neighborhood power outage

[avalen]

man, it got hot for awhile, we had a power outage on my side of the block, and
including the clubhouse. Called the power company, can't believe I was the only
one that called, so she says (the lady on the phone) I step out in the street and
several other neighbors are on their cell phones with who else, the power company!
That lady lied to me!!
Then 3 doors to the east the lady is bedridden in hospice care and they had to call
the ambulance to get her out of the heat and somewhere cooler. God bless, but
you would never guess what her parents named her (many years ago).......
she is from Louisiana, and her name is............Beer Gut Louisiana. I can only
imagine the story behind that pregnancy.
Then the power guy is looking for all the transformers behind mobile homes, there
is one or two every block and of course the one for my unit is 4 doors to the west
where the people are back home (snowbirds) and the back yard is all padlocked.
So he cuts the lock, puts a new one on there and hands me the keys. Ok,
they'll be back in October and I'll give them the key to their backyard. Then one
of the old guys comes down on his bicycle and he's understandably worried about
the food in his refrigerator.....so I tell the guy, leave the fridge shut and it should
be fine, its only been a couple hours, and no sooner said than they get the power
back on. Its cooling off nicely now and the power guy thanked me for my help cause
he had no idea who was gone and who was year-rounder. So, today...I feel special

[VickieP]

You're always special, Ava! I'm sure he appreciated your help, was he cute?

[avalen]

You're always special, Ava! I'm sure he appreciated your help, was he cute?

cute? not hardly, and he talked funny and he seemed a little...um...dirty
I could have suggested to him to take a dip in the pool but then my brain says, hey, I
go in that pool too. but he was really nice
kinda like when people say its really HOT in Arizona, and Arizonians say, but its a dry heat.

[avalen]

I guess its safe to say "my batteries are done" as there were no lights to be had
when the power was out and even my pump for the water didn't work. Putting
new batteries on the list for september.

[Bethers]

You done good, g/f.

Ava, have you been regularly checking the water level in the batteries? They dry up fast out there - make sure you do that monthly. And, yep, if they got drained, they are toast. Hopefully you won't need them again.

As to - he was dirty - couldn't that have been the work he's doing in the heat. Now, c'mon - was he cute beneath that dirt? Hmmmm?

[avalen]

sorry to say, I have probably neglected my batteries. The cabinet they are in doesn't
give any clearance to peek inside the batteries so I always have to get a mirror and
try to do it that way. When I do get my batteries replaced (in the fall) I will also have
a tray put in that slides in and out so I can do it easily. These are the original
batteries the previous owner put in, so they are 6 years old that I know of, maybe
even factory original, but that part I wouldn't swear by.

[snowball]

I think you got your good out of those batteries!
My dd's babysitter had 2 days of no power! some work was being done and a line got cut
I guess and the d fault line (so I really don't know what I'm talking about) wasn't working and everything
got fried. I asked whose fault is it? Guess it's going to be the power co as the one line wasn't working
they don't know yet what all "fried" besides the AC and stove but expecting lots
Glad your outage lasted and short time and all is well
Sheila

[retiredhappy]

Ava, when batteries get that old they can get dangerous. Last year when I had my batteries replaced they told me my batteries were "swelling" and could blow up. I spent the extra money and had sealed batteries put in. No more checking - I love it. The guy told me they should be replaced about every five years BUT if they get dried out, they won't last that long.

[BarbaraRose]

Is that really that woman's name?? Wonder what kind of backwoods Louisiana bayou shack she was born in to get a name like that? I would have changed that in a hurry!!

[avalen]

Karen..
no swelling in the batteries, but I hadn't thought of that and I went and checked.
Barbara..
The poor woman spent her whole life with the name of Beer Gut. It was a conversation
at the pool the other night and so many folks talked about why she never had it
changed. At first I thought perhaps it was a german name and they were saying
Veerga, but when I asked for a little clarification, they said NO! it was BEER GUT.
She is in her 90's now but sometimes you know people just give their kids weird
names. Had a little girl on the bus one time named Precious Love, and then there
was another one named Katy Carebear. I did however have a weird name once
that I thought was kinda cool actually, a boy named Sterling Skye.

[Nasoosie]

As soon as I get of here, I'll check my batteries, too, and then run my generators to exercise them.

Beer Gut must have been so embarassed in grammar school---poor little kid!

I forget just how dangerous it must be to lose power when the heat is so oppressively high. I worry about things freezing up here in the winter when the power goes off, but I can at least make a wood stove fire, and put on more clothes. In the heat, however, and especially with animals, there are only so many clothes you can take off! I guess staying wet would help, and, if you had a battery-run fan, which I will definitely have when I go south, you could keep yourself and animals cool by evaporation.

It's a comfortable 83 here now, and my little 12 volt fan on low is keeping me almost too cool in here at the computer.

[Bethers]

Soos, I thought you had your trailer plugged into electric there? If so, why run the generator for the batteries? If not, make sure you aren't letting the batteries drain all the way in between charges. If you aren't using them, disconnect them.

You probably won't have a problem with the water level, but they still should be checked monthly. Some climates - in the drier climates, especially, they'll be more apt to need filling. And remember, you fill them with distilled water.

Now - everyone- remember to clean your air conditioner filters - monthly now that it's summer and they're being used so much.

[OutandAbout]

Ava, I purchased a Qwik-Fill battery watering system from Camping World. I was not able to lift my battery down off the truck camper, it is too heavy, so filling it was quite a chore. This watering system is great for hard to reach batteries. All you do is replace the bars that you need to remove to add water to the battery and replace with new ones that have a tube running through them. Once in place, another tube is added which is a siphon. Place the end of the siphon into the distilled water and pump the bulb. It does all the work for you and stops when full. There is no over filling (great for me as I couldn't always tell when to stop). You leave these bars on all the time and just have to put the end of the hose into the water. So simple. They come in kits, just the bars, just the siphon thing or both. If you have two batteries, there is also a kit for that. Thought this might be an option for you to look into. Linda

[avalen]

Ava, I purchased a Qwik-Fill battery watering system from Camping World. I was not able to lift my battery down off the truck camper, it is too heavy, so filling it was quite a chore. This watering system is great for hard to reach batteries. All you do is replace the bars that you need to remove to add water to the battery and replace with new ones that have a tube running through them. Once in place, another tube is added which is a siphon. Place the end of the siphon into the distilled water and pump the bulb. It does all the work for you and stops when full. There is no over filling (great for me as I couldn't always tell when to stop). You leave these bars on all the time and just have to put the end of the hose into the water. So simple. They come in kits, just the bars, just the siphon thing or both. If you have two batteries, there is also a kit for that. Thought this might be an option for you to look into. Linda

yes, I've seen those and have wanted a set but never bought any, have that on my list of
wants/needs