Getting Ready to go Dark

[Bonny]

At 5pm, PG&E will shut off power to nearly 1 million customers in CA. We are expected to be without power for about 2.5 days. I'll be fine, it will just be an urban camping experience.

Thankfully we don't have any medical issues requiring special equipment.

I'm not sure about my husband though. He doesn't like camping and loves his electronic toys too much.

[laterbloomer]

Good luck. Does anyone use generators?

[Bonny]

Oct 26, 2019 18:56:44 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

Good luck. Does anyone use generators?

A few businesses do. City Hall will go dark as will our Public Works Dept.

A wonderful soul on an adjacent (main street) is going to roll out her coffee cart.

Might as well make a party out of it!

[laterbloomer]

You are actually making me think about getting a generator myself to keep my furnace, fridge and stove running and be able to charge my phone. But I don't even know how you do that. I have some research to do.

[Lizard Queen]

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Oct 26, 2019 19:06:26 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

You are actually making me think about getting a generator myself to keep my furnace, fridge and stove running and be able to charge my phone. But I don't even know how you do that. I have some research to do.

To connect a generator to your house wiring you need a professional to put in a transfer switch which will disconnect your house from the utility lines when your generator is used for power. If you directly plug things into a generator instead of house outlets you don't need one. 

[Bonny]

Oct 26, 2019 19:36:22 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Oct 26, 2019 19:06:26 GMT -5 laterbloomer said:

You are actually making me think about getting a generator myself to keep my furnace, fridge and stove running and be able to charge my phone. But I don't even know how you do that. I have some research to do.

To connect a generator to your house wiring you need a professional to put in a transfer switch which will disconnect your house from the utility lines when your generator is used for power. If you directly plug things into a generator instead of house outlets you don't need one. 

My husband looked into it and it's not a cheap thing. Fortunately we don't have any medical devices that require power. Our risk exposure is losing our food.

The bad news is that PG&E is stating that it will take 10 years to fix their lines. This planned outages are going to happen a few times a year.

[Bonny]

Outage in my county has been pushed back to 8pm. PG&E is stating it's due to weather.

FWIW, it was MUCH cooler today than yesterday. We even had some fog.

[Bonny]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

[CCL]

So you just have to let all your food spoil?

[travelnut11]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

I totally thought the same thing.

[NastyWoman]

Not me. But then I live relatively close to Bonny. Fortunately in that small sliver around the south bay that will not be affected.

Hope you are getting through without problems. Please know that if you ever need help and don,t have power, I can put you up here. It won't be luxurious but you will be we!come

[countrygirl2]

We have a genny, it will run the fridges and freezers and quite a few lights. It likely would run the washer, but I'm not sure about the dryer.  Will not run our geo thermal furnace though. the big issue is the drawdown when they first engage a motor to start, puts a real load on them.  Ours is 8500 kw with a surge of 13500 kw.  If it can't supply enough voltage when turning on can damage the motor, 2 or 3 turning on at the same time might be to much.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 27, 2019 8:08:20 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

TBH, so did I.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We have been without power at least this long.....if not longer, unfortunately in the winter.

We have a small generator that will allow us to run the lights, TV, fridge, furnace blower and fireplace blower.  Not big enough to use the stove, but can run a crock pot and we have a gas grill with a side burner.

Last time it was in use for nearly a week.  We had a bad windstorm, and a tree took down the power line into the development.  I think we were the last people to get our power back, the tree removal prioritized clearing roads.

[raeoflyte]

Oct 26, 2019 20:05:30 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Oct 26, 2019 19:36:22 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

To connect a generator to your house wiring you need a professional to put in a transfer switch which will disconnect your house from the utility lines when your generator is used for power. If you directly plug things into a generator instead of house outlets you don't need one. 

My husband looked into it and it's not a cheap thing. Fortunately we don't have any medical devices that require power. Our risk exposure is losing our food.

The bad news is that PG&E is stating that it will take 10 years to fix their lines. This planned outages are going to happen a few times a year.

That's a lot of time to be without power. I'd have to do some major commuting since I work from home. Although I'm sure my dh would insist on a generator for the fish tanks lol.

[laterbloomer]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

If you thought this you might be a long time ymam'er

[mollyc]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

This was my second thought. My first thought was that she was going to leave us and work on removing her presence from the internet. What does that say about the kind of websites I hang out in?

[Lizard Queen]

Oct 27, 2019 12:40:19 GMT -5 mollyc said:

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

This was my second thought. My first thought was that she was going to leave us and work on removing her presence from the internet. What does that say about the kind of websites I hang out in?

[dannylion]

Stay safe, Bonny!  I hope your outage is not as long as predicted.  


My friends got a generator when their area was having fairly frequent, longish power outages.  They have gas heat, so there is gas service to the house, and they got the kind that operates off their gas service.  It switches over automatically when the electric service to the house goes out.  They've been happy they got it.  

[TheOtherMe]

Some friends of mine got a notice to evacuate.  They are heading towards Marin County to share a friend's home with strangers.  

[Works4me]

All of these power outages in California have me starting to look at generators.

[stillmovingforward]

I have a RV with propane heat, fridge, and stove (plus an arctic insulation package). We'll lose power for a few days a few times per year. I go out and live in that instead. It's super cozy aaaaand I can fire the generator up to make coffee. 😁😎
Neighbors have been known to stop by....

[thyme4change]

My Mom seems to be worried about our upcoming trip. She keeps asking if the fires are burning down our hotel. We are going to San Diego. So, no Mom, it is fine. And if it does hit that area, we will cancel our trip.

[Tennesseer]

Oct 27, 2019 19:02:43 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

I have a RV with propane heat, fridge, and stove (plus an arctic insulation package). We'll lose power for a few days a few times per year. I go out and live in that instead. It's super cozy aaaaand I can fire the generator up to make coffee. 😁😎
Neighbors have been known to stop by....

Free coffee for the neighbors?

[Works4me]

Oct 27, 2019 19:23:13 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

My Mom seems to be worried about our upcoming trip. She keeps asking if the fires are burning down our hotel. We are going to San Diego. So, no Mom, it is fine. And if it does hit that area, we will cancel our trip.

People sometimes have difficulty understanding how big California is vertically. San Diego is about 150 miles from the fires in LA and well over 500 miles from Sonoma.

[thyme4change]

Oct 27, 2019 20:57:08 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Oct 27, 2019 19:23:13 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

My Mom seems to be worried about our upcoming trip. She keeps asking if the fires are burning down our hotel. We are going to San Diego. So, no Mom, it is fine. And if it does hit that area, we will cancel our trip.

People sometimes have difficulty understanding how big California is vertically. San Diego is about 150 miles from the fires in LA and well over 500 miles from Sonoma.

I know. But we have lived in AZ for 40 years and been to California dozens of times, not to mention driven AZ hundreds of times. She knows, or at least should know, how far away those fires are. She probably should have spent her life on anti-anxiety medications, because she worries about stupid shit.

[irishpad]

Oct 26, 2019 19:09:21 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

I thought this thread was about quitting a good job to start your own business.

And I thought it was about Bonnie finding Dark and bringing him back to the board.   

[NastyWoman]

Well the winds are dying down here and there was talk about gradual restoration of services to the affected areas on the news. However, there is a new "wi d event" forecast for Tu/We so who knows.

Weird thing: because of the winds air quality stayed good in the area with some exceptions - here in the south bay it is really bad and we are far away from all fires. Yet when you step outside it smells like the fires can only be a few blocks away.