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The wind howled and the trees snapped last night on our mountain. My mother-in-law was here for the weekend. Before dark, the wind was so strong I got out the candles and flashlights. M-I-L (a city socialite, pooh-poohed me over her Scotch). I gave a safety briefing that went over (with her) like a lead balloon (after all, I am her geek ham-radio son-in-law). At about 7:15 I put a big pot of water on to boil for spaghetti noodles. Five minutes later the power went out. She shrieked.
I said "stay put." I handed out candles and flashlights, then went under the house to start the emergency generator and put it on line. At the switch panel in the basement, the old B-727 engineer caveat rang in my ears, "PROTECT ESSENTIAL. I did. LOAD SHED! I did (actually it was automatic).
The essential circuits worked like a charm: well pump; fridge; freezer; microwave; and a few light circuits in a few rooms. It was almost like flying a Boeing jet again. High draw items like the electric range and heat were off for the night (convert to propane?).
I returned to the fireplace and stacked a survival fire. My M-I-L was starting to talk about what a smart guy I was. I served an elegant partial dinner to the girls, in front of a roaring fire as the wind howled and snapped trees outside the log cabin.
I suggested that we eat what was available at the time: spaghetti sauce in a bowl and a salad. Great idea. A loaf of French bread was hot and buttery, too.
At about 10 pm we were all ready to go to bed and turn off the generator, with a good fire in the fireplace, when all circuits lit up again. The system worked. All I had to do was position a few switches to protect any linemen working on the problem from electrocution. Actually, that was automatic (just found out).
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