Random thoughts thread

Almost all of my food minus sandwiches requires electricity to prepare. Every hurricane season I worry about what else I’m going to eat if the power goes out for an extended time. I did have a bunch of food spoil one year.
 
Desertnate- I do have to say that our dogs definitely prefer riding in the Tahoe (one rear seat removed, no third row, all set up for them back there). When we had the minivan and wagons they`d make their preference known, ambling over to the SUV as if to say "aw, let`s take this one instead". The Yukon XL came in handy when traveling with them, but yeah..usually bigger than we needed, and the Blazer was a bit tight, but the older Tahoe is just right.

Liz@Autopia- That ~13 years sounds like a pretty good run for a dog that size (not that we ever get long enough). Sounds like he acted more Ridgeback than Retriever, being so mellow.
 
Accumulator said:
Liz@Autopia- That ~13 years sounds like a pretty good run for a dog that size (not that we ever get long enough). Sounds like he acted more Ridgeback than Retriever, being so mellow.
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Sam was a sweet mutt for sure. He definitely was all lab when he got near the water though. We`re not really sure what his life was like before he came to us but I think we made the last half of it alright.

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After the heartbreak you always swear you won`t do it again but life is too short not to have a dog in it for too long, so about a year ago we brought home Bruce. :)


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Accumulator said:
BudgetPlan1- Ah, I gather your power goes out frequently?

Ours is seldom out more than 12-18 hours and that only happens a few times/year now. It used to be out more frequently and for a lot longer (over a week one winter).
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It seems to go out more frequently lately, mostly just on our cul-de-sac due to lotsa high winds and trees everywhere. Not all the time but 5-6 times a year is enough that the cost of generator makes sense to me to avoid inconvenience.

I`m kinda spoiled I guess, and no electricity really gets on my nerves. We agreed/signed contract on November 1st and today was first avaliable install date so these guys are booked out 8-10 weeks in advance. We`ve probably got 12-16 houses down at our end of street, about 8 have had these units installed over the past 5 years.

We live in a pretty small house and when they came with proposal they said 13kw would be good; I responded with "What`s the next size up just to be sure" so we`re going with 16kw. You know, in case I wanna run central AC, pool pump, dishwasher, microwave, washer and dryer while baking cookies in the oven when the power goes out.

They called last week to schedule install; 4hrs later storm rolls thru and power goes out for a while. This is my life...
 
Liz@Autopia said:
The lab/ridgeback mix was pretty tall so he was used to being one of the bigger regulars at the dog park until one day when someone brought an 8 month old Great Dane puppy that was already bigger than him. He was theoretically 7 when we got him and we had him for 6 years before he passed away, so he was a pretty mellow older guy at that point and wasn`t quite sure what to make of that giant ball of puppy energy. I can`t imagine trying to get that one in a hatchback. :)
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When we brought our girl home at 11 weeks, she was already 40+ pounds and the size of a full grown cocker spaniel but taller. By 1 year she hit 100 pounds and over 40 inches tall...at the shoulders...and was still growing! We used to take her to the dog park, but between owners not dealing with agression issues and the problems of other dogs not knowing what to make of a 100lb puppy, we stopped going. This led to the doggie day care where the dogs are all carefully screened before being accepted and plenty of supervsion, not to mention she has fun two days a week while we`re at work/school.

Getting her into the GTI isn`t too bad. I used to lay down the rear seat and put her in through the rear hatch, but I`d have to pick up her hind end to get her in. Not fun at 160lbs. Now I simply let her climb onto the back seat where she sits like a person on the seat and rests her head on my shoulder, or lays down across the ENTIRE back seat.

Accumulator said:
Desertnate- I do have to say that our dogs definitely prefer riding in the Tahoe (one rear seat removed, no third row, all set up for them back there). When we had the minivan and wagons they`d make their preference known, ambling over to the SUV as if to say "aw, let`s take this one instead". The Yukon XL came in handy when traveling with them, but yeah..usually bigger than we needed, and the Blazer was a bit tight, but the older Tahoe is just right.

Liz@Autopia- That ~13 years sounds like a pretty good run for a dog that size (not that we ever get long enough). Sounds like he acted more Ridgeback than Retriever, being so mellow.
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There is no way we`d take more than one Dane in my car, or even our girl on a long trip, but for short trips it works just fine. I just find it humorous when people around here think they need the largest vehicle on the market to haul the smallest pets and a single small child. Our Dane does like our Highlander much better due to the extra room and seems confused when I tell her to get in my car. I`ll get this side glace saying, "are you sure?", followed by a non chalant stroll over to the back door of my car.
 
Liz@autopia and Desertnate- I always enjoy posts about dogs, and seeing them here at Autopia puts to rest the notion that you can`t keep a dog-hauler nice.

We`ve never been completely dog-less, though we are still between cats (never realized how much work one cat could be until we didn`t have one).

Wonder if anybody else has trained their dog(s) to differentiate between vehicles..."Crown Vic" vs. "vehicle" (i.e., the Tahoe) makes sense to ours.

BudgetPlan1- Your elect. issues sound like how ours was for a long time, though we`d often be out for several days or more. Not so bad recently. When we looked into a backup generator it got crazy-expensive right away (Oh the joys of this house; watch what you wish for) so we said "never mind"...
 
Accumulator said:
Wonder if anybody else has trained their dog(s) to differentiate between vehicles..."Crown Vic" vs. "vehicle" (i.e., the Tahoe) makes sense to ours.
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I think our dog knows based on who she`s with and their behavior. When it`s my wife, she heads for the big vehicle. When she`s with me, she heads for the small one when we are leaving home. When I pick her up, she`s sometimes confused as to where to go because she`s looking for my wife`s car (the person who picks her up 90% of the time). However, once I start walking towards my car she quickly figures it out and tucks right in next to me where she belongs. Occasionally I`ll have to say something to catch her attention, but I can`t remember the last time I had to guide her by her leash. She`s not the smartest animal, but she watches behaviors closely and follows our lead.
 
So I was abruptly awoken this morning by the sound of a big electrical bang and everything off in my room. I figured a transformer blew, but when I walked out into the main house I could hear the fridge running, but the lights wouldn`t come on? Oh this ain`t good at all. Walked down to the basement to the electrical panel and saw two breaker tripped. Eh, no biggie. Tried resetting the breaker to my outlets and instead tripped instantly (dead short). Shoot... Tried the lighting circuit and as soon as I was greeted by the sound of a buzz-pop-and bang! Come to find out we had a major power surge in town, and the noise that woke me up was the surge protector for my computer blowing up, literally. The only outlet on the lighting circuit had to be in my room with the protector for my alarm clock and phone chargers. Luckily it only took out my two surge protectors and not the equipment plugged into it. Also lost my "radio" in the garage. I`ve had those almost 20 years... Grandmothers house next door it took out all of her surge protectors! Normally I`m used to them tripping, but they literally went up in smoke! Apparently the water line over there wasn`t grounded like I thought. Getting word that all over town peoples stuff are fried; sounds like we got lucky.
 
Wow! I`ve heard of surges when power is restored after an outage, but nothing on the scale you`re talking about. Blowing out appliances and surge protectors all over town is a huge surge! Home/renters insurance companies won`t be happy.

This sounds like the electrical version of the gas company near Boston who blew up all those people`s homes this fall.
 
Yea apparently a tree cutting company was cutting down trees and one fell on the power line causing two lines to connect. They did it twice, luckily my stuff was still unplugged as I was trying to sleep and didn`t want to deal with it earlier.
 
I have been planing to add a whole house surge protection system hooked directly to the main panel. Guess I should get off my butt and do it.
 
Accumulator said:
Nizmo- Gee, I`m surprised the Tree Service was that incompetent! Even the, uhm...low end...ones in my area do better than that.
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Can you imagine what was running though the mind of the person doing the cutting! I`m sure the limb appeared to fall in slow motion and they knew immediatly nothing good was going to happen from then on.
 
Desertnate- Heh heh, *if* he was paying any attention :D

I do have a lot of respect for those guys, that`s one high-risk profession and/but it sometimes attracts, uhm...the wrong people. The diffs between my (good, if pricey) Tree Guys and the [individuals] my neighbor used was downright incredible..."gee, Tony, you aren`t gonna *pay* them for that are you?!?" :rolleyes:
 
These posts remind me to get some trees trimmed this coming spring. I have to find someone who won’t try to pull a fast one on me like the guy did last year.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBGqLJ9UbRs

Gotta love ths guy... about two minutes in is where the good stuff starts.

"The car has never been in an accident. It has been sideswiped and half the car was repainted"

"It only has minor rust, just a few spots"

"It runs great, I`ve takeng good care of it. The next owner might want to look at a new catalytic converter if they want or some 02 sensors" - followed by "Oh yeah, the check engine light comes on sometimes, its only important if it is flashing"

And lots of other good stuff. Yeah, yeah, I know its a $2k car, but come on....just be honest.
 
Bill D said:
These posts remind me to get some trees trimmed this coming spring. I have to find someone who won’t try to pull a fast one on me like the guy did last year.
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Unfortunately that kind of misbehavior is very common in that industry. In my area, the reputable outfits cost a bundle; my last tree service bill was more than I paid for the Crown Vic.
 
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