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Showing posts from September 19, 2010

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 oout 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 (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 heating eff...
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I have a quick trip up north for a couple of days (leaving tonight). The first couple of weeks in Oct I will be in Europe. I am planning a weekend in England. I'm not sure what I am going to do, but I will have a car. This will be my first right-drive car experience. I will also be going to France and Finland. I am getting in the air in a couple hours with a new instructor. I need to finish up with my license before all the prereqs start expiring.. Its all about the tractors. The open window pic needs a clever caption.
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I am a bit home sick this week. The lows at night in Duluth have gotten into the 60s. It is still touching the 90s in the afternoons. I like the picture of guy working on the mega mart sign. I don't know why. It says something though. How big is big enough? The other pic captures a guy in a pickup with a flasher behind a cop. I am not sure what the whole story was. It was just weird to see a cop getting pulled over by a guy in a pick up. Weird.
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Just a few weeks ago I was telling a friend that I would never go for a ride in an old Ford Tri-motor. Today I did just that. I decided to go down to the Gwinnett county airport and bum around. The pilot's lounges are nice, people are friendly and it sure beats sitting around. Unknown to me the EAA's Ford Trimotor was there offering rides at the airport today. No waits; no hassle. I also met some ham radio operators giving an HF demonstration. They got a big kick out of my former callsigns, KC4AAA and KC4USV. I just couldn't resist going for a ride. My only regret was not jumping at the opportunity to sit in the right seat. The slight hesitation cost me the opportunity. The plane was built in 1929, has (3) 450 HP radial engines and cruises at 87 knots. The pilot's window was open the whole flight. There is a lot more legroom than there is today's airliners! The plane only holds 9 passengers. www.flytheford.org
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