Paul's Perspective

Non-electric heat

As I was writing this my brother in law Doug called, as his power is out as well and he wanted to know about mine. I told him about my coincidental timing, and he concluded that the power outage is my fault.

I am surprised only in that, yes, the rain is heavy -- but otherwise the weather is mild. Last night there was plenty of lighting, and no outage. Earlier this winter we've had bad winds, hail, even a touch of snow -- and only little brown outs and wink-outs -- never anything lasting. Just enough to make me have to reset the clocks is all.

Doug said he called PG&E and there are quite a few outages, and they have no estimate of when the power will come back on.

I am debating going out to the detached garage to get the inverter from the car to be able to switch the laptop to the back-up battery if need be...

And also I should get the propane space heater and lantern from the garage store room before it gets dark out there.

Man -- I only have the electric floor board heaters, and a little space heater.

All the firewood -- cut, stacked, and some split -- is uncovered, and as a result is so soaked from the weeks of rain that it would be futile to try to light a fire.

Besides which I never replaced the wood stove I tore out of the office this summer, and the fireplace doesn't do so great a job heating the house -- especially with the eclectic-powered blower disabled...

I really don't like wood fires. They are pretty, sure -- but I get a headache and feel nauseous when I burn wood in this house.

Not that has ever happened elsewhere. The fireplace and the stove here must both have leaky chimneys, letting smoke into the room. I never have a problem at Doug and Terri's when they have a fire in their wood stove.

I need to buy an air-tight insert stove to put in my fireplace, and have the installer ensure the chimney is well-sealed.

Candles in the storm

It's almost 4PM, and rainy, and so it is getting dark throughout the house.

Fortunately my ex-wife left plenty of candles.

The first butane lighter I picked out the drawer is empty. I recall that it has been empty for months if not years. I haven't thrown it out because I don't know if you are supposed to recycle them or not or what can be done with them. I hate disposable products. But I need to at least put it were I won't always be trying it again when I need to light something.

The second lighter worked fine. I lit up the dark kitchen, and my bedroom's bathroom.

I walked back out into the living room and was surprised at how bright it was: even though this room faces east, its big windows let in so much more light than anywhere else in the house.

My cat Socks is now sniffing at the candles on the kitchen stove island counter. I can't recall if he has ever seen candles before [he's two]. The candle's light really brings out his orange and white coloring. That would make a good picture.

Hopefully he is smart enough not to get burned.

Old school and a Leaky door

I had a towel -- a huge new yellow one that I had never used -- rolled up against the base of my deck door to prevent drafts coming in through the spot that needs to be sealed better. I had seen a draft-sealer at a Home store while Christmas shopping -- basically a long tubular bean bag. The towel seemed to do the job as well, even if it didn't look quite so snazzy.

When I came home from CES, I checked the towel -- and it was soaked through with rain water. I picked it up, and moved the new door mat as well -- and thankfully nothing had seeped through to damage the floor. I remembered now that I once came home to a sizeable puddle in here, which made the seams swell up in the fake wood flooring

Soaking up the water is not something that fancy draft-blocking bean bag would have done near so well -- so score one for cheapness!

But speaking of being cheap -- and lazy -- I really need to refurbish and reseal those deck doors. They were lovely looking, all stained wood and floor-to-ceiling glass -- but now the outside looks like weathered plywood used to patch an aged trailer home...

Sunday, January 9, 2005

Oh, my aching Back

My recurring back problem is acting up again the last few days. I don't know why. I am in the best shape I have ever been -- muscles where I didn't even know you can grow muscles -- especially in my midsection/torso. No fat anywhere. If that doesn't stop my hip from popping out, what the hell can?

And I wish a doctor or chiropractor could clearly explain exactly what the problem is. I mean, it is my back "area" but it is not a spinal problem - it is my hips. But while it feels like my hip is "out," clearly the actual thigh joint is not out of the ball socket or I would be screaming in agony.

It's just an "off" feeling, and it can make crackling noises, and if I swivel my hips or flex forward, things move and pop in a way that I am guessing is not good. What is actually out? What is moving and popping? Tendons and ligaments? If so, how can I stop it from happening? How can I easily fix it when it does? Lying on blocks or books doesn't seem to do the trick anymore -- it sometimes even makes it worse. I just stretch a lot, which kind of relieves the overall tension -- but it doesn't make it 'pop' back into place.

At least the tension hasn't spread up my back as it often does. That is what is really crippling, and really painful. When that happens I can only hobble about like a wizened old man, and every movement hurt badly. Right now I just have a strong "uncomfortable" feeling that doesn't stop me from exercising.

I just hope it doesn't get worse while I am walking the show floor at CES later this week.

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

Room positioning and Chairs

I am writing this on my iBook, placed on the dining table, typing on the wireless keyboard [which I love very much].

My dining/living room is the most attractive room in the house -- much better than my 'office,' which is certainly a nice room itself. But this room has big, tall windows staring out at the mountain view, letting in lots of natural light. The brick fireplace in this room adds contrast and character to the room, while the brick corner for the wood stove in the office seems to darken and shrink that room.

The problem here is where to sit. In the chair I'm in now, my back is to the front drive way area, even though the actual front door is just on my left -- and having no line-of-sight to where cars might drive up makes me paranoid. In the main dining chair [the one with armrests] I have my back to the windows, meaning no view, and worse yet, too much glare in the laptop screen.

The far corner recliner has the best position: it faces both the front door and the view windows. The padded chair is comfortable... for watching television. Typing in it is not as comfortable, or at least, not as efficient, as sitting here at the table.

Besides, sitting too long in recliners is what throws my lower back out. I think.

Since I'm not going to move my dining table and chairs to the corner of my living room, I guess I will stay here...

Tuesday, January 4, 2005

Slush

I wish it would snow.

I live in the mountains near Yosemite. I am just above the 3000 foot snow line. But while there is plenty of snow in the higher Sierras, all I've had here is a mild "dusting" of snow that quickly washed away in the following rains. For a few hours yesterday thick snow came down in big flakes... but while it was pretty to watch it fall, nothing stayed on the ground.

I never get a heavy snow here -- what I always call a decorative amount, a few inches at most. It looks nice -- clean and peaceful -- but is not an obstacle for driving or even hiking.

Actually, it did snow a few feet here once -- but I was in Florida that week. My cousin was house sitting -- he had come to California to avoid the cold British winter. I called him and he lamented that it was freezing, the power was out [and I have electric heating, not gas -- and he was too lazy to start a wood fire] and he couldn't drive out in the snow and he was hungry... I told him I was sitting out by the pool getting some sun... and that I was sure he'd still be alive when I was home in two days.

Tuesday, January 2, 2005