Christmas Snow

stinky64 · Dec 18, 2020

Growing up in Buffalo, now living 40 miles southeast in wyoming county, still the snow belt depending on how the wind blows off that big puddle we call Erie, we get surprised every now and then...last Big One I got stranded at my mom's house for 3 days...7 feet of snow overnight..good thing I get along with my mom...here in wny as in Willie B's backyard most folks are prepared for this crap..plenty of grub in the freezer, generators or some kind of heaters in case the power quits..I thought it was comical when I escaped from my mom's driveway that last storm,after the state of emergency was lifted and stores were opened, that just about everyone I saw dragging a sled down the newly opened roads were not stocking up on edible provisions, but most sleds were loaded with boxes of beer...some for me and some for the neighbor down the street who couldn't get out...now that's why they call Buffalo the city of good neighbors.

Luckily we dodged the bullet this time, but as long as the lake is wide open....hold on to your hat it's coming our way sooner or later...

cuttin edge · Dec 18, 2020

Grandfather always said, milk and eggs in the barn, molasses in the jug, and lots of flower in the barrel

Tones · Dec 18, 2020

Snow falling in the US.
Pine Cones falling on Oz https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2721374381506390&set=a.1814484185528752

CM1995 · Dec 18, 2020

boone said:
Better get your bread and milk. LOL

More like whiskey and a generator - gotta have priorities.

Willie B · Dec 18, 2020

CM1995 said:
More like whiskey and a generator - gotta have priorities.

I sell generators, but my emergency machine is a Miller Bobcat 250. I start it if the refrigeration needs to catch up.
Heat, water, cooking, and sewage don't require electricity. Gas lighting is a fun novelty, like remote camps in my youth.

Now, a bottle of good bourbon would be a nice touch, I like ice in it.

Dad talked of good everclear he got when training in the south before going to Italy in World War 2. He longed for the stuff. Up here, closest we come is apple brandy made from cider.

stinky64 · Dec 19, 2020

You crappin' in an outhouse Willie? Or you have one of them fancy digester systems?

T-town · Dec 19, 2020

He must have a conventional drain field..?? all gravity flow. Which by the way is the first question on the plumbers test..... answer "crap runs downhill"

I just had our prop in NE Pa perk tested. The inspector liked my dirt! Said you can tell a ton about drainage thru soil just by the colors in the soil strata. Ours tested for the smallest sand mound (sq. ft.) you can have.... so my material cost will be lower( which of course is a relative term for sure).

I asked him how many will test for a conventional system and he said maybe 2 out of 500. Here in Pa you need 60 inches of good soil for that.

I hit bedrock at 30 inches in my test hole...... which I thought was good considering I'm just off the top of a ridge.

Swetz · Dec 19, 2020

Willie B, Would snow work in that bourbon...I mean in a pinch

.

Believe it or not, we still have everclear in NJ..It is basically 99% alcohol. Gotta be careful with it, it will instantly disintegrate a foam cup, and in 5 min will eat through a wax covered paper cup...good stuff, buts makes people do crazy stuff...LOL In PA they have it too, but is not as high proof. I guess they water it down.

Willie B · Dec 19, 2020

stinky64 said:
You crappin' in an outhouse Willie? Or you have one of them fancy digester systems?

No, no outhouse. I have just a basic system I built.
Most of my customers have pumped septic. No electricity, they'd have to use a bucket.
One customer is on a lake. The previous owner replaced the septic system, leased land from owner on the other side of the road. Spent about $100,000. He died young, his sister tore down his camp. She built a house. I'll guess it has something to do with planning board in the town, she installed a hybrid toilet. It flushes the liquid, but bags up the $hit. Dealing with bags of $hit the rest of your life does NOT appeal to me!
With all the rules these days what does one do with all the bags?

Willie B · Dec 19, 2020

T-town said:
He must have a conventional drain field..?? all gravity flow. Which by the way is the first question on the plumbers test..... answer "crap runs downhill"

I just had our prop in NE Pa perk tested. The inspector liked my dirt! Said you can tell a ton about drainage thru soil just by the colors in the soil strata. Ours tested for the smallest sand mound (sq. ft.) you can have.... so my material cost will be lower( which of course is a relative term for sure).

I asked him how many will test for a conventional system and he said maybe 2 out of 500. Here in Pa you need 60 inches of good soil for that.

I hit bedrock at 30 inches in my test hole...... which I thought was good considering I'm just off the top of a ridge.

I used to say $hit runs downhill. Now, by state law, it runs uphill, but that isn't the plumber's problem, it's the electrician's.

Willie B · Dec 19, 2020

Swetz said:
Willie B, Would snow work in that bourbon...I mean in a pinch.

Believe it or not, we still have everclear in NJ..It is basically 99% alcohol. Gotta be careful with it, it will instantly disintegrate a foam cup, and in 5 min will eat through a wax covered paper cup...good stuff, buts makes people do crazy stuff...LOL In PA they have it too, but is not as high proof. I guess they water it down.

I believe it mostly gets watered before it is sold. A bit of gunpower on the edge of a plate, a teaspoon of liquor, leaving the powder dry. Light the powder. If it continues to burn with a nearly invisible flame it is over 50% alcohol, or 100 proof. The term proof comes from proving the alcohol content. I have a friend distills it three times, he gets to 160 proof (80% alcohol).

T-town · Dec 19, 2020

I've read that humanity learned the process of distillation and its use in separating alcohol long before we new how to make soap......
........ priorities

Swetz · Dec 19, 2020

Well I was wrong...The everclear is only 95% alcohol. Luckily I have a bottle in case the power goes off

.

cuttin edge · Dec 19, 2020

an old bartender here, long retired. He was in the Canadian navy. At one time, we actually had 3 aircraft carriers, the Bonaventure was the last one. He was an airframe tec, or aircraft mechanic. Not sure about today, but the Canadian navy used to let you drink on board ship. I think you were aloud an alotment of black rum a day. He said that when it was your birthday, your friends would gear you up with a bottle under your coat and a funnel. When they were given their cup from the XO, they would shake your hand as they passed by, wish you a happy birthday, and spill their cup into the funnel. Anyway he said one of the rotational duties was to report to the ships Dr and he would give you a stainless steel bowl filled with pure alcohol, to wash down everything in the room. It was your job to save as much as possible to get back to your bunk mates. Anything for a drink I guess. There was an incident where someone took alcohol from the air craft bay, not knowing it was poison, a few sailors died.

Swetz · Dec 19, 2020

cuttin edge, My father-in-law was on the USS Renishaw in WWII. He told me the guys would drink the torpedo juice, which in turn killed them too.

NH575E · Dec 19, 2020

If I lived up there I think I would spring for a fully automated whole house generator.

Being down here most of my outages occur in not so cold weather and it's never really bad enough I can't get outside to get it started. I got in before the price increase frenzy and got myself a military surplus MEP 803A. By the time i had it connected to the house with an interlock on the panel I was all in at two grand.

Swetz · Dec 19, 2020

NH575E, WOW, you really stole that unit!

When I live full time in PA I plan on an automated whole house unit that runs on propane. They aren't cheap tho!

Willy B, You say you install them...Who makes a good one these days? Would you recommend liquid cooled? I will be getting propane because we don't have natural gas here.

colson04 · Dec 19, 2020

I haven't done a darn thing to prep for winter aside from draining certain water lines that are freeze protected. Now that I say that, I'll get burned by it. Suppose I better start getting prepared for winter around here.

@Willie B , great pics of the snow. Reminds me of when I lived in the UP. Lots of heavy snow that never melted until April.

Willie B · Dec 19, 2020

Swetz said:
NH575E, WOW, you really stole that unit!

When I live full time in PA I plan on an automated whole house unit that runs on propane. They aren't cheap tho!

Willy B, You say you install them...Who makes a good one these days? Would you recommend liquid cooled? I will be getting propane because we don't have natural gas here.

Generac is the brand I sell. They make a great machine. They build their own engines optimized for long run time @ 3600 RPM.
Briggs is competitively priced, but even regular service requires a good deal of disassembly. They use the same engine used on all sorts of other stuff, I do not consider a great engine. Briggs is vertical, any oil leakage ends up in the generator.

I prefer the air cooled twin cylinder Generacs. Liquid cooled are very costly.

Swetz · Dec 19, 2020

Thanks Willie B!
When I am ready I will focus on Generac. Don't like the idea of oil leaking into the generator head!

Christmas Snow

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