One year ago today: October 11, 2023, mostly band talk.
Five years ago today: October 11, 2019, 20 minutes, my eye.
Nine years ago today: October 11, 2015, there is no diagram.
Random years ago today: October 11, 2013, my famous control panel.
Still no power, it’s third-world conditions in modern WiFi-connected fancy-pants Florida. I did another tour of Lakeland out near Ewell Road and 540A in case there might be a drop of gas left. Nope. The 7/11 clerk says they may not get an until a week from tomorrow. What? It must be election season. Where the Feds delay any recovery efforts in Republican strongholds like central Florida. I took my neighbor’s gas can along just in case, but returned empty handed. I went downtown last evening, leaving my phone on the charger, so he did not know to turn the generator off. It ran dry.
Welcome to Florida, where instead of worrying there is no electricity, you can buy a $500 gas generator. Then you can worry there is no gasoline. The neighbor ran out of gas after two days. So I showed him how to siphon the gas out of his mower and camper, and told him to quit running the thing 8 hours a day. He thinks I'm a genius, wrong, I'm a robot club veteran The word is no power until after the weekend.
I returned to find the neighbor in a fix. He forgot to plug in his phone while the generator was running. Assuring him there is no such thing as an emergency of that kind around a redneck like me, I showed him how to drain the tank of his lawn tractor. Got a whole gallon. He’s an avocado tree and says I can help myself. They are the smooth-skinned kind, not a favorite. If the power outage lasts another twelve hours, I will have to throw out an expensive lot of food, because all food is expensive these days.
The power supply that was zapped by my Yeti is back. I took it apart and gave all the solid parts a rap with a ballpeen hammer. I got lucky. With nothing more to do, I tried to set up the 386 computer back from the shop and it will not display web pages. That’s a first for me, since the technology should work on any properly connected device. This took it until noon, so I connected a small fan to the Yeti and opted for a siesta. I needed that but you can be certain I was happy to be able to lug that generator out of the neighbor’s shed and crank it until it started. My entire upper back that was so damaged five years ago has remained limber almost two weeks now.
Old dorm demolition.
(University of Nebraska.)
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A text message from the neighbor, he got commercial power back at mid-afternoon. Still nothing on my street. I dealt with the situation by running two very long extension cords from his shed, past my shed, and into two paths. One to the fridge, one through my back window and that is why you are able to read this. For now, as there is no telling how long the repaired power supply will hold out. I moved the coffee maker into the bedroom, so I have all the basics. WiFi, coffee, a small fan, and a humming refrigerator. Not so fast. My fridge is not humming.
Will the Yeti fail with the microwave as well? I won’t test it until the power is back. I know the unit works well in the van for fans and an electric blanket—but be careful. Warm weather means I’ve never tested the blanket in below freezing conditions, at the directions warn against using inverter power. Here is a close up of the papaya ribs I mentioned. This is the mid-section of the trunk where it snapped. The stump is solid monocotyledon, and the upper section as also solid, that’s the part I had to saw into movable sizes. Might this be insect damage? There is no sign of damage to the bark and the cavities shown here are empty.
