There was a reason that firing up the generator was on the pre-winter checklist...

In an unusual turn of events, it was warmer and sunnier yesterday than it was supposed to be.  For which I am thankful.  I ended up not clearing the driveway again, and it is only about 4-5" thick now, which I can drive over without issue (at least until I pack it all into ice).  It was pretty breezy too.  

I got some more pictures of the carnage on my way home.  I left work a little early.  If they don't like it, too bad.

This is one of the poles that was broken. 

The house stayed warmer than I expected, likely due to the sun and warmer than expected temps.  It was still over 50 when I got home.  

I apparently forgot to put out the candle before I left.  Oops.  There was no fire danger; formica is really hard to light, and I lit the candle in a metal jar cap.  It just means I had to find another way to light the place last night.  

That wasn't a problem.  This is the magnetic portable flood light I frequently keep in the truck, and have used to work on projects in the carport and shed at night.  It is more than adequate.

I noticed when I got home that the carport hadn't finished shedding snow.  Turns out that is because in the middle, it can't.  The pile is up to the roof, and that is holding the snow on the roof.

I took another picture of the roof as I was snowshoeing up to the shed.  Melting down a few inches was actually a huge help in getting up there.  When I had started to go up in the morning, I was sinking at the limit of how far I could lift my leg.  I went up to grab my propane buddy heater I got from Heather (which it turned out was in the carport, not the shed for reasons I have forgotten) and my generator cord.  

As I was headed up, I also got a good look at the tree that came down.  It was just a little guy made to look bigger because of the snow.  No worries.

I met with success.  I had actually gone to both Harbor Freight and Home Depot at lunch thinking I would just by another one (they aren't that expensive) but both of them were completely sold out of everything related to generators (which to be honest, isn't that surprising).

After that it was time to dig out my generator plug.  The snow up against the side of the house is deeper than the outlet.  The tractor made quick work of it though.  

Then it was time to pull out the generator.  I really kind of wish I had installed this first.  That thing was friggin' heavy.  I ended up just dragging it to the tractor and strapping it in the bucket.  

And after all that...  The generator would not start.  This is why it was on the checklist.  I just cleaned the carbs and replaced the petcock valve and whatnot in it this spring, and completely ran all the gas out of it so it would be fine when I actually needed it.  Still nope.  I heaved on it until my hand split and my back hurt.  

By that point the temperature in the house was starting to fall, and I only saw two options: the power center, which would buy me a day if I didn't use any heat (my space heater draws 1kW on medium, and the battery bank is only 6kWh if I run them to 100% duty cycle, which isn't good for the batteries), and moving the stuff from my fridge and then just doing the minimum amount of heating to keep pipes from freezing.  The problem with the power center though is it would have to be inside since I don't have the cap on my truck (and it isn't enclosed yet), and it is enormous and really heavy; that is why I am replacing it.  So instead, I opted to just make a run into work and use my portable cooler as a freezer and our drink cooler at work (who does have power) as my fridge temporarily.  So I set up my little propane heater pointing towards the utility room, and took off to work.  

Unfortunately that heater doesn't seem to stay lit.  It tripped off after a few minutes.  I eventually got it to run for longer (around 20 minutes), but it doesn't do it consistently.  As a result, it was quite chilly this morning.  There was even dew on my TV, and it was 43.  

So I fired up my stovetop and added some BTUs.  Actually a lot of BTUs.  My stove puts out I think 35k BTU (9k for the two normal, 12k for the power burner, and 5k for the simmer).  For reference, my 1500W space heater is 5115 BTU.  Yes, my stove needs to be washed.  This works better than using the pots with water in them.  The water is to protect the pot, but it is creating humidity issues.  This doesn't leave any thermal mass though.

I got it up to 62 before I left this morning.  Should be good to last until I get home.  

I need to do some running around today for the bank and house stuff.  They are still texting me that my power will be back on Friday, though their outage website says today.  The sooner the better.  I am still making progress on the house front, I will be dropping off the deposit today hopefully.  My dad recommended trying to start it with some ether, I might try that today if my power isn't on when I get home.