Not Quite Phoenix

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

my entire life i've lived in my home town in Rochester and had never witnessed a tornado till a few years ago when one came tearing through the lakes region in Alton & Alton bay which tore up a lot of vacation properties. that day my office was having a company picnic around Eliot, ME when we started noticing the change in weather coming in quickly. Portsmouth, NH is just over the river from the park we were at but there is just no easy way to get back to my home without going around a lot of winding roads. it was frightening to be caught in weather we aren't used to getting here, let alone there was no warning it was going to get that severe.

the past couple years since i started my latest job we've had a few tornado scares in the area but nothing as bad as the one from 2008. http://www.wmur.com/weather/extreme-weather/fact-sheet-2008-tornado-that-struck-nh/21149352

bay & devon, i'm happy that everything is ok in your area now & you & your families are safe.

 

[aftermidnight]

Bay, your bed doesn't have a battery backup? DH has a zero gravity bed with a battery backup thingy in case of power failures, not that it would do any good in a power failure right now I don't think he's bought the battery for it yet, new bed. We don't have many power failures where we live, but still it's stupid not to have the battery backup ready just in case. I think this will soon be remedied.
Annette

 

[digitS']

One should learn from others' experience.

Let's see. Battery backup for adjustable beds ... Don't live where there are either tornadoes or hurricanes ...

Glad you and yours are okay ... badly inconvenienced in transit and rest, but okay by the time the power came back on, anyway. You know, to play the odds, volcanoes tend to erupt only once in several generations.

cough Steve cough

 

[baymule]

@aftermidnight I didn't know about a battery backup, I'll have to investigate that!

 

[Devonviolet]

Like @baymule said, our temps are getting up into the mid to high 80's.

We tend to watch indoor/outdoor temp & humidity closely, to try to save on electric bills, running the AC. If temp & humidity are lower outside, we open windows. If both temps are above 78° with humidity above 65%, windows get closed & AC goes on, set no lower than 76°. That tends to dry the air out & it seems more tolerable. Ceiling fans make a huge difference too!

After the storm, on Friday, our power was off for 5 hours. Outside temp was 65°, but humidity was 95%, inside it was 82°. But, the humidity was only 78%.

We only had thunder & lightening & heavy rain. No high winds, like Bay. Once the worst of the storm was past, we went to bed. However, I couldn't sleep, with it being so hot inside. It seemed like there was no air to breathe. it was still raining, so I hesitated to open windows. But, DH opened windows on the side, of the house, where the rain wasn't hitting & on the side with the covered porch. Even though the humidity was so high it could rain in the house, the air was cooler & there was a breeze moving the air around.

On Saturday it was 84° here. I turned the AC on, when the inside temp hit 78°. The fan went on, but the temp went up to 79°. HUH???

DH started doing some trouble shooting with the AC. Last summer when it stopped cooling, it turned out the condensation drain pipe (in the attic) was plugged with gunk. He flushed it with vinegar & we were back in business.

So, on Saturday, he checked & sure enough the pipe was plugged. He flushed it with vinegar. But, this time it didn't start cooling.

Next he checked the outside AC unit & the fan wasn't going on, when we turned the AC on.

So, we called an HVAC company to come fix it, but it was too expensive to have them out on a weekend ($125/hr). So, we agreed to a Monday visit (only $75/hr).

I just hate paying that kind of money, if we can do it ourselves. DH has experience working on electric, & we have fixed multiple appliances (fridge, dryer, dishwasher, installed electric outlets, ceiling lights, etc)

So, I got online & found a website that teaches you how to fix your own HVAC. Long story short, we figured out what part wasn't working & yesterday drove to town to buy a capacitor ($15) at the electric supply house. DH installed it when we got home & we now have AC again, for $15, instead of the minimum $100+ (labor + parts) it would have cost if the HVAC guy came out to fix it.

 

[baymule]

Your husband is so smart!

 

[Devonviolet]

I know!!! Smart and kind and handsome and humble and handy at a lot of different kinds of jobs! That's why I love him so!

 

[Smart Red]

You gotta love it when you get a keeper! Good for you Devonviolet!

 

[Devonviolet]

Thanks Red! God certainly blessed me the day he brought my man into my life!!!

 

[ninnymary]

I know!!! Smart and kind and handsome and humble and handy at a lot of different kinds of jobs! That's why I love him so!

Hey, I must have his twin!

Mary