Dalmatian90
Addicted to ArboristSite
*sigh*
I couldn't even get a pile of brush to burn decently using 1/2 gallon of waste oil and 2 gallons of Kerosene (think it was just too "loose" for the heat fire to feedback on itself).
But let's backup to Friday.
Wake up, log on to work (usually work from home)...boss and co-worker have been up all night with a system that died at 11pm. It's designed to withstand two hard drives failing at once...we managed to lose three. One completely, and two with "read errors" that was preventing it from re-configuring itself properly.
Shouldn't be a major problem...we have a contract for HP to get us new parts within 4 hours, and they usually do. Around dawn they finally told my boss it would be Monday.
I make some calls for him, I find used hard drives in New England. Boss goes to pick those up, I head up to the Data Center. Plan is I'll get the parts from him then take over the recover so he can go get some sleep.
55 of the 60 miles to the data center, my AM/FM radio dies...look at dash...ah shoot. Pickup cell phone, "Hey Boss, I think my alternator died...trying but not sure if I'll make it."
Got to within a mile.
Ok, so whip out my AAA card that expires 2011. "Hi AAA...ah, um, really? Seriously? You send cards before the bill is paid? Guess that explains why I have a card that says expires 2011 and I haven't seen a renewal notice..." Renew AAA. I had Plus RV which gives me like 150 mile tows specifically for situations like this. Tow truck gets me off the highway, he's adjusting...gets the ticket from AAA, they only renew for Basic. So I end up in the hole for a $120 membership renewal and another $168 for the balance of the tow home.
*sigh*
Put the battery on the charger, has 14.4 Volts when freshly charged and truck is running, but within a half hour it dies and I'm down to 10v. So much for my hope it was just the serpentine belt slipping (unlikely, but I could hope
). With 222,000 on the serpentine it was on my list to do before cold weather, I'll replace it with the alternator...but I can wait till payday to handle that. Got groceries, can work from home all week, time to hunker down.
Puts a hole in my original plan to haul down three loads of firewood between Fri-Sat-Sun. Kind of wish I had a small generator, I'd through that and the battery charger in the truck.
Go to mow the lawn. Good news is I got 90% of what I wanted to mow mowed, bad news is my mower deck that I've been babying since August finally gave up the ghost. (I mow close to two acres with a 20 year old Toro commercial walk behind...hopefully I can one with a compatible deck on CL in the spring, or I'll probably buy another old commercial walk behind).
Switch the battery charger over the Volvo 240 I haven't had registered in five years. Been keeping it just in case the Ranger blew an engine or something since I could put it on the road again fairly cheaply. Love the car, just don't have any other use for it so it's probably time to sell it...now that I'm working steady again if the Ranger blows an engine the fix is spelled, "F-250."
While that's charging I fire up the Ranger and back up to the edge of my yard to clean up some more down trees, nothing major, maybe an 1/8th of a cord.
For tomorrow: "Hi Geico, that full glass coverage...does it include caps?"
Yeah, I managed to have a small piece slip out of my hand and take out the open lift gate of my cap. That made a mess.
Finish picking up downed tree.
Go check out the Volvo, way the battery charger is acting and how it acts when I try to turn it over, I figure the battery is totally shot. Which is understandable...car may not have moved in three years. Someday later this week I'll throw the truck battery in it to move it down to the lower field where it'll be easier to show to sell / flatbed / whatever.
So, for once, I'm actually looking forward to Monday because the stars have to move into a better alignment soon
I couldn't even get a pile of brush to burn decently using 1/2 gallon of waste oil and 2 gallons of Kerosene (think it was just too "loose" for the heat fire to feedback on itself).
But let's backup to Friday.
Wake up, log on to work (usually work from home)...boss and co-worker have been up all night with a system that died at 11pm. It's designed to withstand two hard drives failing at once...we managed to lose three. One completely, and two with "read errors" that was preventing it from re-configuring itself properly.
Shouldn't be a major problem...we have a contract for HP to get us new parts within 4 hours, and they usually do. Around dawn they finally told my boss it would be Monday.
I make some calls for him, I find used hard drives in New England. Boss goes to pick those up, I head up to the Data Center. Plan is I'll get the parts from him then take over the recover so he can go get some sleep.
55 of the 60 miles to the data center, my AM/FM radio dies...look at dash...ah shoot. Pickup cell phone, "Hey Boss, I think my alternator died...trying but not sure if I'll make it."
Got to within a mile.
Ok, so whip out my AAA card that expires 2011. "Hi AAA...ah, um, really? Seriously? You send cards before the bill is paid? Guess that explains why I have a card that says expires 2011 and I haven't seen a renewal notice..." Renew AAA. I had Plus RV which gives me like 150 mile tows specifically for situations like this. Tow truck gets me off the highway, he's adjusting...gets the ticket from AAA, they only renew for Basic. So I end up in the hole for a $120 membership renewal and another $168 for the balance of the tow home.
*sigh*
Put the battery on the charger, has 14.4 Volts when freshly charged and truck is running, but within a half hour it dies and I'm down to 10v. So much for my hope it was just the serpentine belt slipping (unlikely, but I could hope
). With 222,000 on the serpentine it was on my list to do before cold weather, I'll replace it with the alternator...but I can wait till payday to handle that. Got groceries, can work from home all week, time to hunker down.Puts a hole in my original plan to haul down three loads of firewood between Fri-Sat-Sun. Kind of wish I had a small generator, I'd through that and the battery charger in the truck.
Go to mow the lawn. Good news is I got 90% of what I wanted to mow mowed, bad news is my mower deck that I've been babying since August finally gave up the ghost. (I mow close to two acres with a 20 year old Toro commercial walk behind...hopefully I can one with a compatible deck on CL in the spring, or I'll probably buy another old commercial walk behind).
Switch the battery charger over the Volvo 240 I haven't had registered in five years. Been keeping it just in case the Ranger blew an engine or something since I could put it on the road again fairly cheaply. Love the car, just don't have any other use for it so it's probably time to sell it...now that I'm working steady again if the Ranger blows an engine the fix is spelled, "F-250."
While that's charging I fire up the Ranger and back up to the edge of my yard to clean up some more down trees, nothing major, maybe an 1/8th of a cord.
For tomorrow: "Hi Geico, that full glass coverage...does it include caps?"
Yeah, I managed to have a small piece slip out of my hand and take out the open lift gate of my cap. That made a mess.
Finish picking up downed tree.
Go check out the Volvo, way the battery charger is acting and how it acts when I try to turn it over, I figure the battery is totally shot. Which is understandable...car may not have moved in three years. Someday later this week I'll throw the truck battery in it to move it down to the lower field where it'll be easier to show to sell / flatbed / whatever.
So, for once, I'm actually looking forward to Monday because the stars have to move into a better alignment soon
