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Showing posts from March 6, 2022

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...

The Russian Ukraine War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine hit pretty hard here at home. The first few days I really couldn't talk about it. Some folks called us and asked our opinions about the situation. Of course we heard that it was coming. It has been coming for the last 8 years or so. And with Crimea now having cars with Russian license plates, really validated the possibilities. The campaign for the New Russian Empire wont be easily quelled. Angie has family, money and property in Russia. Luckily we dont have any of these in Ukraine. There was some scurring around to get money moved into safe(r) banks. As with all war, the folks that pay are the refugees. Yes, the combatants take the brunt physically and emotionally. But the families of the combatants, the displaced and the dispora have their lives significantly changed-- generally forever. To us this is clearly Putin's last seige. How long and where it ultimately goes will only be determined by how long he lives. I really find it distast...