Wow, Kobi, sounds pretty grim there. I hope your power comes on sooner than 3-5 days. Not much fun

We're planning on buying a generator sometime soon, our house has a plug so we can back feed we just need to figure out what we want to run so we know how big a generator to get. We have a propane water heater and propane cooktop so hot water and cooking are simple but without power we have no water so running the pump is essential as is a heater for the pumphouse, definitely don't want things freezing in there! Probably a few lights the fridge and freezer and possibly the pellet stove. We do have an awesome kerosene heater that keeps the house pretty toasty when the powers out but kerosene is spendy!! I can live without the TV and computer for a few days but it might be nice to hear the news so we can keep up.

Anyhow, keep us posted as much as you can Kobi. I'll be thinking about you.

 

I'm concerned that kobi rushed into the garage and closed the door because it was cold and then the power went back off.

Ride it out and buy a generator in June when they're on sale.
Sounds like you need to pick up a chainsaw too.
It doesn't have to be a big one where you might cut off a leg,
just a small one, you'd only lose a toe.

Also be nice to have an a small campstove for boiling water. Instant coffee will keep for 2-3 years.

 

We probably have around a .2-.3" of ice here. But temps are hovering right around 32-degrees so the roads are slushy and wet, but not slick at all beyond a normal rainshower. Treated roads are that much better. But don't walk on the deck, sidewalk, or driveway! You'll bust your hump.

As others, more is expected here today with cooler temps. We'll see how today plays out. I guess we have shower facilities here at work, and it looks rather dark and comfy under my desk!

Best of luck to you Kobi, be safe. Welcome to the Midwest!:santa:

 

Hey K, Summer is coming.

Hang in there. Thinking about you my man. I figure a bunch of us rednecks could survive but I feel bad that an LA guy freshly moved to the sticks has to rough it so soon.

If you lived closer I'd be over with a generator and chainsaw myself.

By the way I'm sure you know this but the power garage doors can be opened manually if you have to. Should be retaining pin somewhere, depends on the model.

Good luck, stay warm and safe.

 

Hey everybody -

First, thanks to all for the good thoughts. Greatly appreciated.
Second - Matt and Zach - no need to drive all that way, although I have no doubts you'd do it, and it's an amazing gesture and also greatly appreciated.
Third - with regard to garage doors . . . Yes, I know about the handle to manually open the door, but you gotta be inside the garage to be able to do it but I couldn't even get in the garage. It's a three car garage with three separate doors. Two are electronic and the third is manual with a key lock. There is no other access to the garage, no regular door. Nothing. If I had a key to unlock the manual door that would have been great and I could pull the little red handle attached to one of the garage door openers and I'd be able to manually override each of the two automatic ones. No such luck though as there is no key to the locked manual door. As soon as life returns to town I am hiring a locksmith to rekey the manual door so this will never be a problem again. It was on my list of things to do but wasn't way up there priority-wise. Wasn't expecting something like this to happen. Hell, I never even knew what an ice storm was like and NEVER expected or imagined anything like this.

Live and learn.

Vader - Yeah, it's quite an initiation for a dude from Lost Angeles to be hit with this.

Update so far.

As soon as the power cam on last night I did hit the garage door opener and get the door open. This proved to be useless as an entire tree lies on my drive way so, for the time being, I can't drive in or out anyway.

I checked email and CNN and weather.com for updates. Emailed everyone and told them the world was ending.

Posted last nights post on this forum and attached pix.

About 15 minutes or so later . . . power once again went out.

Finally went to bed. SOme time during the night power was restored and it has been on all morning. I have two trees on either side of the entrance to the drive way and lots of branches collapsed blocking the entrance, so now the drive way is twice blocked.

Most of the trees around the house are drooping so badly that they don't really look like trees any more, or at least certainly not like the trees they used to be. I wonder if, after all the ice melts, if they "un-droop" and straighten back up? Time will tell.

Did get to drive around yesterday with a friend of mine. THey have numerous houses that they rent out and two of them were badly damaged by falling trees. One of the houses is in really bad shape. The other has a small hole thru the roof.

Driving around town it looks like a war zone. It is just totally amazing. I have never seen or experienced anything like it. Not as bad as a major earthquake (lost my house to the 94 quake . . . lost almost everything in that sucker), but it's a different kind of devastation. Neither is fun.

Anyway, have power but no phones. I'm picking up someone's wifi but it is so weak so as to be almost not there.

Gonna try to have a friend take me to home depot so I can get a chain saw.

Never used one before. Never even held one, so Raoul may be right . . . there could be body parts flying all over the place.

This is going to be interesting.

Hopefully power will stay on, phones will be restored. Oh yeah, DirecTV is totally out. Damn! Now that is really bad. It was tollerable until I found out my TV was gone. Oh the horrors!

 

Looks like you are going to have lots of fire wood. I hope you have lots of salt to get rid of that ice.


Oh here a tip for saving your windshield wiper blades just lift them up so that don't freeze to the windshield. Believe it or not its really hard on the wiper blades. (Im sure you already knew this tip but just trying to help out)

 

Most use an oil/gas mix.
You'll need something like this:


Go ahead and pick up a new gas can, a small one just for your chainsaw where you can keep your mixed fuel, seperate from yor regular gas container.

You will also need 'Bar Chain Oil'. Even electrics use this stuff.
A gallon jug should last you years as the reservoir is very small.
And some heavy leather work gloves, chainsaws vibrate and they will reduce the fatigue and actually make you feel stronger gripping the implement of death.

Not trying to insult.
I don't know what you know, just trying to cover it since you are bumming rides.

 

Also get a hand bow saw for small limbs.

 

Nah...not needed. The chain saw should remove his arms just fine.

 

Excellent comment.
I always grab that plus my chainsaw when dealing with disasters of epic proportions.
On branches no more than a inch or so it makes quick work with three or four strokes. makes stuff manageable.



Then crank up the big bad boy.

 

Very true! Or a foot!

 

The first few times I used a chainsaw, there was somebody around who knew what was going on.

Seriously, it's different for a first-timer all alone out in the middle of Indian territory, errr....I mean Kansas.

 

My father hit his foot with the chainsaw a couple of years ago. He was standing on the log he was cutting with one foot to stabilize the log. He was cutting towards his right instep, while wearing sandals. Well, the saw jumped out and hit him right under the ankle bone, luckily not deep enough to damage anything he really needed like tendons and ligaments, with exception to about a swath of skin 2"x1/2" about 1/4" deep. The sandal didn't protect him at all. We did though, took the chainsaw away from him for good.

Kobi, be very careful since you're a chainsaw noob. I realize the guys are just joking about the body parts flying, but a chainsaw is a different animal. A good sharp bowsaw will cut very well, almost as well as a chainsaw in some cases.

 

yes, and when you get tired of the chain saw, it makes for a good break.

 

he may give up before he gets it cranked up.

Oh, and Kobi, if you don't wear glasses, be sure and wear goggles. The chip will fly!