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Post by philj200 on Nov 9, 2012 9:16:47 GMT -5
I haven't posted much lately, but I wanted to share recent Chambers related events with you. We lost our power during Sandy. No lights, no heat. no electricity, plenty of water in the wrong places. (Not nearly as hard hit as our neighbors to the south of us). Our '52 Model C named Gussie worked perfectly. We made an amazing amount of tea, soups, baked, broiled and even left a large steaming kettle of water simmering. The temperatures outside began to slide towards freezing and the house did get cold. But never too cold to force us to evacuate. A steady stream of friends and neighbors passed through to sit and enjoy the comfort Gussie offered. Power is back on now. While our adventure is almost over (still no readily available gasoline), our visit to the 19th century will remain vivid.
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Post by cinnabar on Nov 9, 2012 10:26:57 GMT -5
That's one of the top reasons to have a Chambers, the pure awesomeness of it's cooking and baking abilities in any situation.
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Post by pooka on Nov 9, 2012 15:39:50 GMT -5
Old technology to the rescue when everything else stops working. ;D A number of years ago we had an ice storm that knocked out power everywhere because of downed trees. The temperatures were down in the teens for days. I held out for a couple of days in my basement all bundled up & using scores of candles & oil lamps to keep the temperature above 50. I finally gave up & slept on my moms couch for a couple more days before I got power back. If I had my chambers, I could have stayed at home in a little more comfort. It so happened that mine was one of the last houses to get the power back along with five houses on my side of the street, because of a downed line in our alley. I'll add that my predicament wasn't near as bad as a hurricane, & improved back to near normal after five days. My heart goes out to the people on the coast who's lives are changed forever. Many of their lives will be difficult for years to come. It just goes to show how fragile our modern existence is. I'll also add that another member either here or on the other site was affected by hurricane Katrina, & I believe he had a gas powered fridge too along with his chambers. He posted that his house became the neighborhood coffee shop for a while because of that. That's why our old stuff is so awesome in the face of disaster. When so much around us fails, our stoves keep us going.
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Post by philj200 on Nov 10, 2012 8:53:46 GMT -5
Amen Pooka. Sandy has turned the South Shore of LI and the Jersey coast into a cold, moldy Somalia. A friend who lives in lower Manhattan said the shore line has returned to the shape that the Dutch first discovered. 330,000 households, at least a million people are STILL without power. A large number are in high-rise buildings. That's a killing combination. Gasoline is in terribly short supply making getting back to normal really difficult. I purchased a generator but I'm waiting for the gas situation to improve before I go on those long lines or take a gallon away from someone who needs it more than I. A friend who lives two hours north of Toronto, in very rural Canada gets 17 feet (yes 17') of snow a year (Lake Superior effect) has had a 6500 watt generator for years. He's never used it. Because he's never lost power. That fries my onions to a golden crisp!
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Post by pooka on Nov 10, 2012 12:15:38 GMT -5
In my area, floods & tornadoes are our greatest fear. Our city has a very good levee system that began after the catastrophic damage from the record 1937 Ohio River flood. We do a very good job at keeping up those levees too. The water came within a few blocks of my houses location, although it wasn't built until two years later. There is nothing more heart stopping than going out the door at work & looking up to see a the funnel of a tornado only a few hundred yards from you as I did some years ago. It was like something right out of the Wizard Of Oz. Luckily it was a small one that didn't touch down & only knocked down some trees & tore off some roofs. It tore off part of the roof of a liqueur store right down the street. The clerk was dragged through the store by the suction, as he clawed for anything solid to hold on to. We live such a fragile existence at the mercy of mother natures wrath. Our innovations are great at making our lives so comfortable, but if our systems aren't robust enough to withstand what gets thrown at us, we are in deep trouble. There is only so much we can do to limit the effect of disaster, but it's easy to forget the disasters of the past the further in time we get from them, & not do the needed work. But it will come back to haunt us when the next one comes along. They found that out in New Orleans with their neglected levees. I'm glad you're OK, & are getting by in the face of this latest storm. It's gratifying that your holding off getting gas for your generator in deference to those that might need it more than you. You sound like a good neighbor to have when times are tough. As long as you're still standing, your better off than many. Good luck.
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Post by philj200 on Nov 13, 2012 14:25:47 GMT -5
Thank you Pooka. We do what we can do. Now down to about 35,000 households without power. The utility is crowing as if that's an achievement. Well, it may be, but any kudos go to the crews from as far away as Texas and Nova Scotia. The outages are all over the place. Some are for houses that are gone, others, mostly, for seriously damaged house that need safety inspections before the power can be turned on. A horrible scandal is shaping up concerning high-rise, low rent projects in Brooklyn's Red Hook section. People are dying while trapped upstairs. Rescue missions are trying to bring food, water and medical teams up to them. There will be people held responsible for this.
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