A yummy duck sounds scrumptious. You and son will surely have a great meal.
Originally Posted by AndrewP
…there was a power outage for 2 hours between 2:00 and 4:00 which knocked out my CPAP machine.
Maybe along with the light box, Santa could bring a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). I’d be specific when writing your list and ask for a true sine wave type. A 1500 W sized UPS would plug into a regular household receptacle and easily power both a CPAP machine and light box which just plug into the UPS.
Aside from automatically and immediately switching over to the battery, UPS devices also protect from surges and sags in supplied voltage. They provide protection to downstream devices.
My own 3000W UPS powers my computers, wireless router, phone, TV, entertainment system, arcade, water system, and a few other plugs through out the house. I ran specific circuits from the UPS to various strategically placed receptacles in the basement, main floor, and second floor.
If you do decided to ask Santa, have his elves make you one that has black start capabilities. Most UPS only switch over existing load to battery inverted power. You can turn on more things but the UPS has to have something already running when the power goes out. One that can start from zero load is much more versatile. For example, you can home to a dark house make popcorn and watch a movie. Lol. Oh my, what a life.
I guess while I’m rambling on, the non sinusoidal type UPS outputs a chopped stepped waveform. This can be ok for certain devices. However, anything that utilizes the zero crossing of the AC frequency gets pretty messed up. By the way, that’s most of just about anything nowadays. My first UPS utilized a chopped waveform output and the computer fan ran at turbo speed. It quickly got plugged and upgraded before it blew up any internal components within the magical computer box. Lol.
I do wonder if your boss is unwittingly looking for you to stand up to him. To say no and stick to your plans.
I’ve experienced several different bosses over the years and they all splash about in my pool for a time while finding their way. My role is perhaps more defined than your’s. There are clear delimitations of my work and their work. I’ve had to clearly highlight to each and everyone of them where that agreed upon line is. And without fail, each and every one of them has immediately agreed and admitted their overstepping.
I do not know your organization’s structure nor your boss nor your defined role. So, perhaps this is not a strategy or avenue to explore. Even if it is what your boss is looking for, he may not accept it. In my case, there are clear contractual obligations on both sides, which provide the necessary teeth and enforcement of role and duties.
Ah, let go the troubles of work and enjoy the weekend.
Have a great day.
D
Feelings are fleeting. Be better, not bitter. Love the person, forgive the sin.
…there was a power outage for 2 hours between 2:00 and 4:00 which knocked out my CPAP machine.
Maybe along with the light box, Santa could bring a UPS (uninterruptible power supply). I’d be specific when writing your list and ask for a true sine wave type. A 1500 W sized UPS would plug into a regular household receptacle and easily power both a CPAP machine and light box which just plug into the UPS.
I've been debating that along with the possibility of a generator. You definitely know more about this than I do. I do recall that during plant shutdown that we use a generator and that it has to be of a particular type - I was told that we can't use diesel because it doesn't produce the "right sort" of power for the computers.
The bit of reading I've done on using a UPS for a CPAP machine has just been plain confusing as most articles say that it needs to be a special type designed for that type of equipment and not a computer sort. And then usually conveniently have a link to buy one from them for major bucks. I know that I bought a 1500 amp/hours unit for the plant and it was about $300 which certainly is reasonable for the 4 or 5 times / year that it would be triggered.
Generator is probably over-kill especially since I don't want to replace my panel - I only have an 80 amp service. But something that during an outage could run my oil furnace would be nice. It has a switch now to turn it on and off and I have considered putting in a bypass plug of some sort so that I can run an extension cord to the back cellar stairwell where I could safely put a running generator. It wouldn't draw a lot - there's just the oil pump and blower motor to power.
Probably a bit too red-neck hack for the insurance company's comfort though I expect.
Originally Posted by DnJ
I do wonder if your boss is unwittingly looking for you to stand up to him. To say no and stick to your plans.
No. It's that he's right and knows he's right and has already figured out the answer he wants. It's a massive source of frustration for anyone who has ever worked for him. He, I think, is trying harder to accept that others may have other points of view. I had a truck come down to load - having first mis-calculated the tank levels. He was "I wouldn't have done it that way - but do it however you think". He also changes his mind a lot and expects everyone to go along. He's crazy hard-working and very smart and has always been like this - to the frustration of much of the staff. One of my now former colleagues used to complain "if he already knows the answer he wants, why does he bother asking". The clock is ticking though if he's wanting to retire within 3 years. It's a complex operation both on the plant and business side.
Originally Posted by DnJ
Ah, let go the troubles of work and enjoy the weekend.
Getting out and about has helped things quite a bit. My neighbour was pleasantly surprised she said in her text that not only did she get a meatloaf but also a still warm loaf of fresh bread to go along with it.
Time to switch laundry around and start making the pumpkin puree for the pie. I also have much cleaning to do. The downstairs toilet which pretty much never gets used had a build-up of mold in the bowl so the scrub brush and haz-mat gloves need to be gotten out.
On BD H52, W50 T27, M26 S21, D23 BD-9-Mar-16 D-15-Jan-18 Final-19-Apr-18 I am a storyteller. The story may do you no good. But a story is never for the listener. It is always for the one who tells
I was told that we can't use diesel because it doesn't produce the "right sort" of power for the computers.
Nope. Not true.
There is a generator and a primer mover. The primer mover is the “engine” that rotates the generator. Diesel, gas, wind, water, treadmill, whatever, attaches to a generator and spins it. The generator’s bits and bobs - armature, stator or rotor, and such - transformer the rotary energy into electrical energy. This happens as wires cut through the magnetic field or flux.
It’s the generator that produces the “right sort” of power for whatever application. Nice clean power has near constant revolutions per minute, and smoothing capacitance and reactance to give a smooth AC power.
Of course the prime mover has to be large enough for the load and the losses within the system. My group has several 50 kVA units we utilize and a 300 kVA mobile one for powering up a large building in an emergency. That Emergency Center of course has computers, printers, and such. All these generators are diesel fuelled.
Anyhow, if you are seriously looking for a household UPS consider the following:
This is an easy plug and play UPS. It has around ten outlets, easy to change batteries, and given your suspected loading in the middle of the night would power your CPAP machine for a good 200 minutes.
There are of course lesser models with fewer VAhr batteries and therefore less backup time for whatever the given load is. However, if I may suggest:
Run a circuit to your oil furnace and plug it into the UPS. Plug in the CPAP. And maybe a table lamp or two. The computer, wireless router, and cordless phone as well. While the power is on, the UPS just bypasses and powers all the plugged devices. As soon as there is a power failure, or some blip or dip, it next to instantaneously switches over to battery made AC power. You see the UPS is always matching the frequency of the connected utility power and can therefore switch over in milliseconds. The speed of switching to alternate power is so fast that things just keep on running.
Once utility power is restored for a certain timeframe, the UPS will match its frequency output to the utility input and return to normal bypassed mode and recharge the batteries.
A neat feature you might make use of is the USB output which can tell your computer that it is now on backup power and therefore should turn off. This is excellent when a computer is left unattended. You always have electrical surge/sag protection, will never lose data, and will maximize backup runtime by turning off the high use device.
Imagine your furnace and CPAP machine always running no matter what. Well at least for the few few hours of an outage. No need for a generator or extension cords.
Anyhow, that’s a pretty cool gift in my opinion. Besides, what do you get a guy that has everything? Lol.
D
Feelings are fleeting. Be better, not bitter. Love the person, forgive the sin.
I totally fogged on the blower motor in the furnace; I forgot about it while calculating. Sheesh. SMH.
Anyhow, running the blower motor will decrease the UPS backup time much more significantly than the house would cool off in the same time frame. Leave the furnace.
Scope creep strikes again. Lol.
D
Feelings are fleeting. Be better, not bitter. Love the person, forgive the sin.
My son called me yesterday afternoon to let me know that he had a scheduling conflict with Thanksgiving. His mother had texted him saying "looking forward to seeing you Sunday". So we'll be having dinner tomorrow night.
It's all good though - it's just him and I so I certainly can be flexible. I was able to spend the day cleaning and doing some autumn decorating plus a bit more pre-cooking. The pie and bread will be fine sitting another day. I did up one of the stuffing ingredients today.
I'm meeting with a friend for lunch tomorrow 2 hours away so will hustle back and get the duck in the oven. Just the vegetables, dressing and gravy, cheese sauce etc to do. I did warn him that I was expecting him to take leftovers home with him.
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For some reason a song on the radio while I was out gathering cat-tails and tall grasses from the side of the road struck me odd. It was Dolly Parton singing "I will always love you". A lovely rendition by a true musical treasure. Will I ever love again? Post divorce and during at least part of my past dating adventures, I certainly believed it to be possible. Now? I really am not feeling it. That part of me that wanted to love seems absent. I was deeply in love with my wife which is in no small part how I ended up on these shores arguing with everyone. That love is certainly over but if I dig, I can remember what it felt like.
One thing that - I like to think is positive - is that I'm certainly no longer looking to replace what I had which I suppose means not finding those feelings too (?) As a storyteller at heart, while I can see the narrative of new love in others, I can't see that path myself. There are things I wish I had in my life. Someone to share experiences with, someone to cuddle on a snowy weekend morning, someone to explore the issues of every-day existence and random weird ideas. But I cannot see what that person looks like, nor how they would fit into what is to be honest, a pretty good life.
There's a concept from earlier in my journey - holding space for someone. And conversely that person having a space for me within them. I held open the space for my now XW for quite a long time but that space is gone with no for-let sign on it.
Ah well - enough rambling for a Sunday evening. It's going to be a busy day tomorrow and a busy week coming up.
'Nite all.
On BD H52, W50 T27, M26 S21, D23 BD-9-Mar-16 D-15-Jan-18 Final-19-Apr-18 I am a storyteller. The story may do you no good. But a story is never for the listener. It is always for the one who tells
I have every confidence Andrew that you can love again. But you might not experience limerance or infatuation in quite the same naive way. That’s actually a good thing. You’ll make better choices if not blinded by naive infatuation.
That’s not to say you might not date someone who makes your heart race. Just that you’ll likely be more able to see with clear eyes.
What you wrote really resonated with me Andrew. I have been thinking similar thoughts recently. I like to think that I could fall in love again but I definitely worry that I’m just not capable of it anymore. Maybe this is the natural fallout when someone you love and trust betrays you? Or maybe it’s because I’ve been home sick all week and binge watching the show Catfish. If you want to watch a show that makes you question people’s intentions and integrity, that’s the one to watch.
My best friend has a neighbor - woman about 60. Her husband died in a motor vehicle accident about 3-4 years ago. She should be getting a good settlement eventually (truck hit her husband, belongs to large corporation with deep pockets) but doesn’t have much money now. Overweight, arthritic. Not a healthy or unusually attractive woman.
“Met” some guy online - he’s supposedly based in Northern California, but conveniently “working” on a construction project for his business in a foreign country. Always an excuse why he has to reschedule planned visits. Has her believing he’s going to marry her (they’ve never met in person!). She’s even gone shopping for a wedding dress!
My friend said something to her early on but she’s in total denial. And my friend hasn’t pushed it, for two reasons. One, she’s related to the owners of the apartment building where my friend has lived for twenty years, and she doesn’t want to risk getting on the wrong side of the landlord. Also, this “romance” has motivated the woman to walk regularly and lose some weight, so my friend thinks it is doing her some good (although the devastation when she figures it out will not be worth it!).
This week, the second half of the Hidden Brain podcast was about a very similar story. Heartbreaking.
It’s a good idea to use a reverse image search on photos of potential dates. (I used to use tineye, now I think google also has a reverse image search). Lonely people can be really vulnerable to these scams.
It’s a good idea to use a reverse image search on photos of potential dates. (I used to use tineye, now I think google also has a reverse image search). Lonely people can be really vulnerable to these scams.
On my local sites there are more than a few obviously fake photos on both sides of the attractiveness scale. One that made me laugh still had the watermark from the free site it was downloaded from.
I just had a browse and really felt no urge at all to reach out to any of those people. "C" is probably on a slow road - haven't heard from her for a couple of weeks and she's still wrapped up in her divorce. It's still uncertain on if she would be a healthy person for me to allow to exit the friend zone. "P" I consider a friend but her politics is far too radical for my liking and she knows that I hold very different views. She did enjoy the fresh bread and meatloaf and I was pleased and slightly surprised that she is actually abiding by the quarantine rules.
It's good in some ways that I'm at a point where finding a new partner isn't really high on my priority list. I also have enough belief in myself (now) that someone would have to be local. I am pretty confident that I am personally safe from such things. The one person who I consider my rebound was a long distance friend and it was well understood that pen-pals was as far as anything would go. I worked through a lot of issues back then regarding my self-worth and attractiveness.
I'm sure there's a lonely farm girl out there who brings together compatible qualities. As my father's little poem went "A farmer's life is full of strife.
Thanks be to God I've got a muscular wife"
- Gotta run.
On BD H52, W50 T27, M26 S21, D23 BD-9-Mar-16 D-15-Jan-18 Final-19-Apr-18 I am a storyteller. The story may do you no good. But a story is never for the listener. It is always for the one who tells
You are a wise man, so you probably already know this, but the national treasure that is Dolly Parton actually wrote "I Will Always Love You". She's just so multi-talented it is beyond amazing. I don't say this about celebrities a lot but she is totally my hero. I have heard her interviewed a gazillion times and she has said a good bit that she is always surprised when people choose that for a wedding song because if you listen to the words, it is not about loving someone forever, but about having lost someone that you loved. Interesting..... I could go on about Dolly forever.
I might be biased, but I TOTALLY think you should find a farm girl. Us farm girls need good, decent, loving men to share our lives with.
What you said about not even knowing if you would find love again resonated with the Dawn from a few years ago. I spent a year really working on myself after my XH walked away and in that time, I became quite comfortable with maybe being single was my station in life. When Sparky came along, I was taken by surprise, quite honestly. We had a slow build to our initial friendship and then once we met in person (we talked via text and phone longer than either of us would've liked since his dad was in the hospital and died kind of suddenly, so that put our actual face to face meeting back a bit), it was just this easy comfort like we had known each other forever and we just clicked from the beginning. I know I have said all this on my own posts, but I was actually dating someone else too, which was VERY unusual for me, when Sparky and I first met, but it didn't take me long to ditch that other one in favor of giving it a whirl with Sparky and the rest is history.
I adore you, Andrew, and I hope and pray literally every day that the good Lord favors you with a decent woman to share your life with. Who knows what will happen?
Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. Your meal sounded fantastic. Can't wait to see pics!
Me 52, H53 Bomb drop 9/29/2014 Divorce from XH final 12/17/2014 Marriage #2 12/31/2019 5 adult (step)daughters (3 from XH's first marriage, 2 from current H's previous relationships) 6 grandkids
