Sunday, July 30, 2017

Power problems

We run our bedroom box fan year round. The whirring sound of the blades creates a soothing noise that muffles the world outside our window. Before we learned the fan trick, we could hear barn owls, night birds, stray dogs, and the noise of late-night cars screaming past our house fast enough to break the sound barrier. You'd think a narrow dead end road would elicit more caution here in the sticks, but you'd be wrong.

Last night just after midnight, I sensed that the power had failed. The fan fell silent. I was thankful the weather had cooled down. Pulling the flashlight from the nightstand drawer, I eased out of bed and made my way into the office to call the power company. 

The power goes off fairly often out here. The reps write it off to antique wires and switches out here and future plans to upgrade the infrastructure. Typically, they wake a technician up and send him to a fuse located about 200 feet from my house. He resets the fuse and the fan springs to life along with the air conditioner.

Last night was no different. Less than an hour after my report, our power came back on. Then about five minutes later it went back off. This time it stayed off until daybreak.

Apparently, there was a live wire on the ground about a mile from our house, and when the technician engaged the fuses the first time, the live wire started a small fireworks show. This threw the fuses again. This time the tech call in some linemen to hang a new segment of wire.

The humidity was much lower today, and even though it was still warm, it felt good outside. 

On our morning walk, I snapped another picture of a butterfly. This one is a swallowtail. It seemed to be posing for me.

I hope you all have a great week.








16 comments:

  1. Hi Rick, please give Jilda a hug from me. Saying goodbye to a dear friend is never easy.
    Hugs.
    Joy

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  2. I hate it when a fuse blows or the breaker switches, but it is a dang good thing we have them!

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  3. It is easy to complain until you know the other guy's job! Then you think. It is always good to call, sometimes they know, but then it might be the time you are the only one who knows 'right now'.

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  4. The flutterbye is gorgeous.
    At one stage when we lived in the country our phone would go out each and every time it rained. The technicians refused to come out until it was dry again, by which time the problem had resolved itself. Sigh.

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  5. We rarely get a power outage but when it happens for an extended amount of time it takes time to adjust. I keep going to turn things on like the lights or the fan or radio , I open the fridge but it's dark in there and of course there's no power. Then I realize I'm taking it for granted. Now we have a generator since Hurricane Arthur but it needs to be set up.

    Great shot of that Swallowtail.
    Hugs, Julia

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  6. Glad to hear the power is now back on. With the summertime heat, it can be very unpleasant with out it. For several days now my air conditioning hasn't had to run much as we've been enjoying beautiful weather. Love the butterfly picture. They don't much care what the temps are.

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  7. That's the problem with a blown fuse, you have to find what caused it to blow in the first place, the fireworks show pointed him to the cause, I'm glad it is all fixed for now.

    Nice picture of the butterfly.

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  8. It's hard not having AC when it gets hot and humid. I'm glad your AC is back on.

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  9. Dear Rick, last week the Kansas City metro area had an electrical storm that knocked out power for over 140,000 homes. My lights came back on in 6 hours, my brother's in 18 hours and for some it was two days. Those days were hot and humid--up in the high 90s. We have come so to depend on AC. I can remember our coifs wilting in the convent when the heat was so bad that we sweated through the starched linen, but truly these summer days seems worse than they used to be. Peace.

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  10. Anonymous1:01 PM

    Your power company responds much faster than ours!!

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  11. Anonymous1:29 PM

    I hate it when a fuse blows or the breaker switches, but it is a dang good thing we have them!


    หีฟิต

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  12. Thank goodness for the technicians.

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  13. Well, Im glad the weather was a bit cooler. Its been in the high 90s here but yesterday and today are quiet pleasant. I would love to hear wild life outside my window. Our ceiling fan makes a slight sound that's soothing to my ears.
    Lisa

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  14. In the country, the REA techs are considered saints.

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  15. During the summer months our ceiling fan over the bed goes all night not just for the coolness but for the peaceful sound I remember when our daughters were little they liked to sleep with a fan on all year round and Tim didn't understand why, I did but he couldn't get it

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  16. I would die without my a/c and kiss it every day:) love the picture of the butterfly-the yellow just pops!

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