lynn jones Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 a big wind storm blew through memphis, tn yesterday. electric power is out all over town. no juice at home or at work. damn damn damn. the flame starts now. lynn jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Bummer. No AC must suck. I bet people are driving around in their cars to cool off! It is a good thing that the BBQ pits are all wood fired! Memphis without BBQ would be a national tragedy! -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 Lynn, imagine this: your country has decided (via a referendum, some 8 years ago) that it didn't want to deal with nuclear powerplants for the fear of it (but we do have some about 300 Km from the border in another country). Now, with the hot temperatures we have right now in Italy, electricity demand and consumption has grown bigger and bigger, due to the large amount of air cooling needed by industries and private citizens. This electrical power demand has become so big that, even if we buy it from other countries (the same that have nuclear powerplants near our border, at twice the price we could get it), we still are short of it, thus (our government at work here, trumpets and drums playing): we might have pre-planned electrical power shutdown at national level for different areas in different moments (they call it "chessboard pattern") for this week and the next one. Of course the pre-planning informations are only available to powerplants, not to citizens, thus it will be a surprise to discover when you'll be disconnected!!! We really have such smarta@*#*s at work governing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 This electrical power demand has become so big that, even if we buy it from other countries (the same that have nuclear powerplants near our border, at twice the price we could get it), we still are short of it, thus (our government at work here, trumpets and drums playing):we might have pre-planned electrical power shutdown at national level for different areas in different moments (they call it "chessboard pattern") for this week and the next one. Of course the pre-planning informations are only available to powerplants, not to citizens, thus it will be a surprise to discover when you'll be disconnected!!! We really have such smarta@*#*s at work governing. Hey Skywalker, Welcome to our world. We're doing the same thing here now in the US. Unfreakinbelievable shit. Power outages and phone outages are now an everyday reality - at least here in the west. I *never* thought in my wildest dreams that the U.S. would *regress* with the quality of its utilities, but that's exactly what's happening. And as long as the eco-whacko dumbshits continue their reign mandated stupidity, we'll all have to use donkey-driven dynamos for power here in about two decades. My next house - just like my last - will be centrally wired to accept a 10-15 kW generator - which is a million times more ecologically unsound than nuclear power - but at least my damned lights will work. I weep for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted July 23, 2003 Author Share Posted July 23, 2003 well, i guess i don't have it as bad as ericw and skywalker. when the power is working, we have some of the cheapest electricity in the states. TVA (Tennessee Valley Athourity). and thank god it's only 79 F degrees today, very unusual. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecutts Posted July 23, 2003 Share Posted July 23, 2003 I drove threw Memphis Four years ago at this time of year and I wish it was 79. If I remember right at four A.M. it was in the eighties. I was moving from Utah to Florida, and was having serious second thoughts about the south that morning when I got up to get on the road, I gave up on getting to Graceland as it was to hot and humid for this western boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted July 24, 2003 Author Share Posted July 24, 2003 day three...no electric power at home (no generator) work no power have generator. this is why i can post. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted July 25, 2003 Author Share Posted July 25, 2003 day four...no electric power at home (no generator) work no power have generator. this is why i can post. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted July 27, 2003 Author Share Posted July 27, 2003 power came on saturday morning.. hee haw!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 I know waht you mean Lynn, we lost power last night at the height of the thunderstorm. Started hailing like crazy had to run donw to the basement for cover or for any eventuality then the power went out, almost fell off the basement steps. Power restored after about 7 hours, good thing it was cool last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 there is still people without power here in memphis. that's how bad it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 You guys need one of these At my last house, I had a 10 station transfer switch with an outdoor outlet for a portable generator. A small price for peace of mind.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJPoLo Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 (edited) <stupid comment deleted because I didn't read *all* the posts> Edited August 5, 2003 by DJPoLo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted August 5, 2003 Author Share Posted August 5, 2003 ericw, you know, all of a sudden, they started play commericals for Generac Power Systems, Inc. on TV! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 I can't imagine Memphis in July with no electricity!!! How were they keeping the beer cool in Overton Square? A generator is a good basic investment. (Unless you have switch gear, don't plug it into your house wiring or you'll feed power back up the line and fry the repairmen.) Fuel consumption is about 1 gallon per hour for a 5500 watt unit. We fill just the gas drum every fall and wait for the blizzard. It's mostly for powering the water well which is on a seperate breaker. Wood and propane heat the place. John Dunn and I were talking on Saturday about the "survivalist image" that we try so hard not to project. We decided that a "survivalist" is just somebody that our grandfathers would have seen as having good sense. Since this is the Hate forum, I'll rant a little too. We used to have a local power company office in this town. Now, when the lights go out I talk to somebody in Portland OR. They usually respond with, "we aren't showing any outages in your area". I usually reply, " Yes Maam, that would be the reason for my call". They ask, "How do you know you don't have any electrical power?" I say, "Oh, I didn't mean that we didn't have any power. I plugged my Fluke meter into the wall outlet and it says I have 54 volts, but I'm not exactly sure since its fluctuating an awful lot." That usually gets some action. Centralization of control has made our whole nation much more vulnerable to catastrophic faliure of all utilitiy services, including natural gas, electricity, and communications. Sometimes conventional wisdom just means that all the stupid people are in agreement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted August 5, 2003 Share Posted August 5, 2003 "Sometimes conventional wisdom just means that all the stupid people are in agreement." Or all in one place... somewhere near the Potomac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 Centralization of control has made our whole nation much more vulnerable to catastrophic faliure of all utilitiy services, including natural gas, electricity, and communications. Sometimes conventional wisdom just means that all the stupid people are in agreement. Amen, Brother Bonedaddy. "Deregulation" is a total joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted August 6, 2003 Author Share Posted August 6, 2003 if money was not a concern, i'd have a generator installed that runs off of natural gas, which is plentiful around here. i mean, just not at my house. in 1992 we had a ice storm that did about as much damage as this wind storm. however, we were able to stay warm with the gas fire place and take hot showers with gas water heater. for what it's worth, let's put this past problem in perspective. memphis, shelby county, tennessee is not a small town. there is probably 1.5 million people in this county. more than 700,000 homes and businesses were out of power for a week. lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted August 6, 2003 Share Posted August 6, 2003 A very sudden and powerful windstorm came up in the Puget Sound one winter morning around 10 a.m. in 1991 or '92 and knocked out power from Seattle to Olympia to parts outlying. We went without power in Olympia for about three days... Seattle/Tacoma for a week or more (depending upon precise location), and for nearly a month or so in those outlying boondocks. Whew. A real exercise in how to stay warm in an all-electric apartment and elsewhere. Sometimes just went out to the car and warmed up by running the engine until it got warm. Literally everything that wasn't nailed down blew away--including many power lines. And what didn't get blown away got knocked down by trees that DID blow down. Ah, the Pacific Northwest... all those lovely big green trees. We had a(nother) very sudden, unexpected windstorm two Februarys ago here in Eugene. So many trees came down in the 50-60 mph winds here that Public Works and other services took literally weeks and weeks to clear them up. Many were without power for days... I wasn't, but that was just luck. Huge trees were falling down before our very eyes everywhere. The wind was so strong it literally knocked me down trying to cross the street to get in my car. Some people in hilly areas had blocked roads and power outages for days and days. Ah, the Pacific Northwest... all those lovely big green trees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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