Steve Sutton
Well-known member
doesn't knock the power out again....
Let me start off by expressing mine, and Debby's, gratitude to all of those that posted, made personal contact, prayed, and sent their wishes for something approaching "normalcy" over the last three weeks. I've always said that the people on this site are far more than a simple collection of duck hunters who visit to share hunting stories and boat information and more closely approaches a widely disparate family when they find that "one of their own" is confronted with some sort of problem. It's highly gratifying to learn that we aren't just interested in piles of dead birds on tailgates or the location of the cheapest resin...
Its been an intersting 3 weeks for sure. Debby got out of school on the 14th of Dec. and I took her to the airport so that she could visit both of our families. That evening we had winds in excess of 75 knots, the results of which was a power outage that lasted until the afternoonof the 24th. For those that have been to the house there were 18 tree's down across the road between my house and the bottom of the hill and as many others that were either into the road or over the ones that were. (5) Power were either broken or knocked down and the lines were on the ground in a dozen places.
Since the road is private all of that had to be removed before the power company would restore so the next four days were spent with the other residents of the hill removing trees from the road and from around power poles. If I had ever had any ideas that chain saws were "neat" I have vanquished those.
Fortunately the temperature was "mild" with nightimes in the high 20's and daytimes in the 40's so even though the house reached a low of 42 it was still bearable. I devised a method of showering using the bildge pump from the big boat and other than the fact that this occured in the front yard no shower ever felt better.
When it became obvious that we were going to be way down the power restoration list I tracked down a 5500KW generator and spent the rest of the outage driving down the hill for gas, and then transfering same to the tank on the generator. Each filling, for some reason, required that I "annoint myself" with gas so that by the end of the outage every peice of winter outer clothing that I own reeked of gas. It remains amazing to me that I can't seem to either fill, or empty, a 5 gallon gas can without spilling it all over myself but given the number of times that it happened up till the 24th that has become obvious.
The two cell phone towers that serve our area were down as well so not only did I not have power but no phones as well. The closest access in the first five days was 10 miles away and I spent the "work" days in a Starbucks shop where I had internet access and could keep up with work. Evenings were spent in the only warm room in the house watching an assortment of old movies and I believe that if you want to get into a "quote" exchange with me involving "Gladiator", "Tombstone", "Starship Troopers", or "Fright Night" you best bring a very well stocked wallet.
Debby was scheduled to return home on the 23rd but got caught up in the Denver Airport mess causing some additional concern that she'd spend Christmas there while I was here. She finally got home the afternoon of the 24th which was the same time that the power was restored.
Christmas was uneventful, THANKFULLY, and then my two nephews arrived on the 26th to hunt until the New Years. That almost went south on us when the predicted rain turned to 5 inches of snow on the hill when we woke up in the morning. In the six years that I've had the big boat I've never attempted to drive it off the hill when there was snow on the ground but felt I needed to try for the boys. The ride down was "exciting" with the truck driving itself about half the time but we made it down with nothing damaged except to the drivers seat which I tore when I used a pair of pliers to pull the upholsery out of my butt when I got out of the car at the bottom to throw up. If Disney could duplicate that ride I'd be the first in line to put a bunch of people that I know on it.
The trip with the boys was great and I'll post photos when I get them from Alex and then figure out how to resize.
I guess that brings us to date except for my Dad. Again to those that offered their prayers and well wishes, no to mention an incredible offer from John Espey, THANK YOU. At this point he is "better" which is relative when you are essentially in the "end game" of a condition that is going to inevtiably take you home. He has lung and throat cancer and has been fighting that for the last two plus years. He has rallied in the last couple of weeks and he is comfortable at this point. No one can tell when their end will come but his attitude is good and in a situation such as this that is a very important consideration to both the person with the problem and to those in attendance.
So that brings us to today. Its blowing 50 knots at the house and I'd bet that the power will go again today at some point. At least the generator is full and I'll have at least (8) hours before I have to take my first gasoline bath on the refill.
Again, thanks for the concern that so many have shown. It's greatly appreciated.
Best in the New Year...
Steve
Let me start off by expressing mine, and Debby's, gratitude to all of those that posted, made personal contact, prayed, and sent their wishes for something approaching "normalcy" over the last three weeks. I've always said that the people on this site are far more than a simple collection of duck hunters who visit to share hunting stories and boat information and more closely approaches a widely disparate family when they find that "one of their own" is confronted with some sort of problem. It's highly gratifying to learn that we aren't just interested in piles of dead birds on tailgates or the location of the cheapest resin...
Its been an intersting 3 weeks for sure. Debby got out of school on the 14th of Dec. and I took her to the airport so that she could visit both of our families. That evening we had winds in excess of 75 knots, the results of which was a power outage that lasted until the afternoonof the 24th. For those that have been to the house there were 18 tree's down across the road between my house and the bottom of the hill and as many others that were either into the road or over the ones that were. (5) Power were either broken or knocked down and the lines were on the ground in a dozen places.
Since the road is private all of that had to be removed before the power company would restore so the next four days were spent with the other residents of the hill removing trees from the road and from around power poles. If I had ever had any ideas that chain saws were "neat" I have vanquished those.
Fortunately the temperature was "mild" with nightimes in the high 20's and daytimes in the 40's so even though the house reached a low of 42 it was still bearable. I devised a method of showering using the bildge pump from the big boat and other than the fact that this occured in the front yard no shower ever felt better.
When it became obvious that we were going to be way down the power restoration list I tracked down a 5500KW generator and spent the rest of the outage driving down the hill for gas, and then transfering same to the tank on the generator. Each filling, for some reason, required that I "annoint myself" with gas so that by the end of the outage every peice of winter outer clothing that I own reeked of gas. It remains amazing to me that I can't seem to either fill, or empty, a 5 gallon gas can without spilling it all over myself but given the number of times that it happened up till the 24th that has become obvious.
The two cell phone towers that serve our area were down as well so not only did I not have power but no phones as well. The closest access in the first five days was 10 miles away and I spent the "work" days in a Starbucks shop where I had internet access and could keep up with work. Evenings were spent in the only warm room in the house watching an assortment of old movies and I believe that if you want to get into a "quote" exchange with me involving "Gladiator", "Tombstone", "Starship Troopers", or "Fright Night" you best bring a very well stocked wallet.
Debby was scheduled to return home on the 23rd but got caught up in the Denver Airport mess causing some additional concern that she'd spend Christmas there while I was here. She finally got home the afternoon of the 24th which was the same time that the power was restored.
Christmas was uneventful, THANKFULLY, and then my two nephews arrived on the 26th to hunt until the New Years. That almost went south on us when the predicted rain turned to 5 inches of snow on the hill when we woke up in the morning. In the six years that I've had the big boat I've never attempted to drive it off the hill when there was snow on the ground but felt I needed to try for the boys. The ride down was "exciting" with the truck driving itself about half the time but we made it down with nothing damaged except to the drivers seat which I tore when I used a pair of pliers to pull the upholsery out of my butt when I got out of the car at the bottom to throw up. If Disney could duplicate that ride I'd be the first in line to put a bunch of people that I know on it.
The trip with the boys was great and I'll post photos when I get them from Alex and then figure out how to resize.
I guess that brings us to date except for my Dad. Again to those that offered their prayers and well wishes, no to mention an incredible offer from John Espey, THANK YOU. At this point he is "better" which is relative when you are essentially in the "end game" of a condition that is going to inevtiably take you home. He has lung and throat cancer and has been fighting that for the last two plus years. He has rallied in the last couple of weeks and he is comfortable at this point. No one can tell when their end will come but his attitude is good and in a situation such as this that is a very important consideration to both the person with the problem and to those in attendance.
So that brings us to today. Its blowing 50 knots at the house and I'd bet that the power will go again today at some point. At least the generator is full and I'll have at least (8) hours before I have to take my first gasoline bath on the refill.
Again, thanks for the concern that so many have shown. It's greatly appreciated.
Best in the New Year...
Steve
