Hot. Humid. HOT! It was high 90s yesterday and the humidity matched. Brain was boiling in my head. Had to get my cool vest out and wear it in the afternoon. Today will probably be similar.
I spent the morning fixing a second generator. New carb went on and it started on the third pull. Love that gennie, and glad it’s back in service. Power was restored around noon, so I didn’t need to use it, but I’ll take it back to Houston for the next blackout.
A quick note about extension cords while I’m thinking about them. If you are going to run a small gennie just for cold stuff and chargers, you will need extension cords. (assuming you don’t backfeed the house, or install a transfer switch). I like the ones with a molded on three-fer outlet on the end. I run 25ft and 50ft. I pick the length to put an end where I need it, and then extend to the next appliance. I always plug the “through” line into the middle outlet, and use the left or right for local power. This makes a nice branching power distro and is easy to troubleshoot. You don’t need super heavy cords if your gennie only puts out 20 amps anyway.
For the rest of the day I alternated picking up downed limbs, cutting the grass, and doing general cleanup. I’ve got two big burn piles, and I’m not done yet. I took the time to cool down several times. Even got my ice pack cool vest out of the freezer and wore it. It’s more effective than the evaporative cooling vest when it’s this humid. It made a big difference in my comfort.
I had to refuel the chainsaw twice so I guess I was busy.
Today will be more of the same, and if I’m not too crippled up I should be able to finish the cleanup. I’m pretty stiff and sore from the work. Physical fitness is a prep. I’ve never been one for working out, but I did do chinese martial arts and stretching for years. Unfortunately I stopped, and haven’t been able to get back in the habit. I’m finding that I can’t just “keep on” without extra effort though. Something has to change, and I think stretching and movement is a good place to start. I’ll add it to my list…
Stack. Especially infrastructure. You WILL need it.
nick