The 6 O’clock news was all abuzz about\na Winter Storm Warning for these parts. Sounds like we’re gonna get\nrain, then snow, then ice, then snow, then more ice, then tree stumps\nwill be hiding in people’s garages while alligators rise from the\ncompost in an attempt to bang out some heavy metal rock ‘n roll on\nthe garden fence while Cheeba The Parsnip Queen shoots lightning out\nof her nose and Thundersnow out of her navel. Big Storm. Really\nBig. Size Large. Holy Moly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or maybe we’re just gonna have a storm;\nand the weather man says \u201cnumerous power outages possible.\u201d Well\nI showed them guys<\/strong><\/em>;\nI did something truly radical this time. I actually went outside,\ngassed up the generator, and even started it up\nand everything!!<\/strong><\/em>\n This is unusual for me. Last time we had a big storm, I could not\nfor the life of me get the generator started. That’s because I\ngoofed in some pretty big ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1\n\u2013 I put regular 87 octane gas in the tank. Then I learned that\nsuch fuel degrades after as little as 3 months!! Oh, and \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n R\n\u2013 Although I started the generator… um… maybe a year before, I\ndidn’t turn the fuel valve off so the carburetor could drain. That\ngave the 87 octane gas plenty of time to gunk up the carburetor so\nbadly it had to be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\nI got the generator fixed up last year and I’ve been diligently\nstarting it up every few weeks. Even started it successfully this\nevening and got some extra gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then\nI did really <\/strong><\/em>silly\nthings like fill 5 gallon containers with water, and put our phones\nand flashlights (yes, flashlights) on the chargers. My Beautiful\nGirlfriend asked, \u201cdo we need to get some groceries??\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d\nI replied, \u201cwe have plenty of food.\u201d Of course if we lose power,\nour electric stove is don’t working no any more; we’ll have to drag\nout the camp stove. So OK Mother Nature, do your\nworst. On second thought, please don’t!! Here’s hoping we don’t\n<\/strong><\/em>lose\npower. But if we do, we’re pretty much ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I’m thinking (and writing) about all this, I’m reminded that all of what I just mentioned are truly high class problems. In other words, at our house there is much for which to be grateful, and we often verbalize this; especially if we sit down to watch the local and world news. A friend of ours likes to say, \u201c 90% of the world would probably love to trade problems with me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ain’t\nthat the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well\nif the storm’s a-comin’ by youse kids, try to be prepared; and above\nall be safe. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try not to get caught in the storm like these characters…<\/p>\n\n\n\n