Carbon Monoxide!?

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Weird. The smoke alarm went off, not incredibly odd when I am using the fireplace, but it wasn't the smoke detector. It was the CO alarm. I was totally surprised. It had never gone off as long as I have had one, over many many years. Yep, after resetting it a few times. It was getting a reading over 200 ppm CO. When I took it downstairs I got a reading near 300 ppm. I started getting light headed at this point. After thinking maybe the furnace heat exchanger failed and puzzling around a bit I figured out what happened. As part of the huge winter storm that recently covered almost half of the US, we lost our electricity. So, being well prepared, I rolled out the generator and started doing what I normally do. The generator (although it was completely outside) was creating CO to get in the house. Using the fireplace draft (and possibly other leaks) the whole house created a vacuum around the seal of the basement garage door. After the CO got into the house the forced air heat...
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Here is a list I started a few years back.

Advice to the young man.

  • Listen to yourself. Don't expect others to.
  • Work to identify your basic needs even as far fetched and difficult they may be to cope with. The important thing is to realize that they are your basic needs.
  • Work to identify how you should obtain your basic needs.
  • Develop a vision of your life. You and your vision are sacred and should never be compromised.
  • Make lists. If you don’t know how to make a list ask someone who does.
  • Ask questions of your enemies, how else can you figure out what they are thinking. Of course years from now you will not consider them enemies but they were actually helpful in your development.
  • Take self tests, but don’t take them seriously.
  • Be nice to yourself. Don’t plan on anyone else being nice to you. You have the responsibility to be nice to yourself alone.
  • Better yourself, and think about what that means.
  • Work hard. Work hard at increasing your ability to work harder, both mentally and physically.
  • Listen 50 percent of the time and talk 50 percent of the time.
  • Do the things that are hard so long as you have vision behind them. If the vision is not there it may only make you bitter.
  • Do want you want, but not at someone else’s expense without their explicit approval. (this is a tough one in the global economy, think about the person making your clothes in a China, or Africa or some orther place, maybe Mars.)
  • Find good in everything. See perfection in things that are not perfect. It is there.
  • Think about what life balance is. Disregard it when necessary.
  • Don’t waste your money on a sports car as part of a mid life crisis. It will not make you better.

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