A Flash Then Darkness

 

3:30 in the morning. I was woken up with a flash and thunder that practically levitated me out of the bed. The lightning strike was so powerful and close that I checked the house for damage. Even before then I saw the light go out on my C-pap and most of the power in the house died.

The house inverter was making a high warning tone down in the basement. I went to the basement to see if the house was on fire. There was a strong burnt electrical smell but nothing was actively burning. While down the basement I disconnected the fried inverter from the electrical system.

At that point I decided to try and get some sleep until daylight. Fortunately I keep a backup battery pack for running my c-pap.

The weird thing is that the grid did not go down. Usually the grid goes down and I’m left with my off-grid solar electric system. However, with the grid still up I was able to transfer the solar electric side to grid power.

Once that was done I went on-line and ordered a replacement inverter. It should here in a couple of days. If it was going to be a long delay I could have always reinstalled the old modified sine wave inverter. I’d only replaced it because it doesn’t work well well the new LED lights.

All in all, it could have been worse.

-Sixbears

Independence Day

 Just want everyone to remember we aren't celebrating the 4th of July. It's called Independence Day for a reason. 

 

=Sixbears 

Interesting July Ahead

 

Unless there is a TACO situation again the US is going to put more tariffs into effect. Economic experts believe that will collapse the economy. Could be. I’m not an economist.

My own financial situation is usually disconnected from the greater economy. Back in 2008, when real estate collapsed, my situation was pretty much unchanged. Of course, I wasn’t buying or selling any property back then so that helped.

My niece, who lives with us, asked if we were going to be all right. I pointed out we live in the country with decent off grid power, deep food storage, and have plenty of those loud security devices that propel pellets of discouragement. In short, we are prepped as we always are.

I wish I was in better health right now but we’ll get by. While I can’t do all the summer projects I wanted to do, I can hire out the most important jobs and call it good.

-Sixbears

Long Road Ahead

 

My trip to the Dartmouth Medical Center did not turn out as well as I’d hoped. My meeting with the surgeon was disappointing. I had hoped that a quick surgery could have fixed my issue. As it turns out the surgeon thought I’d be stuck with an open weeping wound that would be prone to infection.

Long story short I’m now waiting for appointments with other experts.

Long story even shorter: this is going to take some time.

Once again I’m in a waiting period for the next steps.

On the bright side, the huge lump is not cancer, so that’s good. Cancer among firefighters is a common issue so I’m counting my blessings.

-Sixbears

Heat Wave

Well it’s hotter than the hinges of hell out there. Half the country is having a heat wave. It would be a bad time for the grid to go down.

My house, here in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire, has never had air conditioning. What it does have is big shady hemlocks and a breeze off the pond.

-and ceiling fans.

Never forget about the ceiling fans. It’s nice to have enough solar power to run the ceiling fans and other basic electrical needs.

Today is the day when my heating oil delivery comes in. It’s weird to buy heating oil in the middle of a heatwave but that’s really the time to buy. We are in volatile times so there’s no predicting what the cost or availability of oil will be by fall.

Currently I have three ways of heating the house: oil, wood, and electricity. There were plans to put in a heat pump but doctor’s visits are eating up disposable income right now. Such is life.

-Sixbears

Still Here

It’s been a minute. I had a lot of distractions to deal with but now find myself with some downtime.

Long story short I’m meeting with a surgeon on Thursday. I’ve a huge lump on my leg (apparently non-cancerous) that’s getting bigger all the time. It’s affecting my ability to walk properly and keeps me in low level pain. A simple operation should sort it all out.

As you can well imagine it derailed my plans to participate in the Scooter Cannonball, which is happening right now. Such is life -the best laid plans of mice, men and all that. I was able to recover some of my Cannonball funds but not all.

The news looks interesting. Let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best outcome.

-Sixbears

Break Time

I’m taking a Blogging break. Right now I’m thinking of resuming after the US election. Frankly, my preps are going to change depending on the outcome. 

If sometime major inspires me before then I might post, but don’t expect anything new for a few weeks. 

Be chill everyone. 

-Sixbears