We Have The Power!

Okay, I just couldn't resist. Sorry. If you're anywhere near my age, you remember exactly how He-Man used to say this, back in the 80's.

Anyway, our favorite electrician (who happens to share the name of an 80's pop singer! How fun! Exact same spelling, even!) came down to the ranch on Saturday. And found the problem with the electric line in about 10 minutes. Can you imagine. We've been without power in half of our house for Almost Eight (8) WEEKS. That is almost two months, people, of living with an extension cord trailing down the hall to a lamp in the bathroom, then moving the lamp-with-extension-cord into H-Bomb's room for story time, and unplugging lamp from same extension cord in order to attach it to the microwave oven. (and hoping no one has to go to the bathroom in the two minutes it takes to nuke a burrito or what-have-you). No lights whatsoever in the bathroom, living room or playroom. Almost TWO MONTHS.

>>>Here is an aside. Why did we only have the one extension cord? Well, I did try to buy one for the microwave, but I got it home and it wasn't a three-prong cord, so it wouldn't work. We didn't want to overload the circuits we still had with a bunch of extension cords. We needed the long cord to reach from the kitchen to the bathroom, so we just made do--we just dragged it back over to the microwave when we needed it, fairly infrequently. When you live down here for an extended period of time, you just learn to make do with things for a while, until they can get fixed. It seems like it is always something. Some people don't understand this.<<<

So the electrician, whom I suggested we call, oh about two months ago, located the problem in ten minutes: evidently one of the electrical wires running from the generator had gotten nicked, who knows when or how. But likely Wifey's obsessive over-watering this summer (there is still standing water, less than a foot underground, and we live in the freaking desert. Obsessive, I say firmly. Too much!) exacerbated the problem, said the electrician. Likely sped up the corrosion process. The wire completely corroded until it no longer made the connection, which is why we lost half our power. Here is part of the offending wire:


The electrician had the problem completely fixed in less than two hours. It would have saved so much if we had been allowed to call him in the first place. Now there are holes everywhere along the electrical line, dug by CG's brothers, that Number One must fill. Luckily we lost only one lamp when someone tripped over the extension cord, and no one cut their little foot on light bulb fragments.

So anyway. We have power now, everywhere we need it. Just in time for Thanksgiving. Wahoo!

And incidentally, the electrician commented that the contractor (small town!) had given him the plans for our addition, but he didn't realize it was for our addition. So electrician said he would get on the bid for the electrical portion, since the job is for us! Power and Progress too!

The State of the Ranch: Good and Bad

If I sat down and listed every single thing that is currently wrong with our house, I believe I would lose my mind, so I’ll just list a few. To give you an idea. I haven’t blogged in a while, so please bear with me. Or skim through, whatever. There a couple good things in here too. (Trust me, there really are!)

We are still, apparently, waiting on a bid from the contractor to complete our addition. We were prepared to wait, but MONTHS AGO when ABEG said to “Go Ahead” we got excited. For nothing. So now we are somewhat frustrated about the lack of progress.

The new front door the contractor installed during Phase I, but did not finish on the inside, you remember, the one that fell off the hinges a couple days later? Or maybe I was so mad about that one I didn’t even tell you. Anyway, now it doesn’t close unless you lift up on the handle. Hard. And if you want to lock the deadbolt? Forgetaboutit. You have to not only lift up the door but align the deadbolt with the hole, and then the doorknob thingie doesn’t line up. Whee. Also, even if the door is closed, you can kick it open. I tried it the other day when Sawed Off accidentally locked me out. It’s good for relieving aggression, but not so good when you’re thinking about being home by yourself. Deadbolt it is. I’ll have to add it to Number One’s list.

Our siding is not yet completed. We were waiting for the satellite internet dude to make it over here, and he finally did over the weekend. Now we can have someone finish installing the siding and seal it all before the snow flies! I am so glad I pushed to have the old chinking removed and the logs resealed before the siding went on—there was a significant, noticeable reduction in the number of elm beetles in our house!

Also, we currently have only half of our electricity. Meaning, half of the breakers in our breaker box don’t work. Luckily it is the inconsequential half, if you don’t count the bathroom light fixture. The theory is that there is a break in the line, somewhere underground, and we have yet to find it. Some of the wires from the generator may be shorted out underground, which would theoretically explain why we only have partial power. It’s just a theory.

Right now we have no power/lights in our bathroom, no power in the hall outlets (but thankfully at least one light in the hallway), no power/lights in H-Bomb’s room, no power/lights in the playroom, only half power (no lights) in the living room (thank goodness it didn’t affect the television!) I haven’t checked all the outlets, or the lights in the garage, but thankfully none of our appliances (2 fridges + 1 freezer) were affected.

Many of the other buildings are affected as well, the bunkhouse has untold fixtures/outlets that aren’t working; RanchHand and Wifey were running extension cords to their fridge and microwave; there is power out in the barn and some outbuildings. CG’s house seems to be unaffected, but she is on a different underground line from the rest of us.

CG’s brothers were here, trying to fix the electrical line, but they didn’t have the right equipment or couldn’t find the problem or possibly both. Who knows how long this will go on before CG breaks down and hires an electrician?

Her brothers did temporarily fix RanchHand and Wifey’s electricity by rewiring their breakers. When I found out about this, quite by accident, I was upset that the same service was not offered to us. We are running an extension cord from the kitchen (nearest working outlet) to the bathroom for a small lamp on the counter, near the sink—not exactly a kid-friendly setup! I spoke my mind this past weekend, and when I overheard one of the brothers discussing the situation with CG, “it could be another two weeks…” and she said “Oh, that’s FINE” without a second thought, I could not contain myself. I explained our bathroom situation, and asked that our breakers be rewired also. Brother was supposed to come down in the morning to address it.

The next morning, Brother did come down. And when he suggested re-wiring the entire breaker box, so we’d have all our power back, I asked what the risks might be. He said the box could get “hot” or the breakers could trip. I spoke with Number One, and we decided to just live with it. Brother said rewiring wouldn’t be too difficult, and we’d put the wires back in place it when the whole line is fixed, but with us not being here, we just said forget it.

I think I was just upset on principal, anyway. It’s not like we aren’t managing, and by now we’re so used to having things going wrong in our house On A Daily Basis that, a lamp in the bathroom? An extension cord running down the hall? Not a big deal. But the fact that someone else got their power “fixed” and we weren’t even offered or considered for the same deal? That’s enough to make this cowgirl fume.

It doesn't help much that Number One is constantly on the mountain these days, and we miss him. The other day when Sawed Off said, “Wan go moun wit you, Dada” (translation: Want to go to the mountain with you, Dada). Number One was getting choked up. He misses us too. Soon the fall gather will be complete and he will be here with us, and maybe even be able to come to town with us too.

H-Bomb has been playing and loving soccer, he has even kicked the ball a few times in the games. That’s all he needs to get excited! “Mommy! I kicked the ball THREE TIMES tonight!” Number One has only missed one game (he’s been doing a lot of driving to come down for the games: a two- or three-hour drive from the mountain plus almost an hour to town, and back).

H-Bomb is so proud whenever anyone comes to see his games. A couple weeks ago, he had even more spectators: his Grandpa and our famous cartoonist friend from France, Jean-Claude Mezieres. Grandpa drove Jean-Claude down from the airport, and Grandpa stayed the night at the town house. Jean-Claude is staying at the ranch, in our camper, for a month, I will post more about him next. We love Jean-Claude. We are going to visit him in Paris and at his country house. Very soon.

I have been canning pear and apple jams and butters (in my spare time!) and am getting ready to move on to salsa. It is almost time to harvest all the tomatoes—green and all—before the frost comes. I need to get busy. I made just one pear pie (…sniff…) before the pears got too ripe…I wanted to try freezing the pies, but I just didn’t have time.

I also have a list a mile long of things to do in and around the house, which may or may not get done. The leaves have mostly turned on the mountain, making our drive home spectacular. Except for when a deer ran out and struck our van in the side the other day. I’m not even kidding. We need to get the van fixed now too!

Some days H-Bomb says he wants to be a skeleton for Halloween, which would make my job a heck of a lot easier, because that’s what he was last year. I think we’ll turn it into a Pirate Skeleton, just accessorize the skeleton costume to make it more exciting. I think he’ll go for it. Because I sure don’t want to have to throw together a Tyrannosaurus Rex costume (his first request) at the last minute!

Oh, and Woody, the male goat, STINKS. He literally exudes some kind of male goat stench. It makes a person gag. Jessie does not seem to stink at all. It’s hard to tell for sure with Woody clamoring for attention TOO!! Not only do you have to wash your hands after touching him, you also have to change your clothes. It doesn’t exactly help with my laundry situation.

And Coffee, sweet little Coffee, is pregnant. Again. We really need to do something about this. But the puppies will be very good cattle dogs, a Kelpie/Catahoula mix.

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So, This Power Thing...

This power thing pretty much sucks. You know, since we've been turning off the generator during the day? I have to admit, I DO like the fact that there is no opportunity for the television to be on and the boys watching a movie whenever they feel like it. But other than that, honestly it makes me tired. And a person just sits and thinks about what they can't do with no power. Oh! I should do laundry...but I can't. Wash the dishes...but I can't. Argh.

When the power goes out, the house gets all dark. And HOT. Without electricity we have no fans, and there is usually not much of a breeze. It is stifling, and it's not even that hot out yet. A hot, dark house is exhausting. I don't stay inside all day, but it's very hot outside too. Especially at high noon, when the power's off.

Today, I made the boys pick up all the outside toys and I mowed the lawn. At noon. In the direct sun. And then, as if that wasn't enough, I raked the side yard, and then mowed that, even though it's mostly weeds and dirt. It was awesome. Just for something to do.

I have been reading a book during the power outages, but that makes me tired as well. It's also hard to really concentrate when two boys are running around.

And I guess the point of this whole thing? No one even knows if it will save any money. There are no gauges or valves on the diesel tanks that measure anything. There are no markings on the generator that indicate how much fuel it holds. We can't even begin to calculate the cost per day or per hour without knowing this basic information. To make matters worse, the diesel tanks also supply the ranch truck and the tractor, and there is currently no system in place for tracking anything to do with filling them up, and indeed no way to measure how many gallons are used for anything.

One thing we do know: if left running, the generator will usually run for around 33 hours before it runs out of fuel. Trust me, this we know. But that information is useless because we don't know the capacity of the tank. And I am frustrated with what I have come to call "Faux Math." Meaning, the slinging around of numbers/costs/monetary amounts that have no basis in actuality. CG does it just about every day, and folks on the ranch are wont to follow suit. Me? I need real numbers before I'll even pull out a piece of paper.

So, if you hear anyone say "a gallon an hour," it's probably an exaggeration. How could they possibly know? Does the generator have a 33 gallon tank? Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm guessing no. If you hear, "it would cost us each $120/month," who pulled that amount out of what? Catch my drift?

Number One doesn't know how much the tank holds. He's been advocating for a pump, which would measure the fuel, and auto-shut off valves (which would prevent diesel spills) for years. At this point we can't even figure out how much is going into the truck or the tractor OR the generator.

CG doesn't know how much the tank holds either. She told me that yesterday. But when she says something, people want to believe she knows what she's talking about because of her "years of experience." Or something. But if she doesn't have the fundamental number, tank capacity, she can't figure anything out either. She told me that, and I put my pencil and paper down. No use figuring anything if you don't know the basics. It's all guesswork, which amounts to a waste of time in my book. All she really knows is how much it costs her when she pays the fuel bill.

I understand that it's costing a lot, I just wish we had the facts so we could figure out the best way to save money. How many hours we would really need the generator turned off to make a significant dent in the fuel bill. If at all possible, without risking the food in our refrigerators and freezers in the process.

I still think we need to be investigating alternatives like solar. ABEG needs to get on that. Right after they finish our addition and figure out the water situation. There are priorities, after all.