The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

[caseydog]

Our electric and water meters and read by people. However, 4 or 5 years ago they started carrying handheld devices that transmit the readings to a mainstream server.

Our electricity used to be that way. The handheld devices even stored information such as the gate code for my driveway gate, so the meter reader could get to my meter. That was slow, and on rare occasions the meter reader would forget to close the gate, and my dog would get out.

I don't know if the information was transmitted, or just stored and uploaded back at the Coop office.

CD

 

[Yorky]

Our electricity used to be that way. The handheld devices even stored information such as the gate code for my driveway gate, so the meter reader could get to my meter. That was slow, and on rare occasions the meter reader would forget to close the gate, and my dog would get out.
CD

Both the water and the electric meters are outside the gate.

I guess the reason is so they can easily cut me off if I don't pay the bill.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It's raining


The event info is yesterday (last night) and today. "Today" resets at midnight.

It's also not been a very warm day.


Today's high temp was a stunning 5.9°C.
It's due to be -1.0°C in the morning but that's only going to happen if it actually stops raining and the skies clear and given that this rain event has already been over us once and is now having a second attempt from the other direction (so originally came over land, did a 180° and is now coming at us from the coast) clear skies could be one achievement too many.

My chickens went to roost looking like drowned rats. For some reason my flock has gone from hating rain to actually wading though standing water whilst it's raining since 2 particular chickens joined our flock a couple of years ago. Nowadays they actually stand out in the rain quite happily. Lol.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Right I've just lost electricity for the 7th time this evening. I'm off too bed.

It's still raining

 

[caseydog]

As I have mentioned before, my downstairs air conditioning system isn't working, and I'm not willing to shell out the money to have it fixed right now, since I have a second system upstairs that works.

I've been sleeping in my office, on a comfortable air bed. Until 4:30 this morning. I was sleeping on my left side, and rolled to my right side, and... PFFWOOSHSSSSSSHHHHH!!! My right elbow poked a hole in the bed. Yes, my elbow. Within about two seconds, I was laying on the floor.

I moved back to my bedroom for the rest of the night, with a big fan blowing air from the rest of the house into the room. It was 80F/27C in the room, but I managed to fall asleep with no covers. The ceiling fan helped.

The airbed is a big brand in the US (Serta), and is only two months old, so I'm going to do what I have to do to get it replaced.

CD

 

[Yorky]

​

 

[Timenspace]

We have "smart meters" in Frisco, that send digital readings to our electric coop -- somehow. If they receive a reading that is considerably out of line with our consumption history, they send someone out to take a visual reading, and correct any problems, if needed. I can also go online to the Coop's website, and look at readings, charts and graphs that show me how much I am consuming, when my peak consumption is, how my consumption compares to last year, the year before, etc. Being a Coop, I am not a customer, I am a partial owner. It makes a difference.

Our water meters transmit a weak signal. A truck drives down the street, and picks up the signal. Water is a City utility here. If my consumption goes way up one month, they will contact me, and if needed, come to my house and look for a leak that may be underground. When you live on a drought-prone prairie, water waste is taken seriously, so the city looks for anomalies in water usage.

Only our natural gas meters have to be read by a person, and I predict that will change in the near future.

CD

That is way better,yes. I heard of digital meters being installed in new buildings. This is a ,I would say,1965-1970 building, and the reading guy comes every 6 months. Sometimes you can read it out yourself and stick the note to the door, but ever now and then they do come and read it.

I might require a new one, but did not ask about cost. It is not very high on my list as all worked fine these 5 y.

Water, of course, is very precious. What we have is a joint meter for the whole entrance, i.e. 8 floorsx3-4 flats, so 30+ flats.

I don't have gas. But we have heating and hot water, with garbage disposal, I think that functions by m2 calculation.

 

[Timenspace]

After we moved house in '85, our first telephone bill arrived a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was in excess of £400.00. My wife rang to complain but was told it was what it was. She didn't tell me until after Christmas. "OK, I'll ring them - this isn't right". She told me that she'd already rung and been fobbed off. So I wrote to them enclosing copies of the last five year's bills (four per year) all of which were no more than £35.00. A few days later they rang my wife and asked if a bill of £35.00 would be acceptable.

At least my wife stopped nagging me because I kept copies of all household bills.

Good that you did. I still keep bills too, although the payments are extractsble from my bank account. Nevertheless.

I do understand mistakes happen.
The amount for the el bill was roughly half my salary, and was a mistake, so it stressed me out on all fronts. And it is one salary we are tossing with here. Luckily all ended up well.

Food prices are going up. Oil, milk, some speculate meat will too.

 

[LissaC]

There's a car with a Canadian license plate parked in my neighborhood. First time I'm seeing one. No idea who would carry their car all the way from Canada to Portugal

 

[ElizabethB]

The airbed is a big brand in the US (Serta), and is only two months old, so I'm going to do what I have to do to get it replaced.

CD - good luck
We are on city utilities - electric, water and sewage. We are also on city fiber instead of COX Cable. When it comes to electric LUS has the lowest rates in a multi parish area. The City does a very good job of trimming trees to keep branches off of the power lines. We rarely lose power, even during a hurricane. If we do lose power it is back on much sooner than surrounding areas. Our water rates are reasonable. I find the sewage rates objectionable since it is a jacked up percentage of water usage. I get billed a sewage rate for water used to water the garden which does not go into the sewer system. I should not complain. Two brothers live in Colorado. There water rates are astronomical!
The fiber bill is ridiculous. Not as much as cable but still too much. I have been researching alternatives - the most basic service to get local channels or an antenna. Streaming channels for G's hunting, fishing and sport channels. It will take some convincing. G hates change even it is economically advantageous.

 

[caseydog]

There's a car with a Canadian license plate parked in my neighborhood. First time I'm seeing one. No idea who would carry their car all the way from Canada to Portugal
View attachment 70048

Wow, a Cadillac Escalade in Portugal. The owner must have to choose his/her route carefully. No old narrow streets for that land yacht. They must spend a fortune on petrol, too.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Looks like ElizabethB is going to get wet... again. A new Hurricane is heading for Louisiana. Shee lives just on the borderline of the red and purple on this map, East of Lake Charles. They are predicting a Cat4, but they usually weaken just before landfall. It is moving fast, which is a good thing -- far less flooding.

Keep us posted EB, if you have time.

CD

 

[ElizabethB]

Yes, we are keeping a close eye on Ida. If the storm keeps on track we will be on the west side. Hurricane winds are counter clockwise so the west side has lower wind speed. We are 35 miles due north of the bay. Even if the storm made a direct hit it would quickly lose strength. We moved everything off of the patio. G filled up the truck and gas cans for the generator. He also filled propane tanks for the gas grill. We have plenty of bottled water. I will fill the tub with water to flush the toilet with. I have been making ice and storing in the freezer. We have sandwich fixings and I moved food from the outside freezer to the bottom fridge freezer that can be cooked on the grill. I want to avoid opening the outside freezers. The food will stay frozen for 48 hours. I am relying on the inside refrigerator/freezer. That can easily be plugged into the generator. G is much more stressed out than I am. We have taken the necessary precautions. We have lived here since '87. The house was built in the late '70's. I can not count the number of severe storms that we have survived with no damage. We rarely lose power. If we do lose power the outage is short lived. A couple of days at most.
The coastal communities to the east of us will suffer much more. In addition to more severe wind damage they will also suffer from storm surge form the bays and marshes. Possible severe flooding. Insurance companies charge a premium - a % of the value of the home as a deductible for damage sustained from a named storm. Flood damage is an entirely different issue. Flood insurance is very expensive and homeowners have to fight to get payment.
G wants to evacuate to our lake camp on Toledo Bend or go to his son's home in Katy TX. NOT!! Regardless of the strength of the winds our lives are not in danger. If our home suffers damage I want to be here to deal with it. We have two girls - our cats. I will not leave them during a storm. They do not travel well. One of our girls gets car sick. I mostly ignore G's drama over the storm - any storm. I do what I need to do to prepare for a power outage - the biggest inconvenience. We no longer have the huge live oak in our backyard so falling branches or falling tree damage is minimal. There are pine trees in the boulevard but they are far enough away that if one falls on the house it will be the upper portion of the tree and not the main trunk.
Spin off tornados are always an issue. Historically that has not happened in our area. Tornados are unpredictable and unavoidable. If it happens it will happen. God's will.
I am grateful for your concern.
Love you all bunches.
Elizabeth

 

[TastyReuben]

Yes, we are keeping a close eye on Ida. If the storm keeps on track we will be on the west side. Hurricane winds are counter clockwise so the west side has lower wind speed. We are 35 miles due north of the bay. Even if the storm made a direct hit it would quickly lose strength. We moved everything off of the patio. G filled up the truck and gas cans for the generator. He also filled propane tanks for the gas grill. We have plenty of bottled water. I will fill the tub with water to flush the toilet with. I have been making ice and storing in the freezer. We have sandwich fixings and I moved food from the outside freezer to the bottom fridge freezer that can be cooked on the grill. I want to avoid opening the outside freezers. The food will stay frozen for 48 hours. I am relying on the inside refrigerator/freezer. That can easily be plugged into the generator. G is much more stressed out than I am. We have taken the necessary precautions. We have lived here since '87. The house was built in the late '70's. I can not count the number of severe storms that we have survived with no damage. We rarely lose power. If we do lose power the outage is short lived. A couple of days at most.
The coastal communities to the east of us will suffer much more. In addition to more severe wind damage they will also suffer from storm surge form the bays and marshes. Possible severe flooding. Insurance companies charge a premium - a % of the value of the home as a deductible for damage sustained from a named storm. Flood damage is an entirely different issue. Flood insurance is very expensive and homeowners have to fight to get payment.
G wants to evacuate to our lake camp on Toledo Bend or go to his son's home in Katy TX. NOT!! Regardless of the strength of the winds our lives are not in danger. If our home suffers damage I want to be here to deal with it. We have two girls - our cats. I will not leave them during a storm. They do not travel well. One of our girls gets car sick. I mostly ignore G's drama over the storm - any storm. I do what I need to do to prepare for a power outage - the biggest inconvenience. We no longer have the huge live oak in our backyard so falling branches or falling tree damage is minimal. There are pine trees in the boulevard but they are far enough away that if one falls on the house it will be the upper portion of the tree and not the main trunk.
Spin off tornados are always an issue. Historically that has not happened in our area. Tornados are unpredictable and unavoidable. If it happens it will happen. God's will.
I am grateful for your concern.
Love you all bunches.
Elizabeth

You sound like you have a plan and a clear head. That's usually the difference between a bad time and a really bad time.

 

[ElizabethB]

Preparation
We picked up sandwich fixings.
Filled up G's truck (my car is in the shop)
Filled up gas cans for generator
Lots of bottled water.
Filled Propane tank for gas grill.
Moved food from the outside freezer to the bottom fridge freezer that can be cooked on the grill - chicken thighs, burger patties, sausage.
Making ice in ice trays and storing in the freezer
Filled the tub with water to flush toilet if power goes out
Tonight I will cook a spinach, artichoke stuffed chicken and an assortment of vegetables. If the power goes out the fridge will be plugged into the generator. The microwave can be plugged in for heating food.
If the power goes out the biggest challenge will be the heat.