons for Pepco went on the radio and said the majority of their customers would have power Friday at 11pm. I did not. They said it would be on sat. It was not. I hope it will be on later tonight, but I don’t have my hopes up. I’m going to a friends house. I expect it may be Monday before I get power back. I’ll keep you posted.
The Big Green Truck
January 18, 2011
Right from the start BG and I did not get along. She smoked. Now I don’t mind if a girl smokes, but I don’t want it blown in my face for 24 hrs. It was bad. I had to have the window down just to get some fresh air. She had a bum ticker. I thought she was gonna die on me! I thought she was winking but it turns out she had an eye problem. I tried sweet talking her using all of my considerable charm. I caressed her, I stroked her, I even slapped her around a little. Sadly, in the end, after many hours of messing around, I could not get her to put out! That was the final straw. I don’t think I’ll be taking her out again.
I’ve been fortunate to work for a plow company this winter. I’ve been out 3 times now and this last time I was asked to drive the big green truck. When I worked for UPS I drove the “Moose“, which was much longer, so I knew it would be no problem driving big green.
First, the truck refused to stay running . When it was running the noxious exhast fumes came right into the cab. The Mechanics installed a new alternator. Then the plow lights went out, so I was driving with one headlight, and it was behind the plow! The mechanics fix it, but they went out again as soon as I left the depot. And I had problems with the spreader not putting out salt for a good portion of the adventure. I tried everything to get it to work. Then, I’d drive back to the depot to have them look at it and like magic it would start throwing out salt. That was the most frustrating part. So I made the owners aware of the problems I had, and I cross my fingers that I’m done with big green. She’s a bitch.
Blizzard of 2010
February 7, 2010
It was unbelievable, and so much fun!
You think you can, but you can’t.
February 6, 2010
I decided last minute to pack a bag and head to my brothers house. I live in the DC area and the storm of the century had begun. I really did not want to be stuck at home, alone for the weekend. I topped off the radiator and hit the road. There was probably 6 or 7 inches of snow down already and it was snowing hard and heavy. There were the usual 4 X4’s like me, doing just fine, until we encountered a few of you dumb asses: The guy in the white Chevy van? All over the road; The Cab driver who thought he could? didn’t. He was sliding through all the lanes; The guy in the brand new Wrangler Jeep doing 60? I hope he made it; The person in the ditch? I called 911 for them. People, please, if you don’t have 4 wheel drive, or if you just got 4 wheel drive stay off the road until it is dry again. You can not drive. I know you think you can, but you can’t. Your a danger to yourself, and more importantly your a danger to those around you, including me.
Seriously stay home. You can’t drive.
10 Good Years
February 2, 2010
10 good years. Mostly. I bought my 1998 Ford Explorer in 2000 and it has been an excellent and dependable truck/suv for the better part of a decade. Unfortunately it has begun to hemorrhage antifreeze and my mechanic friend say’s it be cheaper to buy another used truck than repair this one. So…we are about to get the 2nd or 3rd snow of the new year and I can’t count on my truck. Snow is more fun in a 4×4.
