Posts

Showing posts from February 18, 2007

Carbon Monoxide!?

-
Image
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...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
Getting used to the "real" world is going to take some time. I will probably not ever totally end up where I was before my adventure and that is ok. I certainly do keep busy. One of the things I planed on doing when I was on the ice was to form an opinion about global warming based on what I saw with my own two eyes in Antarctica. Antarctica certainly was not warm for the most part when I was there but it was warmer on some days than most people would have thought. The sea ice has not melted and broken up in McMurdo Sound for at least 6 years. This year it receded more than it had in some recent past but still it had not receded to the point when Shackleton and Scott were sailing around McMurdo sound. One of the things that irritates me is how the Antarctica card is being played in the global warming arguement. Most people have not and will not personally expereince Antarctica. So the political technocracy can use facts regarding Antarctica to advantage. For example, a st...
Post a Comment
Read more
-
Image
Life is getting back to normal. I went to work the other day and I was greeted by a very large species of penguin. It seems strange being back. My outlook has changed. I am seeing things I didn't see before. Success is ahead. I have been studying flight manuals and making other plans. I missed my big red parka so much I ended up buying a new winter coat and some new boots. This is the time of year. Things go on sale. I bought some bunny boots on ebay for 33 bucks (with shipping). They are very nice. I am quite happy with them. Actually they are Mickey boots. They are black not white and they are not rated quite as cold as the ones I had on the ice. I will be snowshoeing this afternoon since I have at least 9 pounds to loose from the ice. My membership in the fitness center is also reinstated. I have been working on getting the audio system in the house setup as well. I have an old computer setup as a MPEG server that will connect to the Mcintosh preamp and Fisher amp I scored rec...
Post a Comment
Read more