Post by papaof2 on Jun 26, 2022 16:17:29 GMT -6
Complete in today's posting. Possibly part of another anthology of short stories?
Copyright © 2022 by the author.
Well, Damn
Chapter 1
Wednesday, 13 January, Dark-thirty
Well, damn! Something I'd always suspected could happen just did.
Need to get the Fenix E12 flashlight out of my pocket so I can check the time.
It's 03:19. That revving engine I heard and the siren a few seconds behind it define the first ever police chase I've heard through our relatively quiet neighborhood with its curving roads and 25MPH speed limit. The "CRASH!" and sudden darkness defined that chase's abrupt end - taking down the power pole at the tee intersection where power from the local co-op goes underground to feed the string of houses and hobby farms along this otherwise insignificant and very lightly peopled side road.
First, I should turn off the UPS units on this level to eliminate the BEEP! BEEP! and then head to the basement to get the backup power going. OK, pure sine wave UPS for the A/V equipment is OFF, basic 800 watt UPS for the Sleep Number mattress (and my alarm clock) is OFF. {Why did I get out the E12 to see an LED clock?} The UPS charging the cordless phone and powering a small LED light in the family room can be left on as it only BEEPs once when power goes off and doesn't start the continuous BEEP! BEEP! until the battery is almost discharged - probably six or seven hours. It'll be daylight before then.
Now to the basement, stopping on the landing of those stairs to get the 3-AA LED head light that lives on the knob of the door to those stairs. The E12 can go back in my pocket so both hands are free as I go down the stairs. There is a motion-activated light over the stairs that will come on about 4 steps down, another one at the bottom of the stairs and yet another one over the solar backup system. If power is out, I do want to be able to find my way to the controls for alternate power.
Turn the 200 amp breaker for the 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter ON. Turn the inverter ON. Run the 12/3 extension cord from the inverter to the transfer switch and operate the breakers for furnace, fridge, kitchen counter outlets and some LED lighting. The freezer is OK for maybe 16 hours without power so I'll only worry about powering it if co-op power isn't back up in 12 or 14 hours. Thinking of power being back up, the power co-op's app on my phone hasn't yet beeped to tell me "You lost power XX minutes ago and your Estimated Restoration Time is <some ridiculously optimistic time>". Since their computer doesn't seem to be aware of the outage, I should use the app to report it.
The app has my phone number of 6665551234
Time the outage started: 03:19
Number of buildings affected: All on West Chattooga Drive
Tap "Submit"
And 20 seconds later the phone buzzes and there's a "Thank you for your report. We will have your power restored in a timely fashion."
Their "timely" is a matter of opinion, even more so when their computer has not detected that more than a dozen "smart" meters are offline in the 20 minutes since it happened.
I see flashing blue lights outside…
Knock! Knock!
"Yes, Deputy Cosgrave?"
"Sir, this is the only house with any light. Can you explain how?"
"Small rechargeable flashlights that can be stood on end to light the ceiling and thus gently light a room. How badly did he damage the pole at the tee?"
"That RAM 3500 wrapped its front end around the pole and snapped that pole off maybe a foot above the ground. The Dispatcher notified the co-op just a couple of minutes after it happened and the person there said they'd send out notification to the affected customers."
"No notification yet and I did report the outage using their app. I suspect there may be some unhappy people if they're awakened by sunlight coming in their windows around 8AM when their alarms probably should have gone off at an hour or two earlier. I don't know if the app's alert is loud enough and long enough to wake most people but the customers would at least have some idea of what happened."
"My brother wasn't thrilled to be awakened at this hour when I called him about five minutes ago, but he was a bit mollified when he learned why - and angry at the co-op because he hadn't been notified. If nothing else, folks want to know when power might be back."
"Your brother is 'KC' for Karl Cosgrave?"
"Correct."
"His wife is pregnant?"
"Very. Due this week."
"Do they have alternate power or heat?"
"Both. He was very impressed by the fact this was the only house with heat and light in last year's January's ice storm. He said you steered him to a small inverter generator that would be adequate until he'd thought things out more thoroughly than the 'whole house generator' info-mercial he saw on TV late one night."
"Good that he saw the 'light'."
"He said you were a terrible punster! He also said that you had predicted this type of failure. How'd you do that?"
"When I was in high school, we lived near an intersection where two four lane streets became two lane streets. There was a lane of traffic on each four lane that had a STOP sign and was Right Turn Only but it was aimed at a power pole on the other side of the cross street. Remember the cartoons you've seen about someone running into a pole and the transformer dropping on the vehicle? I saw that happen there, so I knew similar damage could also happen at the tee intersection here if someone was going too fast to make that 90 degree turn."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Wilson. I think the county and the co-op could both use your ability to spot problems in road and traffic design."
"Not really interested in another job. I'd rather be retired and write books when my muse gets the characters in my head into interesting conversations - regardless of the hour."
"So you were awake when it happened?"
"In the middle of another chapter but I may have a bit of trouble picking the thread of that story back up after this long and this much distraction."
"You can write without power?"
"Lots of rechargeable lighting, the battery on the laptop is good for at least three hours and I still have oil lamps and matches."
"I guess you can write. I'll contact the Dispatcher again and have him light a fire under whoever answers the phone at the co-op."
"Have him use this number. The co-op's District Manager probably won't be happy to be awakened but he may be less happy that an outage involving equipment damage wasn't reported to him immediately."
"And you have this number because?"
"He also got some 'how to' on alternate power from me."
"That is the best possible recommendation for your knowledge of alternate power! You have any suggestions for me?"
"These pages titled 'How Much Power Do You NEED'."
"I think I just got some college level research to do."
"You could be correct. Karl said it was 'hard'."
"I might also be saying that, but thank you. You'll be going to bed now?"
"Not until I've heard from the co-op so I can leave useful notes for my better half."
"Understood, and thank you again."
---
Chapter 2
Wednesday, 13 January, 04:49
Bzzt! Bzzt!
That's the power co-op's app. What bad news do they have?
'Your power went off at 03:19. Your Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): Assessing Damage.'
Sorry, but you've had more than an hour to "Assess Damage" so you should have a better ERT than that. How much do I remember about repairing 7400 volt underground lines from my time maintaining base housing in a very windy area? There's a minimum distance above ground for any splices, otherwise you must run new wire from pole top to the first vault or the first pad on a short residential underground run. How much of that work is needed here?
First they remove the remains of the pole and see how much aerial line and cable damage there is - it's unlikely that he could take down a pole without doing some damage to the lines to the next pole in both directions. That will require having power shut off for the entire run along County 141 as I don't remember a breaker on a pole along there. Maybe 400 meters affected? And the power will be off until that work is finished. The co-op will have the as-built drawings of the wiring and that's something I don't have but can guess at: they'll have to set the new pole and run new wiring, with luck they could use the remaining underground cable as their "fish tape" to get to the first pad - if not, they dig out the rest of the original cable and then run the new cable, which will take longer. They'll check the wiring at the first pad for indications of surge or other possible damage. New wiring at the first pad and to other pads from that feed-through pad as needed. While they're doing that, the second team would be setting the new pole and getting the soon-to-be-underground wiring connected at the top of that pole and the waterproofing done where that cable goes into the ground. Then the aerial 7400 volt distribution line run from the last pole standing to the new pole - plus any other damaged aerial wiring to other poles and any other damaged poles replaced. Then that line can be powered back up to see if everything works.
Maybe 12 hours if all goes well? But they've already lost more than an hour of analysis time and no one is yet on site (still no trucks with flashing yellow lights at the tee intersection - can't miss those when all the houses and yard lights are dark) so perhaps something more than 12 hours from now? That will mean the freezer may need power for cooling but I can do that with the inverter generator - I should set an alarm on my phone for 10 hours from now. Done.
Guess I'll get a cup of Café Mocha - my gas-fired version, using some Double Dark Chocolate hot chocolate mix and some decaf coffee instead of a K-Cup because the backup system's power is needed for more important things than the Keurig - such as the gas-fired furnace and security cameras - and then see if my muse has more inspiration while I wait for factual info about restoration time.
---
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
What is the Weather Radio unhappy about?
'…inches of snow for Greeley, Taliaferro, Lincoln and Mason Counties. Possible drifts of more than three feet. This is a severe storm and if you are not certain you can stay warm, contact the Salvation Army or your local Sheriff's Office for the locations of warming centers in your are. Repeating: an "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, accumulations of snow today and tomorrow will be eight to fourteen inches for Greeley…'
That is unexpected. How do we get weather that bad on such short notice? Those things are usually seen and forecast several days in advance. It seems the Cub Cadet snowblower I found in the free section of craigslist.org will be much needed after I clean the carb. Give that carb maybe 15 minutes in degreaser solution using the heated ultrasonic cleaner? I'll look into that when I see how much snow we have and what the forecast is for the next few days. If we have temperatures above freezing, I may just let the sun clear the walks and driveway. Meanwhile, I should go check the small inverter generator as we won't have sun while that much snow is falling.
BRRR! The falling temperatures are confirmed as the 40F at midnight is now 30F, the wind is from the North and the clouds are moving in quickly. I'll accept the NWS guesses at the wind speed as accurate or at least close. The 1600 watt generator started on the second pull and was happy running a 1500 watt heater so it's OK. I checked its tank and it's full, so good for six or eight hours without sun. The gen is back in the equipment shed and I'm back in the house. There's at least fifteen gallons of gas in the equipment shed so we're OK for about two weeks without power. I don't expect it to be that long, but the snow and wind will likely cause additional problems between the damaged pole and the substation (more than a mile of aerial power lines provides a lot of opportunities for weather-related failures) and that will slow repairs at the tee intersection and the snow will take the power from our solar panels to near zero. Guess I should make paper notes about what has happened and that repairs here are at least 24 hours away. Done. Leave that note at my better half's place at the table and put "Power off. Do not use." notes on the Keurig and the microwave oven.
Meanwhile, the whistling teakettle on the LP stove and light that burner with a grill lighter to have hot water for a cup of chamomile tea while I wait for more info from the co-op.
---
Chapter 3
Wednesday, 13 January, 06:30
"Jack? Jack. Jack!"
"What? Oh, morning, love."
"Can you explain this dark, cold, snow-covered morning?"
"Check the note at your place on the table."
"Really? What happened to 'High near 50 with chance of showers'?"
"No idea, love. You can hit the button on the weather radio and get a replay of the status and forecast."
"OK. I'll do that."
'…peating. An "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow amounting to fourteen to twenty inches of snow and drifts exceeding three feet for Greeley…'
"I should have just accepted your note - at least the conditions were a little less bad."
"Unless I dozed through an alert, they didn't put one out when the forecast changed."
"The 'Alert' light wasn't on when I went to the weather radio so they apparently didn't send a new alert with the new forecast."
"That's not helpful. Even the people who are slightly prepared for winter storms probably aren't ready to be snowbound for the days it will take for the sun to melt that much snow. I should check the power co-op's outage page…"
"On your phone?"
"The laptop got 'No internet connection' the last time I tried to get somewhere with it - our internet service is no longer there."
"You're thinking of going to an unlimited 5G plan and using a phone as a permanent 'hotspot'?"
"We'll see how they fare during this outage. If that provider manages to keep their service up, I'll definitely be pricing it as an option."
"Your frown isn't positive."
"Neither is the 'The page you are looking for is not available' message about the co-op's outage page."
"We're as in the dark about this outage as people were in the 1950's!"
"That's the way things were then because the only commonly available 'mass media' were newspapers and magazines and the closest thing to 'instant electronic communication' was the rotary dial landline telephone and the mass calling equipment that's now readily available was still in the future. Or was that an intentional pun."
"Pun?"
"'In the dark'."
"Not intentional but I guess it fits. You ready for breakfast?"
"Yes. Something in comfort food?"
"Blueberry pancakes with bacon and some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee sounds good."
"Then the big skillet on the stove, burner lit and turned down while I mix the pancake batter. Check the water in the teakettle and refill if needed. I refilled the filter pitcher some hours ago so there's enough filtered water to make good coffee."
"Will do."
---
"That was good, Jack. 'Comfort food' really can live up to its name…"
'WA4--- from WB4---.'
'This is WA4---.'
'Jack, has your weather radio alerted since just before 5AM?'
'No, Karl. The forecast was updated some time after 5 but I've heard no alerts.'
'It changed again in the past minute. You should check it again.'
'Thanks. Will do. WA4--- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
'…ting. An "Arctic Express" is expected in the next two to four hours with blizzard conditions. Winds of 50MPH to 55MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow amounting to eighteen to thirty inches of snow and drifts exceeding four feet for Greeley…'
"Did we get moved to North Dakota by some alien teleportation ray?"
"The road and the trees look the same as yesterday so I don't think so - unless they moved a huge amount of land as well - but I don't think the weather radio is good enough to be receiving forecasts from the same NWS office as we've always heard. At best, the range is maybe 50 miles on a good day. The maps for the various NWS transmitters in each state are at www.weather.gov/nwr/your-state's-name . All the information you may ever want to know about the SAME system is at www.nws.noaa.gov/directives/sym/pd01017012curr.pdf and the links it offers. The 'how to' for some common SAME radios is here: www.weather.gov/mob/nwrhelp and the SAME codes for all the counties in the US starts here: www.weather.gov/nwr/counties and there are links to the coverage maps for the associated NWS transmitter or transmitters for your area."
"You're just overflowing with possible useful information today."
"I did research during the night while waiting for the power co-op to provide more useful information than their original 'Assessing Damage'. Those links are from the notes I made."
"And you still don't have 'more useful information'."
"No, I don't. I'll leave things in your capable hands while I catch up a couple of hours of missed sleep. Your 1911 and its holster and belt are on the table next to the gun safe."
"You're already armed?"
"Not visibly, but I am armed. I checked the shotguns over the front, back and basement outside doors. All loaded with 00 buck and more on the sleeve."
"You're expecting something bad other than the weather?"
"Not sure what. Just a 'tingle' in the sixth sense that kept me alive in more dangerous places."
"That 'tingle' has always been accurate so I shall arm up before washing dishes. You go nap."
"Yes, ma'am."
---
Chapter 4
Wednesday, 13 January, Cold-thirty
Damn but I'm cold! What time is it? 08:14? My clock running on the UPS in here is the only one working? Power must be off. Sarah's already up as the other side of the bed is empty. No, Sarah's at Kelly's high school graduation 600 miles away. Guess that means she didn't get up and turn on the backup power. Did I dream that whole tale of a pickup taking out power and the weather radio predicting a blizz…
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
As cold as it is in the house, the power has been off for several hours and that weather radio alert is the real thing. Into my "blanket with sleeves" robe and go check what the NWS has to say. Nice that the weather radio has battery backup…
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
I'm coming! I just move a little slower when the inside of the house is below 60F.
'... eight to fourteen inches of snow for Greeley, Taliaferro, Lincoln and Mason Counties. Possible drifts of more than three feet. This is a severe storm and if you are not certain you can stay warm, contact the Salvation Army or your local Sheriff's Office for the locations of warming centers in your area. Repeating: an "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow with accumulations of eight to fourteen inches of snow for Greeley…'
OK. Am I still dreaming or is this one real? Maybe check out a window? There is some snow coming down and that was not in yesterday's forecast so maybe that's real. Next the power outage. What does the app on my phone have?
'You lost power at 03:19. A vehicle accident has affected power to 132 customers. Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): Assessing Damage.'
If the house has been without power for about five hours and it's cold enough for the snow to stick, I'm not surprised the house is cold. Grab the 3-AA head light from the basement doorknob and head down to get some power going. 200 amp breaker on. 2000 watt inverter on. 12/3 cable from inverter to transfer switch. Flip the breakers for furnace, fridge, counter outlets and some LED lighting. And I hear the furnace's induction blower starting up. That's good. The unconditioned space down here is at 43F. I need to see if the leakage from the ductwork gets this area up to the 50F that's my minimum acceptable temperature for the backup system's batteries. I do have a diesel parking heater than can be put in place to warm a small area down here if needed. Is the solar monitor still running on the old laptop down here? It is. That says the new LiFePO4 battery pack in the small, long run UPS powering that laptop did run about its computed 4 hours as the laptop's battery is still at 70%. That was a good update for the UPS and it was less than $40 with me collecting surplus LiFePO4 cells and building my own battery pack. I should plug that UPS into a backed-up outlet and let it charge so it will be ready the next time it's needed. That's done - there's a reason the output of the inverter feeds a triple tap. Ultraviewer is running on the solar laptop and I can access that from any PC upstairs so time for me to head back up and dress to be outside to test the 1600 watt inverter generator. It was exercised last week but I'll see what the weather does and what the co-op's power status becomes before putting the gen in place as the backup power source. Maybe an hour while I cook and eat breakfast and check those things online?
---
The house is almost warm, I've had a decent meal - nice to have LP for cooking and a stovetop percolator for quickly brewing coffee - I'm dressed for the day and the weather radio forecast has not changed. The power co-op's app still has "Assessing Damage" as the ERT. Guess the gen should be in place so it can power everything - including the freezer - and bring the batteries up to full charge before sunset. Need to get my coat, hat and gloves to go outside and get the gen out of the shed, get it running on the concrete pad behind the house and then cover it with the well-padded sound enclosure I built a couple of years ago. First though, I should go up to the tee intersection and check where and what that 'vehicle accident' might be. Probably not worth burning fuel for that but I can use the 'adult trike' with my solar power modifications. I can pedal it out as far as I want to go and then I'll have battery power to get back at least 15 miles and the solar panel "roof" provides some charging when we have sun - but not today. Don't think I'll need to go far today because we're just a little over a mile from the electric substation and whatever the problem is will be in that mile or so.
Coat, gloves, balaclava - needed if the winds really are that high and the deerstalker hat that the wind can't blow off my head. To the basement. Open the boat door - nice that it's properly adjusted, well lubricated and still a one-hand operation. Trike outside. Door down and locked. And away I pedal. There's a bit of snow on the grass and trees but only at the edges of the road - it's definitely getting as cold as predicted. Shift to first gear so I can pedal up the hill to the tee intersection. I've found the 'vehicle accident'. The RAM pickup's front end was wrapped around the power pole it broke off. It moved the pole maybe ten feet until the wiring on one side snapped and the pole went down, becoming a plow in front of the truck, bringing the truck to another immediate stop and, from the state of the windshield, the unbelted driver may have hit the windshield twice - once at the original impact and again when the pole dug in. I should see if he's still with us.
Strong smell of alcohol and several empty cans on the floor of the truck. No pulse from this side of his neck. I should reach around and… His face is very cold. No pulse on the other side and there's a big cut on his neck plus dried blood on his shirt, trousers and the seat. Putting your head through the windshield can partially decapitate you. Report this to the sheriff.
beep. boop. boop.
'911. Where is your emergency?'
'It's no longer an emergency. Intersection of County 141 and West Chatooga Drive. Pickup took down a power pole and the driver's head went through the windshield. No pulse and he's cold to the touch so he's probably been here for a while. The power co-op's app notified me that power went off at 3:19AM so I'd guess the accident happened then. The truck is blocking one lane of County 141 and there are power lines down in the area.'
'Hold one please.'
While she contacts the Sheriff's Office and Fire/Rescue. They never accept "He's cold" from anyone but an EMT or LEO.
'Thank you for waiting. Can you stay there until…'
'No. I'm on a pedal-powered adult tricycle and it's too cold to stay outside. My name is Jack Wilson and I can be reached at this number or at 14572 West Chatooga Drive. I just came out to see why my power was still off after four hours and the Mason County Power Co-op apparently hasn't yet investigated the site as there are no trucks here and no barriers or caution tape around the downed lines.'
'We'll contact them immediately. Anything else, sir?'
'That's it. I'm going back where it's much warmer.'
How does the Sheriff's Office not get notified about something like this? Why isn't the co-op here working? Lots of things that don't make…
Bang! Bang!
Ching!
One of those hit the trike! Thumb switch for the electric boost to ON and twist the grip to full throttle. I don't know who or why but I do know which direction those shots came from and I'm headed away from them. Nice that 'away' is back toward the house and much better protection than the trike can provide. I'll need to slow down some before I try to turn in to the yard and head behind the house. I knew I had improved the original battery pack with the LiFePO4 updates but didn't know that I'd created a racing vehicle - it was doing about 30 in the lowest gear when headed down that hill! This thing has a five speed Shimano rear gearing setup and I don't think I'll be doing full throttle in any gear other than the lowest one. I certainly don't trust this thing at speeds over 30MPH.
At the boat door. Key out to unlock it. Door up. Trike inside. Me also. Door down and locked. The snow is coming down much heavier. Looks like my tracks will be covered in a matter of secon…
Beep!Beep!
Motion alarm from the front camera. Four guys in Woodland camo? Sorry guys, but that is rapidly becoming the wrong camo color for this area. They seem to think the trike kept going downhill which is fine with me. No lights in the house that are visible from the road so no reason for them to head this way. Will they assume the trike was so much faster than they are that it got down the hill and into the warren of walking/bicycle trails in the woods at the end of the road before there was enough snow to capture its tracks? I'll hope for that but I'll activate a few more motion sensors around the house.
What time is it? 1PM. Has it really been that long since I woke up in a cold house? I guess so as the windup clock on the living room wall says the same as my phone. That might mean it's time for something warm for lunch - it will certainly be "lunch time" by the time I have something cooked. Wonder what we have in home-canned soups and stews? Back to the basement and check those shelves.
'Beef stew - white wine recipe.' That's the label for a great meal that sounds like comfort food on a cold and scary day. Take the jar up to the kitchen to warm a bowlful of this and reheat the coffee. Jar open and emptied into a refrigerator storage bowl with a tight cover. Ladle enough for a good-sized bowl into a sauce pan and put it on the simmer burner. Grill lighter to light that burner and then turn it down low. Set the windup timer. Pull the basket and stem from the percolator and put the pot itself back on the stove over a low flame to warm the coffee. Get a piece of cornbread out of the breadbox and lay it on the wire mesh strainer that's over the stew pan so the bread can be heated and rehydrated a bit. Yes, it is possible to heat an entire meal without using a microwave oven. Thinking of things that use power - I need to get the inverter gen running soon but I should wait until that camo-clad group has headed back up to wherever they were on County 141 before I make any continuous noise.
MMM! That stew is good stuff! I think I'll call this a five star meal and eat it slowly so the enjoyment lasts longer…
'WA4---- from WB4---.'
'WA4----.'
'Jack, did you hear some shots a few minutes ago?'
'I absolutely heard them, Karl, as they were at me. From a group in Woodland camo.'
'What the hay? Shooting at you? Where? Why?'
'Up at the tee intersection where a RAM pickup took out the pole that takes power underground to provide this section of road with underground power.'
'When?'
'The co-op's app said my power went off at 03:19. I don't know the time as I was asleep until I woke up cold a little after 8AM.'
'How'd it happen?'
'The driver and the inside of the truck had a strong scent of alcohol and there were empty cans on the floor of the truck. I heard a siren in a dream last night so maybe a police chase?'
'Status of the driver?'
'His head went through the windshield - possibly more than once. You'd need to see the wreck to understand how. He was cold, had a slice on one side of his neck and dried blood down the front of his shirt and on the seat.'
'Why would anyone be shooting at you?'
'No idea, unless there is something in the truck they don't want the wrong people to find.'
'Drugs?'
'I guess that's always a possibility. I only got as far as verifying that he was beyond help and then I called 911. That was more than an hour ago and I still haven't heard any sirens or the engine of a big truck - neither a wrecker to remove the wrecked RAM nor a repair truck from the co-op.'
'"Curiouser and curiouser" to quote Alice. Should we recon the area?'
'We probably should, but I'll give the Sheriff's Office another hour before I go back out to be a target. I have a Level III vest but no plates and no Kevlar helmet.'
'Good points. Would they shoot at a drone?'
'That's anybody's guess but you might start high and gradually circle down over the area. Based on the hole in one rear fender of the trike, the shooter was about 30 degrees right of the wrecked truck, looking from this side.'
'So not in the house up there but in the garage/barn behind it?'
'Very probably. You know who lives there or what they might have in that building?'
'No. It changed hands a couple of years ago. The previous owners had horses and they kept a buggy and some tack in that building. No idea who the current owners are or what they might have. Drone surveillance does seem to be somewhat safer.'
'Even better if you can go the long way around and come toward them from the North. Much better than giving them another reason to be interested in the Sou…'
Beep!Beep!
'There's motion out front. Their now very-visible-against-the-snow Woodland camo would make them easy targets if I had a shooting position on the roof.'
'That's another of your good ideas that I couldn't implement either. They're headed away from you?'
'Moving back to the North. The snow looks to be three or four inches deep already. I think this might make the predicted fourteen inches as it's showing no signs of slowing.'
'You'll be out clearing the roof at some point?'
'Only if the snow doesn't slide off the metal roof as the brochures and the salesman promised. If it doesn't, I'll put the torpedo kerosene heater in the attic and let it run long enough to warm the metal roof and melt a bit of the bottom layer of the snow and get it to slide off.'
'And I thought you were crazy to bid $20 for that ancient heater at the July farm auction.'
'Lots of difference in the value of some things in January versus July.'
'Call me when/if you decide that on-foot recon is needed. I'll get the drone up for maybe 20 minutes and see if there is anyone or anything out of place. I'll program the flight path but I'll have my finger on the UP joystick in case I hear a shot or see a muzzle flash.'
'Good plan. WA4--- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
Set the alarm on my phone for an hour and plan to start the gen then if there are no further alerts. Done. To the laptop up here and check the solar monitor laptop from there. The batteries are at 12.78 volts so they're still at a good level of charge. The unconditioned space is up to 51F so that's acceptable. If I run the freezer only when the gen is running, I may not need to use any battery power to keep the freezer cold enough over the next few days. That's good, as the battery bank only has about 85% of its 77F rated capacity when it's at 51F. I need to keep that limit firmly in mind any day we don't have sun.
---
Chapter 5
Wednesday, 13 January, 14:10
'WA4---- from WB4---.'
'WA4----.'
'Jack, I had the drone drop the thumb drive of pictures on your driveway. It's to the side of the hedge. That drive is red, so you should be able to find it. It might have been warm enough to melt its way down through the six or eight inches of snow but you know where to look.'
'Thanks, Karl. I'll go check. 4K resolution images?'
'Correct.'
'On my way. WA4---- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
I'm bundled up as I was before but it's colder now than it was a few hours ago. That part of the forecast was correct and the snow is closer to a foot so the "how much" part may also be correct. The wind is also much higher than it was. BRRR! I should hurry to get back inside and see what these images tell me. I think that drone has IR imaging capability. If so, an after dark flight might be very helpful in determining how many people there are and where they are holed up. That planning should be a little more circumspect than the drone planning. We can use CW and be difficult to locate and difficult to decode - very few people outside ham radio know even a tiny bit of Morse Code.
After just a bit of digging, I've found the drive. Back inside and get it dry and warm before trying to view the images. Between its falling velocity and its temperature, the drive made it through ten inches of snow. It unquestionably needs to be dried slowly and gently and then warmed slowly. Time to be back inside and get me warm and the drive dry. I'll light a burner and warm the last of the coffee. Be nice to have the microwave for quick warming of food and drink but I didn't have the $$$$ for a much larger battery bank; being retired can limit your disposable income.
I'm back in much warmer space, the drive is wrapped in a paper towel and there's a small battery powered fan blowing gently on the paper towel. I'll give the drive an hour and then see what the images can tell me. Meanwhile, get Karl to the CW conversation.
'WB4--- from WA4---.'
'This is WB4---.'
'Parley on 144.055.'
'Meet you there. WB4--- clear.'
'WA4--- clear.'
Two minutes later Karl has my plan and he will send the drone out on a path similar to the previous one but this time at 20 minutes after sunset. There'll still be enough light to navigate by the visual camera but things will have cooled enough for body heat, cooking fires or heating devices in an uninsulated structure such as that garage/barn to be obvious on the IR camera. These two old guys appear to be planning well - let's just hope the "bad guys" are limited in number, knowledge, equipment and tactics as we don't have a squad of troops to use against them and we don't have any automatic weapons.
---
Beep. Beep. Beep.
That's my phone alarm so it's time to run the inverter gen. Check all the outside cameras - nice that the snow is deep enough to make footprints very obvious but it looks clear in all directions. Bundle up. Head back out to the equipment shed and get a shovel out. Use that shovel to clear a space big enough for the gen's sound cover. Done. Move the gen to the cleared space. Engine control to 'Choke' and hit 'Prime' once because it's so cold. Pull the cord… and it's running. Ease the control off 'Choke' and back to 'Run'. Put it in auto-throttle? Probably not until the freezer has been started.
Sound cover over the gen and it's very quiet, as it should be. Back inside to turn off the transfer switches then turn off the inverter and move the 12/3 cable from the inverter to the gen - there's a panel in the sound cover that opens for cable access. Switch power to the freezer - the gen groaned just a bit for that start so good that it wasn't in auto-throttle and that the freezer was the only thing to be started. Now power to fridge, counter outlets, LED lighting and then the 60 amp charger for the backup battery bank. Check the battery status and it's charging at 54 amps so wait about 30 minutes and then switch the gen to auto-throttle as the loads will be in the range auto-throttle can easily handle by then. No, I don't have that memorized - it's part the P-Touch labels on the gen, along with an abbreviated 'How to start', how much gas and oil the gen holds, and when the gas was treated with Pri-G.
My timing was good as the freezer has been without power for over 11 hours so it's well within the 16 or so hours things will stay at an acceptable temperature. The gen can run until near sunset but I should stop it before the drone heads out. Don't need any noise that might be heard by someone walking down the road if they notice the drone and start searching for its source. If the snow gets deep enough, walking down the road may be so difficult that even the group in Woodland camo may not be out unless they have snowshoes. I certainly don't plan to be out in that much snow. While I wait, I can plan meals for the next few days as I don't expect power to be restored when there are active shooters in the area of damage and I'm certain that more than a foot of snow will cause further powerline damage - from trees falling, if nothing else - and multi-foot drifts will keep most vehicles other than the snowplows or vehicles with tracks off the roads.
---
Chapter 6
Wednesday, 13 January, 17:50
Time to turn the inverter gen off. The drone will be up in maybe 30 minutes so this site should be silent. Bundle up to head outside. Stop at the transfer switch and turn off everything in the house. That's possibly not needed but having zero load on the transfer switch when switching to or from the inverter or the inverter generator is just being gentle on the hardware. I don't have unlimited funds for replacing those things, so a few extra seconds to ensure gentle transitions could be worth $$$. Now out to the gen, open the panel and unplug the 12/3 cable to the transfer switch and the power cable for the fan in the sound enclosure - that gen produces a lot of heat that must be dissipated somewhere so the fan in the box moves more than 200CFM of air to keep things cool. A check with the IR thermometer only showed the gen's hottest spot up 3 degrees F from running in free air in a summer comparison, so that's acceptable cooling and possibly more cooling than needed in winter. That's OK, running a bit cooler should make the gen last longer ;-)
Gen's off, cover's off the gen and the cover can be hung back on the rafters in the equipment shed. Give the gen five minutes to cool before topping off the gas tank and then moving it back into the shed. Meanwhile, back inside to fire up the inverter, connect the 12/3 cable to it and power up the furnace, fridge, counter outlets and some LED lighting. The freezer has run long enough to have shut off so it's at "normal" temperature and doesn't need power for another 12 hours or more. My five minutes of inside power work are completed, so back out to gas up the gen, put the gen back in the shed and lock things up. No, I'm not carelessly wandering in and out - I'm using my phone in wifi mode to check the outside cameras each time before I go out.
Gen's back in the shed, doors are locked. Looks like the gen used just over a half gallon of gas today and there are about 15 gallons in the shed. Might be a bit more, as the "five gallon" cans hold closer to 5 1/2 gallons and I usually fill them until the gas pump does auto-shutoff, so probably 16+ gallons. That's more than two weeks at a gallon per day so I think I'm good for power. Time to be back inside and check the temperature of the battery bank. It's at 53F so might be OK overnight. I should connect the eLog recording device to one of the spare solar charge controllers so I can have a record of battery temperature every eleven minutes during the night. That way I'll know for certain how much capacity the battery bank will have overnight. That only takes a couple of minutes. Done. Time to be in warmer space and to monitor what's going on outside while the drone is up again.
---
I hear my call in code. That's Karl telling me the drone is on its way. I have two VHF/UHF handheld radios with scan capability (BaoFeng UV5R) and a high capacity battery in each. One is scanning the two meter ham band and local LEO and utility frequencies; the other one is scanning the FRS and GMRS frequencies so we'll know if the guys in camo are using any of those frequencies for their communications. I also resurrected an old CB radio with scan capability and it's monitoring those frequencies. If they have an outside lookout, they should be using some type of communications so he/she can keep the others posted on what's happening outside. Are they that good? Don't know yet…
Something broke the squelch on the CB.
'… another drone. It's up high and it's too dark to see it through the rifle's scope. You have anything with night vision?'
'No. It's too high for birdshot?'
'Unless you have some magnum birdshot loads . Remember that I'd be shooting almost straight up and that's not what the shotgun's made for.'
'OK, just keep an eye on it and see what you can do if it gets lower.'
'Wilkins out.'
'Taylor out.'
Wilkins and Taylor? Aren't they and Anderson the deputies that usually patrol out here? Wasn't the city's big TV station planning some type of exposé of local drug running and possible LEO involvement? If they're getting the calls from the Sheriff's Dispatcher about reports in this area, they could easily be covering up the accident in the short term and the snow will just make it more difficult for anyone to check on them. Guess I should have reported the 'Shots fired' incident - but that would have told them who they were shooting at and where I was. Better that I didn't until I have conclusive evidence. Maybe the drone will…
'Old man, you need to see the IR images. Same drop off location but blue. Don't answer.'
That tells me the drone found something or someone of interest. Maybe several someones for Karl to not be identifying? Time to bundle up even better than before and go find the thumb drive. The thermometer out back is showing 23F and the snow is well over a foot deep - easy to measure if you just compare the height of the snow against the brick wall with the bricks being about 3 1/2 inches each. I have the blue drive so back inside and repeat the paper towel wrap and gentle fan drying of earlier today. Drying in progress. Brew a cup of chamomile tea while I wait and have something calming to drink until I can explore those images.
---
I see Karl's reason for concern: four Sheriff's cruisers behind that house and the IR shows one "body heat" image outside the building, three "body heat" images inside the building, two much hotter heat sources - maybe a kerosene or propane heater and something for cooking - inside the building. Is there anyone I trust enough to call about this? I should think on that for a bit. While I'm thinking, I can process some images to have an overview in daylight, an enlarged view of the building with an overlay of the heat images and anything else that looks useful. Add some notes about the names I've heard on the CB radio - too bad for them that they're not using code names - and then I can post all this to an image website using my phone. Are the numbers on all the cruisers visible? I need to go back through the daylight images for that.
---
Chapter 7
Wednesday, 13 January, 18:30
Images posted, including the wrecked truck, downed powerlines, lot filled with Sheriff's cruisers (with all the numbers easily readable), IR images of the human and other heat sources in the building there (including the daytime image with IR overlay - nice to be able to edit images) and with a date and time narrative of what's happened out here today. Use a new email address to notify five people in the Sheriff's chain of command of the events today and with a link to the images - nice that their email info is on their "Contact Us" page, a copy of that email to the nearest State Trooper post with reference to the TV station's "possible LEO involvement" promo, a copy to that TV station's investigative reporter and a copy to the FBI. Maybe there will be a positive response from one or more of those. Unless I hear a chopper or a large vehicle with a lot of ground clearance, I won't even be looking out the windows but the cameras will provide a limited overview of what's happening near me.
Need to tell Karl that images are posted and emails have been sent. To the two meter rig and key 'images up. emails sent.' and that very short message probably wasn't noticed by anyone. Now to eat supper while I wait for someone to respond. Beef stew again? It's quick, easy and still a five star meal. It's dark enough in the house to need more light so set an oil lamp on the kitchen table and let it be the main source of light while I use the 3-AA had light to light my work areas. Covered bowl out of the fridge. Decent size serving in a pan. Pan on the stove. Simmer burner lit with the grill lighter and turned down low. Coffee pot reloaded and on the stove. Light that burner with the grill lighter. Now I wait for things to heat.
I enjoyed that and there's enough left for at least one meal tomorrow. Maybe I should check the home-canned things for another great meal? Head light back on and down the stairs…
Beep! Beep!
BAM! BAM! BAM!
That's some serious door-bashing to go with the motion alarm. What do the cameras tell me? Blue snowmobiles with the gold star of the State Troopers down at the bottom of the hill? I'll go answer with the door intercom.
'Yes?'
'You're Jack Wilson?'
'Yes.'
'You sent an email about the county mounties?'
'Yes.'
'We'll be on watch here while the rest of the force surrounds that building. Stay away from the windows. We'll notify you when it's safe.'
'Will do.'
My evaluation from the camera images is this is a SWAT team in Level III armor and equipped with automatic weapons. I'll guess that their 'force' is somewhat larger and perhaps even better equipped. What do the outside microphones tell me?
Not much, as the cameras show people in white camo moving almost invisibly and only using hand signals. Wonder if this was already planned but today's events just upped their timetable? I may never know.
'Deputies Wilkins, Taylor and Anderson and Sheriff Wilcox, this is the State Troopers. You are surrounded. We have drone-collected images of where you are and IR images of your hiding places and heating and cooking sources. You have sixty seconds to exit the building, unarmed and with hands on your heads or we use tear gas. Counting down: 60, 59, 58…'
How fast can Karl get the drone back up? Send a few words of CW. While I wait for his response, set one handie-talkie to the State Troopers Tac1 frequency. I hear an 'R' from Karl so the drone is up. Send him the Tac1 frequency.
'I'm here, Jack.'
Let the troopers know.
'Karl is on this frequency and has his IR drone headed for the building you're watching. Ask him about status there.'
'Karl, this is Captain Howard. Where are they?'
'One was out front, behind the vine-covered trellis, but he's headed for the front door. Three inside, at the back of the building. Daylight images showed two or more snowmobiles back there. They used CB channel 38 for some communications earlier today.'
'Rogers, can you see snowmobiles?'
'Yes.'
'Destroy them.'
'RPG on its way.'
BOOM!
'This is Karl. Looks like they had just started to open the back door and the blast slammed the door into the first one of them and him into the second one. They're both down inside the building. The other two are headed for the windows on the East side.'
'Baker, you have them?'
'Yes. Everyone close your eyes, flashbangs going off now.'
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Those are not usually damaging but can certainly be disorienting. Glad it's them and not me.
'This is Baker. Both down and cuffed. Team headed inside for the other two. Their status?'
'This is Karl. Both still on the floor. That's all I can tell from the IR image.'
'Better than going in blind. Entry teams at front and back doors, two on the floor. Go!'
Bang!
Bang!
'This is Team One. One shot fired by Wilkins. One shot fired by us. He needs a medic. All weapons secured.'
'Caldwell, do your thing. Patch him up enough for snowmobile transport unless he needs a chopper.'
'Two minutes, Captain.'
'Captain, through wound on his upper arm. He's OK for snowmobile back to the trucks.'
'Sanders, pictures and video inside. Volunteer as much help as you need for collecting evidence.'
'Captain, we'll need a big truck - and a forklift. There are barrels of chemicals for making meth and I'm not yet sure what else. Need to have a HazMat team do the removal of some of this.'
'Myers, bring in the snowplow and then whatever other vehicles are needed. Baker, take a snowmobile, go knock on the door of the power co-op's District Manager and bring him here. He can organize his people once he sees the damage. Team at Jack Wilson's house, stand down. I don't want any of you shooting me when I come in on a white snowmobile.'
'SWAT Four standing down.'
knock. knock.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Wilson, it's Captain Howard. May I come in?"
"Sure."
"You have heat and light with power off?"
"Backup power that's maintained by solar panels except when there are days without sun and then I use a small generator to recharge the batteries."
"How many tens of thousands of dollars did that cost you?"
"It's something I've put together over the past five years and I have less than $3000 in the entire backup system: solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, inverters, serious battery charger, inverter generator, transfer switch and extension cords. It's not whole house power and it's not auto-transfer when the power goes out, but it covers fridge, freezer, furnace and some LED lighting. I can take the stairs down to the basement and have that system started in less than two minutes."
"Could you give me details?"
"Yes. Here's a Word document about determining how much power you need. This thumb drive has a Word document that covers the process of me building this system and a spreadsheet giving the runtimes of the system based on the size and type of battery bank, the loads being powered and how much solar or generator power is available."
"You're not in the solar power business?"
"No, just decided a while back that I did not want to be shoveling seven inches of snow in the dark at 30F to get a cold generator out of the shed and try to get that cold generator started, so I researched alternate power systems and solar plus a generator was the most cost effective for us."
"Us?"
"My better half is at a grandkid's high school graduation 600 miles away and in much nicer conditions. I chose to not abuse my back more by traveling so she went alone."
"Karl is?"
"Karl Cosgrave. Four houses down on this side of the road. We're both retired military. We're ham radio operators so we explore and experiment with new and different forms of communication. I'm into low power VHF/UHF communications and Karl's interest is drones and their possibilities with visible light and IR imaging."
"I'll have to say his images and your presentation of them are both very professional. We don't have images as good at what you posted with our very expensive state-of-the-art equipment."
"At best, you'd have to describe Karl's equipment as a one-of-a-kind prototype, as the drone was built to carry the surplus sensors from a Chinese UAV. They were part of its IR ranging equipment but together we built an interface that could extract 4K video in US standards."
"Would the two of you be interested in new jobs?"
"Not me. You'll have to ask Karl yourself. I'd rather be retired and spend my quiet time writing 'The End Of Civilization As We Know It' stories. I do have a bit of a following, with one book approaching 2000 copies sold."
"Do any of your books reflect life as it was today?"
"Not exactly, but today's events certainly look to be fertile ground for ideas."
"You have a link to those books?"
"My card. That link will get you to my Author's Page and all the books are listed and linked there."
"Thank you, Mr. Wilson. I'll go thank Karl in person and maybe get a peek at his one-of-a-kind drone."
"He's just down the road."
Bzzt!Bzzt!
"Excuse me, my phone. This text is positive for you as well - the Power co-op will have trucks and people here to fix things as soon as the snowplows can clear the roads. We had DOT trucks and crews on standby and they were moving as soon as the perps were in custody. I can't promise when you'll have power, but those crews should be here in a couple of hours. Thank you again, Mr. Wilson."
"Call me Jack."
"OK, Jack. I'm Paul. We're sure we have the ringleaders but there may be a lot of underlings running free for a while. What do you and Karl need for protection?"
"Here's a list."
"Automatic weapons - that would make you equally armed to some of them. Armored roof cupola?"
"A shooting position that has 360 degree visibility but is armored up to .50 caliber."
"How?"
"This diagram."
"That's a stroke of genius!"
"That's a lot of thought and doing research a long way back on staying safe while returning fire."
"Let me talk to my boss. Taking down the leaders of this group with only one shot fired at my guys carries a lot of weight with their decisions. Karl has something similar?"
"Yes on the shooting position. Not sure about anything else."
"Thanks again, Jack. I'll be in touch."
"See you, Paul."
---
Bzzt!Bzzt!
That's my phone. It's the power co-op's app.
'Your power went off at 03:19. Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): January 14, 10:30AM'
Well, that's better prospects than I had an hour ago. I should check the temperature of the batteries. Looks like 54F. Good enough when power might be back in another 16 hours or so. That means I should run the inverter gen in the morning to recharge the batteries from the overnight usage but that might be the last gen usage for a while if the co-op can get things fixed in that time frame. We shall see. I think I could use a calming cup of chamomile tea about now.
---
The end.
Copyright © 2022 by the author.
Well, Damn
Chapter 1
Wednesday, 13 January, Dark-thirty
Well, damn! Something I'd always suspected could happen just did.
Need to get the Fenix E12 flashlight out of my pocket so I can check the time.
It's 03:19. That revving engine I heard and the siren a few seconds behind it define the first ever police chase I've heard through our relatively quiet neighborhood with its curving roads and 25MPH speed limit. The "CRASH!" and sudden darkness defined that chase's abrupt end - taking down the power pole at the tee intersection where power from the local co-op goes underground to feed the string of houses and hobby farms along this otherwise insignificant and very lightly peopled side road.
First, I should turn off the UPS units on this level to eliminate the BEEP! BEEP! and then head to the basement to get the backup power going. OK, pure sine wave UPS for the A/V equipment is OFF, basic 800 watt UPS for the Sleep Number mattress (and my alarm clock) is OFF. {Why did I get out the E12 to see an LED clock?} The UPS charging the cordless phone and powering a small LED light in the family room can be left on as it only BEEPs once when power goes off and doesn't start the continuous BEEP! BEEP! until the battery is almost discharged - probably six or seven hours. It'll be daylight before then.
Now to the basement, stopping on the landing of those stairs to get the 3-AA LED head light that lives on the knob of the door to those stairs. The E12 can go back in my pocket so both hands are free as I go down the stairs. There is a motion-activated light over the stairs that will come on about 4 steps down, another one at the bottom of the stairs and yet another one over the solar backup system. If power is out, I do want to be able to find my way to the controls for alternate power.
Turn the 200 amp breaker for the 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter ON. Turn the inverter ON. Run the 12/3 extension cord from the inverter to the transfer switch and operate the breakers for furnace, fridge, kitchen counter outlets and some LED lighting. The freezer is OK for maybe 16 hours without power so I'll only worry about powering it if co-op power isn't back up in 12 or 14 hours. Thinking of power being back up, the power co-op's app on my phone hasn't yet beeped to tell me "You lost power XX minutes ago and your Estimated Restoration Time is <some ridiculously optimistic time>". Since their computer doesn't seem to be aware of the outage, I should use the app to report it.
The app has my phone number of 6665551234
Time the outage started: 03:19
Number of buildings affected: All on West Chattooga Drive
Tap "Submit"
And 20 seconds later the phone buzzes and there's a "Thank you for your report. We will have your power restored in a timely fashion."
Their "timely" is a matter of opinion, even more so when their computer has not detected that more than a dozen "smart" meters are offline in the 20 minutes since it happened.
I see flashing blue lights outside…
Knock! Knock!
"Yes, Deputy Cosgrave?"
"Sir, this is the only house with any light. Can you explain how?"
"Small rechargeable flashlights that can be stood on end to light the ceiling and thus gently light a room. How badly did he damage the pole at the tee?"
"That RAM 3500 wrapped its front end around the pole and snapped that pole off maybe a foot above the ground. The Dispatcher notified the co-op just a couple of minutes after it happened and the person there said they'd send out notification to the affected customers."
"No notification yet and I did report the outage using their app. I suspect there may be some unhappy people if they're awakened by sunlight coming in their windows around 8AM when their alarms probably should have gone off at an hour or two earlier. I don't know if the app's alert is loud enough and long enough to wake most people but the customers would at least have some idea of what happened."
"My brother wasn't thrilled to be awakened at this hour when I called him about five minutes ago, but he was a bit mollified when he learned why - and angry at the co-op because he hadn't been notified. If nothing else, folks want to know when power might be back."
"Your brother is 'KC' for Karl Cosgrave?"
"Correct."
"His wife is pregnant?"
"Very. Due this week."
"Do they have alternate power or heat?"
"Both. He was very impressed by the fact this was the only house with heat and light in last year's January's ice storm. He said you steered him to a small inverter generator that would be adequate until he'd thought things out more thoroughly than the 'whole house generator' info-mercial he saw on TV late one night."
"Good that he saw the 'light'."
"He said you were a terrible punster! He also said that you had predicted this type of failure. How'd you do that?"
"When I was in high school, we lived near an intersection where two four lane streets became two lane streets. There was a lane of traffic on each four lane that had a STOP sign and was Right Turn Only but it was aimed at a power pole on the other side of the cross street. Remember the cartoons you've seen about someone running into a pole and the transformer dropping on the vehicle? I saw that happen there, so I knew similar damage could also happen at the tee intersection here if someone was going too fast to make that 90 degree turn."
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Wilson. I think the county and the co-op could both use your ability to spot problems in road and traffic design."
"Not really interested in another job. I'd rather be retired and write books when my muse gets the characters in my head into interesting conversations - regardless of the hour."
"So you were awake when it happened?"
"In the middle of another chapter but I may have a bit of trouble picking the thread of that story back up after this long and this much distraction."
"You can write without power?"
"Lots of rechargeable lighting, the battery on the laptop is good for at least three hours and I still have oil lamps and matches."
"I guess you can write. I'll contact the Dispatcher again and have him light a fire under whoever answers the phone at the co-op."
"Have him use this number. The co-op's District Manager probably won't be happy to be awakened but he may be less happy that an outage involving equipment damage wasn't reported to him immediately."
"And you have this number because?"
"He also got some 'how to' on alternate power from me."
"That is the best possible recommendation for your knowledge of alternate power! You have any suggestions for me?"
"These pages titled 'How Much Power Do You NEED'."
"I think I just got some college level research to do."
"You could be correct. Karl said it was 'hard'."
"I might also be saying that, but thank you. You'll be going to bed now?"
"Not until I've heard from the co-op so I can leave useful notes for my better half."
"Understood, and thank you again."
---
Chapter 2
Wednesday, 13 January, 04:49
Bzzt! Bzzt!
That's the power co-op's app. What bad news do they have?
'Your power went off at 03:19. Your Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): Assessing Damage.'
Sorry, but you've had more than an hour to "Assess Damage" so you should have a better ERT than that. How much do I remember about repairing 7400 volt underground lines from my time maintaining base housing in a very windy area? There's a minimum distance above ground for any splices, otherwise you must run new wire from pole top to the first vault or the first pad on a short residential underground run. How much of that work is needed here?
First they remove the remains of the pole and see how much aerial line and cable damage there is - it's unlikely that he could take down a pole without doing some damage to the lines to the next pole in both directions. That will require having power shut off for the entire run along County 141 as I don't remember a breaker on a pole along there. Maybe 400 meters affected? And the power will be off until that work is finished. The co-op will have the as-built drawings of the wiring and that's something I don't have but can guess at: they'll have to set the new pole and run new wiring, with luck they could use the remaining underground cable as their "fish tape" to get to the first pad - if not, they dig out the rest of the original cable and then run the new cable, which will take longer. They'll check the wiring at the first pad for indications of surge or other possible damage. New wiring at the first pad and to other pads from that feed-through pad as needed. While they're doing that, the second team would be setting the new pole and getting the soon-to-be-underground wiring connected at the top of that pole and the waterproofing done where that cable goes into the ground. Then the aerial 7400 volt distribution line run from the last pole standing to the new pole - plus any other damaged aerial wiring to other poles and any other damaged poles replaced. Then that line can be powered back up to see if everything works.
Maybe 12 hours if all goes well? But they've already lost more than an hour of analysis time and no one is yet on site (still no trucks with flashing yellow lights at the tee intersection - can't miss those when all the houses and yard lights are dark) so perhaps something more than 12 hours from now? That will mean the freezer may need power for cooling but I can do that with the inverter generator - I should set an alarm on my phone for 10 hours from now. Done.
Guess I'll get a cup of Café Mocha - my gas-fired version, using some Double Dark Chocolate hot chocolate mix and some decaf coffee instead of a K-Cup because the backup system's power is needed for more important things than the Keurig - such as the gas-fired furnace and security cameras - and then see if my muse has more inspiration while I wait for factual info about restoration time.
---
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
What is the Weather Radio unhappy about?
'…inches of snow for Greeley, Taliaferro, Lincoln and Mason Counties. Possible drifts of more than three feet. This is a severe storm and if you are not certain you can stay warm, contact the Salvation Army or your local Sheriff's Office for the locations of warming centers in your are. Repeating: an "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, accumulations of snow today and tomorrow will be eight to fourteen inches for Greeley…'
That is unexpected. How do we get weather that bad on such short notice? Those things are usually seen and forecast several days in advance. It seems the Cub Cadet snowblower I found in the free section of craigslist.org will be much needed after I clean the carb. Give that carb maybe 15 minutes in degreaser solution using the heated ultrasonic cleaner? I'll look into that when I see how much snow we have and what the forecast is for the next few days. If we have temperatures above freezing, I may just let the sun clear the walks and driveway. Meanwhile, I should go check the small inverter generator as we won't have sun while that much snow is falling.
BRRR! The falling temperatures are confirmed as the 40F at midnight is now 30F, the wind is from the North and the clouds are moving in quickly. I'll accept the NWS guesses at the wind speed as accurate or at least close. The 1600 watt generator started on the second pull and was happy running a 1500 watt heater so it's OK. I checked its tank and it's full, so good for six or eight hours without sun. The gen is back in the equipment shed and I'm back in the house. There's at least fifteen gallons of gas in the equipment shed so we're OK for about two weeks without power. I don't expect it to be that long, but the snow and wind will likely cause additional problems between the damaged pole and the substation (more than a mile of aerial power lines provides a lot of opportunities for weather-related failures) and that will slow repairs at the tee intersection and the snow will take the power from our solar panels to near zero. Guess I should make paper notes about what has happened and that repairs here are at least 24 hours away. Done. Leave that note at my better half's place at the table and put "Power off. Do not use." notes on the Keurig and the microwave oven.
Meanwhile, the whistling teakettle on the LP stove and light that burner with a grill lighter to have hot water for a cup of chamomile tea while I wait for more info from the co-op.
---
Chapter 3
Wednesday, 13 January, 06:30
"Jack? Jack. Jack!"
"What? Oh, morning, love."
"Can you explain this dark, cold, snow-covered morning?"
"Check the note at your place on the table."
"Really? What happened to 'High near 50 with chance of showers'?"
"No idea, love. You can hit the button on the weather radio and get a replay of the status and forecast."
"OK. I'll do that."
'…peating. An "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow amounting to fourteen to twenty inches of snow and drifts exceeding three feet for Greeley…'
"I should have just accepted your note - at least the conditions were a little less bad."
"Unless I dozed through an alert, they didn't put one out when the forecast changed."
"The 'Alert' light wasn't on when I went to the weather radio so they apparently didn't send a new alert with the new forecast."
"That's not helpful. Even the people who are slightly prepared for winter storms probably aren't ready to be snowbound for the days it will take for the sun to melt that much snow. I should check the power co-op's outage page…"
"On your phone?"
"The laptop got 'No internet connection' the last time I tried to get somewhere with it - our internet service is no longer there."
"You're thinking of going to an unlimited 5G plan and using a phone as a permanent 'hotspot'?"
"We'll see how they fare during this outage. If that provider manages to keep their service up, I'll definitely be pricing it as an option."
"Your frown isn't positive."
"Neither is the 'The page you are looking for is not available' message about the co-op's outage page."
"We're as in the dark about this outage as people were in the 1950's!"
"That's the way things were then because the only commonly available 'mass media' were newspapers and magazines and the closest thing to 'instant electronic communication' was the rotary dial landline telephone and the mass calling equipment that's now readily available was still in the future. Or was that an intentional pun."
"Pun?"
"'In the dark'."
"Not intentional but I guess it fits. You ready for breakfast?"
"Yes. Something in comfort food?"
"Blueberry pancakes with bacon and some Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee sounds good."
"Then the big skillet on the stove, burner lit and turned down while I mix the pancake batter. Check the water in the teakettle and refill if needed. I refilled the filter pitcher some hours ago so there's enough filtered water to make good coffee."
"Will do."
---
"That was good, Jack. 'Comfort food' really can live up to its name…"
'WA4--- from WB4---.'
'This is WA4---.'
'Jack, has your weather radio alerted since just before 5AM?'
'No, Karl. The forecast was updated some time after 5 but I've heard no alerts.'
'It changed again in the past minute. You should check it again.'
'Thanks. Will do. WA4--- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
'…ting. An "Arctic Express" is expected in the next two to four hours with blizzard conditions. Winds of 50MPH to 55MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow amounting to eighteen to thirty inches of snow and drifts exceeding four feet for Greeley…'
"Did we get moved to North Dakota by some alien teleportation ray?"
"The road and the trees look the same as yesterday so I don't think so - unless they moved a huge amount of land as well - but I don't think the weather radio is good enough to be receiving forecasts from the same NWS office as we've always heard. At best, the range is maybe 50 miles on a good day. The maps for the various NWS transmitters in each state are at www.weather.gov/nwr/your-state's-name . All the information you may ever want to know about the SAME system is at www.nws.noaa.gov/directives/sym/pd01017012curr.pdf and the links it offers. The 'how to' for some common SAME radios is here: www.weather.gov/mob/nwrhelp and the SAME codes for all the counties in the US starts here: www.weather.gov/nwr/counties and there are links to the coverage maps for the associated NWS transmitter or transmitters for your area."
"You're just overflowing with possible useful information today."
"I did research during the night while waiting for the power co-op to provide more useful information than their original 'Assessing Damage'. Those links are from the notes I made."
"And you still don't have 'more useful information'."
"No, I don't. I'll leave things in your capable hands while I catch up a couple of hours of missed sleep. Your 1911 and its holster and belt are on the table next to the gun safe."
"You're already armed?"
"Not visibly, but I am armed. I checked the shotguns over the front, back and basement outside doors. All loaded with 00 buck and more on the sleeve."
"You're expecting something bad other than the weather?"
"Not sure what. Just a 'tingle' in the sixth sense that kept me alive in more dangerous places."
"That 'tingle' has always been accurate so I shall arm up before washing dishes. You go nap."
"Yes, ma'am."
---
Chapter 4
Wednesday, 13 January, Cold-thirty
Damn but I'm cold! What time is it? 08:14? My clock running on the UPS in here is the only one working? Power must be off. Sarah's already up as the other side of the bed is empty. No, Sarah's at Kelly's high school graduation 600 miles away. Guess that means she didn't get up and turn on the backup power. Did I dream that whole tale of a pickup taking out power and the weather radio predicting a blizz…
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
As cold as it is in the house, the power has been off for several hours and that weather radio alert is the real thing. Into my "blanket with sleeves" robe and go check what the NWS has to say. Nice that the weather radio has battery backup…
Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo! Bee-Doo!
I'm coming! I just move a little slower when the inside of the house is below 60F.
'... eight to fourteen inches of snow for Greeley, Taliaferro, Lincoln and Mason Counties. Possible drifts of more than three feet. This is a severe storm and if you are not certain you can stay warm, contact the Salvation Army or your local Sheriff's Office for the locations of warming centers in your area. Repeating: an "Arctic Express" is expected in the next four to six hours. Winds of 40MPH, gusting to 60MPH, heavy snow, temperatures falling into the teens, snow today and tomorrow with accumulations of eight to fourteen inches of snow for Greeley…'
OK. Am I still dreaming or is this one real? Maybe check out a window? There is some snow coming down and that was not in yesterday's forecast so maybe that's real. Next the power outage. What does the app on my phone have?
'You lost power at 03:19. A vehicle accident has affected power to 132 customers. Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): Assessing Damage.'
If the house has been without power for about five hours and it's cold enough for the snow to stick, I'm not surprised the house is cold. Grab the 3-AA head light from the basement doorknob and head down to get some power going. 200 amp breaker on. 2000 watt inverter on. 12/3 cable from inverter to transfer switch. Flip the breakers for furnace, fridge, counter outlets and some LED lighting. And I hear the furnace's induction blower starting up. That's good. The unconditioned space down here is at 43F. I need to see if the leakage from the ductwork gets this area up to the 50F that's my minimum acceptable temperature for the backup system's batteries. I do have a diesel parking heater than can be put in place to warm a small area down here if needed. Is the solar monitor still running on the old laptop down here? It is. That says the new LiFePO4 battery pack in the small, long run UPS powering that laptop did run about its computed 4 hours as the laptop's battery is still at 70%. That was a good update for the UPS and it was less than $40 with me collecting surplus LiFePO4 cells and building my own battery pack. I should plug that UPS into a backed-up outlet and let it charge so it will be ready the next time it's needed. That's done - there's a reason the output of the inverter feeds a triple tap. Ultraviewer is running on the solar laptop and I can access that from any PC upstairs so time for me to head back up and dress to be outside to test the 1600 watt inverter generator. It was exercised last week but I'll see what the weather does and what the co-op's power status becomes before putting the gen in place as the backup power source. Maybe an hour while I cook and eat breakfast and check those things online?
---
The house is almost warm, I've had a decent meal - nice to have LP for cooking and a stovetop percolator for quickly brewing coffee - I'm dressed for the day and the weather radio forecast has not changed. The power co-op's app still has "Assessing Damage" as the ERT. Guess the gen should be in place so it can power everything - including the freezer - and bring the batteries up to full charge before sunset. Need to get my coat, hat and gloves to go outside and get the gen out of the shed, get it running on the concrete pad behind the house and then cover it with the well-padded sound enclosure I built a couple of years ago. First though, I should go up to the tee intersection and check where and what that 'vehicle accident' might be. Probably not worth burning fuel for that but I can use the 'adult trike' with my solar power modifications. I can pedal it out as far as I want to go and then I'll have battery power to get back at least 15 miles and the solar panel "roof" provides some charging when we have sun - but not today. Don't think I'll need to go far today because we're just a little over a mile from the electric substation and whatever the problem is will be in that mile or so.
Coat, gloves, balaclava - needed if the winds really are that high and the deerstalker hat that the wind can't blow off my head. To the basement. Open the boat door - nice that it's properly adjusted, well lubricated and still a one-hand operation. Trike outside. Door down and locked. And away I pedal. There's a bit of snow on the grass and trees but only at the edges of the road - it's definitely getting as cold as predicted. Shift to first gear so I can pedal up the hill to the tee intersection. I've found the 'vehicle accident'. The RAM pickup's front end was wrapped around the power pole it broke off. It moved the pole maybe ten feet until the wiring on one side snapped and the pole went down, becoming a plow in front of the truck, bringing the truck to another immediate stop and, from the state of the windshield, the unbelted driver may have hit the windshield twice - once at the original impact and again when the pole dug in. I should see if he's still with us.
Strong smell of alcohol and several empty cans on the floor of the truck. No pulse from this side of his neck. I should reach around and… His face is very cold. No pulse on the other side and there's a big cut on his neck plus dried blood on his shirt, trousers and the seat. Putting your head through the windshield can partially decapitate you. Report this to the sheriff.
beep. boop. boop.
'911. Where is your emergency?'
'It's no longer an emergency. Intersection of County 141 and West Chatooga Drive. Pickup took down a power pole and the driver's head went through the windshield. No pulse and he's cold to the touch so he's probably been here for a while. The power co-op's app notified me that power went off at 3:19AM so I'd guess the accident happened then. The truck is blocking one lane of County 141 and there are power lines down in the area.'
'Hold one please.'
While she contacts the Sheriff's Office and Fire/Rescue. They never accept "He's cold" from anyone but an EMT or LEO.
'Thank you for waiting. Can you stay there until…'
'No. I'm on a pedal-powered adult tricycle and it's too cold to stay outside. My name is Jack Wilson and I can be reached at this number or at 14572 West Chatooga Drive. I just came out to see why my power was still off after four hours and the Mason County Power Co-op apparently hasn't yet investigated the site as there are no trucks here and no barriers or caution tape around the downed lines.'
'We'll contact them immediately. Anything else, sir?'
'That's it. I'm going back where it's much warmer.'
How does the Sheriff's Office not get notified about something like this? Why isn't the co-op here working? Lots of things that don't make…
Bang! Bang!
Ching!
One of those hit the trike! Thumb switch for the electric boost to ON and twist the grip to full throttle. I don't know who or why but I do know which direction those shots came from and I'm headed away from them. Nice that 'away' is back toward the house and much better protection than the trike can provide. I'll need to slow down some before I try to turn in to the yard and head behind the house. I knew I had improved the original battery pack with the LiFePO4 updates but didn't know that I'd created a racing vehicle - it was doing about 30 in the lowest gear when headed down that hill! This thing has a five speed Shimano rear gearing setup and I don't think I'll be doing full throttle in any gear other than the lowest one. I certainly don't trust this thing at speeds over 30MPH.
At the boat door. Key out to unlock it. Door up. Trike inside. Me also. Door down and locked. The snow is coming down much heavier. Looks like my tracks will be covered in a matter of secon…
Beep!Beep!
Motion alarm from the front camera. Four guys in Woodland camo? Sorry guys, but that is rapidly becoming the wrong camo color for this area. They seem to think the trike kept going downhill which is fine with me. No lights in the house that are visible from the road so no reason for them to head this way. Will they assume the trike was so much faster than they are that it got down the hill and into the warren of walking/bicycle trails in the woods at the end of the road before there was enough snow to capture its tracks? I'll hope for that but I'll activate a few more motion sensors around the house.
What time is it? 1PM. Has it really been that long since I woke up in a cold house? I guess so as the windup clock on the living room wall says the same as my phone. That might mean it's time for something warm for lunch - it will certainly be "lunch time" by the time I have something cooked. Wonder what we have in home-canned soups and stews? Back to the basement and check those shelves.
'Beef stew - white wine recipe.' That's the label for a great meal that sounds like comfort food on a cold and scary day. Take the jar up to the kitchen to warm a bowlful of this and reheat the coffee. Jar open and emptied into a refrigerator storage bowl with a tight cover. Ladle enough for a good-sized bowl into a sauce pan and put it on the simmer burner. Grill lighter to light that burner and then turn it down low. Set the windup timer. Pull the basket and stem from the percolator and put the pot itself back on the stove over a low flame to warm the coffee. Get a piece of cornbread out of the breadbox and lay it on the wire mesh strainer that's over the stew pan so the bread can be heated and rehydrated a bit. Yes, it is possible to heat an entire meal without using a microwave oven. Thinking of things that use power - I need to get the inverter gen running soon but I should wait until that camo-clad group has headed back up to wherever they were on County 141 before I make any continuous noise.
MMM! That stew is good stuff! I think I'll call this a five star meal and eat it slowly so the enjoyment lasts longer…
'WA4---- from WB4---.'
'WA4----.'
'Jack, did you hear some shots a few minutes ago?'
'I absolutely heard them, Karl, as they were at me. From a group in Woodland camo.'
'What the hay? Shooting at you? Where? Why?'
'Up at the tee intersection where a RAM pickup took out the pole that takes power underground to provide this section of road with underground power.'
'When?'
'The co-op's app said my power went off at 03:19. I don't know the time as I was asleep until I woke up cold a little after 8AM.'
'How'd it happen?'
'The driver and the inside of the truck had a strong scent of alcohol and there were empty cans on the floor of the truck. I heard a siren in a dream last night so maybe a police chase?'
'Status of the driver?'
'His head went through the windshield - possibly more than once. You'd need to see the wreck to understand how. He was cold, had a slice on one side of his neck and dried blood down the front of his shirt and on the seat.'
'Why would anyone be shooting at you?'
'No idea, unless there is something in the truck they don't want the wrong people to find.'
'Drugs?'
'I guess that's always a possibility. I only got as far as verifying that he was beyond help and then I called 911. That was more than an hour ago and I still haven't heard any sirens or the engine of a big truck - neither a wrecker to remove the wrecked RAM nor a repair truck from the co-op.'
'"Curiouser and curiouser" to quote Alice. Should we recon the area?'
'We probably should, but I'll give the Sheriff's Office another hour before I go back out to be a target. I have a Level III vest but no plates and no Kevlar helmet.'
'Good points. Would they shoot at a drone?'
'That's anybody's guess but you might start high and gradually circle down over the area. Based on the hole in one rear fender of the trike, the shooter was about 30 degrees right of the wrecked truck, looking from this side.'
'So not in the house up there but in the garage/barn behind it?'
'Very probably. You know who lives there or what they might have in that building?'
'No. It changed hands a couple of years ago. The previous owners had horses and they kept a buggy and some tack in that building. No idea who the current owners are or what they might have. Drone surveillance does seem to be somewhat safer.'
'Even better if you can go the long way around and come toward them from the North. Much better than giving them another reason to be interested in the Sou…'
Beep!Beep!
'There's motion out front. Their now very-visible-against-the-snow Woodland camo would make them easy targets if I had a shooting position on the roof.'
'That's another of your good ideas that I couldn't implement either. They're headed away from you?'
'Moving back to the North. The snow looks to be three or four inches deep already. I think this might make the predicted fourteen inches as it's showing no signs of slowing.'
'You'll be out clearing the roof at some point?'
'Only if the snow doesn't slide off the metal roof as the brochures and the salesman promised. If it doesn't, I'll put the torpedo kerosene heater in the attic and let it run long enough to warm the metal roof and melt a bit of the bottom layer of the snow and get it to slide off.'
'And I thought you were crazy to bid $20 for that ancient heater at the July farm auction.'
'Lots of difference in the value of some things in January versus July.'
'Call me when/if you decide that on-foot recon is needed. I'll get the drone up for maybe 20 minutes and see if there is anyone or anything out of place. I'll program the flight path but I'll have my finger on the UP joystick in case I hear a shot or see a muzzle flash.'
'Good plan. WA4--- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
Set the alarm on my phone for an hour and plan to start the gen then if there are no further alerts. Done. To the laptop up here and check the solar monitor laptop from there. The batteries are at 12.78 volts so they're still at a good level of charge. The unconditioned space is up to 51F so that's acceptable. If I run the freezer only when the gen is running, I may not need to use any battery power to keep the freezer cold enough over the next few days. That's good, as the battery bank only has about 85% of its 77F rated capacity when it's at 51F. I need to keep that limit firmly in mind any day we don't have sun.
---
Chapter 5
Wednesday, 13 January, 14:10
'WA4---- from WB4---.'
'WA4----.'
'Jack, I had the drone drop the thumb drive of pictures on your driveway. It's to the side of the hedge. That drive is red, so you should be able to find it. It might have been warm enough to melt its way down through the six or eight inches of snow but you know where to look.'
'Thanks, Karl. I'll go check. 4K resolution images?'
'Correct.'
'On my way. WA4---- clear.'
'WB4--- clear.'
I'm bundled up as I was before but it's colder now than it was a few hours ago. That part of the forecast was correct and the snow is closer to a foot so the "how much" part may also be correct. The wind is also much higher than it was. BRRR! I should hurry to get back inside and see what these images tell me. I think that drone has IR imaging capability. If so, an after dark flight might be very helpful in determining how many people there are and where they are holed up. That planning should be a little more circumspect than the drone planning. We can use CW and be difficult to locate and difficult to decode - very few people outside ham radio know even a tiny bit of Morse Code.
After just a bit of digging, I've found the drive. Back inside and get it dry and warm before trying to view the images. Between its falling velocity and its temperature, the drive made it through ten inches of snow. It unquestionably needs to be dried slowly and gently and then warmed slowly. Time to be back inside and get me warm and the drive dry. I'll light a burner and warm the last of the coffee. Be nice to have the microwave for quick warming of food and drink but I didn't have the $$$$ for a much larger battery bank; being retired can limit your disposable income.
I'm back in much warmer space, the drive is wrapped in a paper towel and there's a small battery powered fan blowing gently on the paper towel. I'll give the drive an hour and then see what the images can tell me. Meanwhile, get Karl to the CW conversation.
'WB4--- from WA4---.'
'This is WB4---.'
'Parley on 144.055.'
'Meet you there. WB4--- clear.'
'WA4--- clear.'
Two minutes later Karl has my plan and he will send the drone out on a path similar to the previous one but this time at 20 minutes after sunset. There'll still be enough light to navigate by the visual camera but things will have cooled enough for body heat, cooking fires or heating devices in an uninsulated structure such as that garage/barn to be obvious on the IR camera. These two old guys appear to be planning well - let's just hope the "bad guys" are limited in number, knowledge, equipment and tactics as we don't have a squad of troops to use against them and we don't have any automatic weapons.
---
Beep. Beep. Beep.
That's my phone alarm so it's time to run the inverter gen. Check all the outside cameras - nice that the snow is deep enough to make footprints very obvious but it looks clear in all directions. Bundle up. Head back out to the equipment shed and get a shovel out. Use that shovel to clear a space big enough for the gen's sound cover. Done. Move the gen to the cleared space. Engine control to 'Choke' and hit 'Prime' once because it's so cold. Pull the cord… and it's running. Ease the control off 'Choke' and back to 'Run'. Put it in auto-throttle? Probably not until the freezer has been started.
Sound cover over the gen and it's very quiet, as it should be. Back inside to turn off the transfer switches then turn off the inverter and move the 12/3 cable from the inverter to the gen - there's a panel in the sound cover that opens for cable access. Switch power to the freezer - the gen groaned just a bit for that start so good that it wasn't in auto-throttle and that the freezer was the only thing to be started. Now power to fridge, counter outlets, LED lighting and then the 60 amp charger for the backup battery bank. Check the battery status and it's charging at 54 amps so wait about 30 minutes and then switch the gen to auto-throttle as the loads will be in the range auto-throttle can easily handle by then. No, I don't have that memorized - it's part the P-Touch labels on the gen, along with an abbreviated 'How to start', how much gas and oil the gen holds, and when the gas was treated with Pri-G.
My timing was good as the freezer has been without power for over 11 hours so it's well within the 16 or so hours things will stay at an acceptable temperature. The gen can run until near sunset but I should stop it before the drone heads out. Don't need any noise that might be heard by someone walking down the road if they notice the drone and start searching for its source. If the snow gets deep enough, walking down the road may be so difficult that even the group in Woodland camo may not be out unless they have snowshoes. I certainly don't plan to be out in that much snow. While I wait, I can plan meals for the next few days as I don't expect power to be restored when there are active shooters in the area of damage and I'm certain that more than a foot of snow will cause further powerline damage - from trees falling, if nothing else - and multi-foot drifts will keep most vehicles other than the snowplows or vehicles with tracks off the roads.
---
Chapter 6
Wednesday, 13 January, 17:50
Time to turn the inverter gen off. The drone will be up in maybe 30 minutes so this site should be silent. Bundle up to head outside. Stop at the transfer switch and turn off everything in the house. That's possibly not needed but having zero load on the transfer switch when switching to or from the inverter or the inverter generator is just being gentle on the hardware. I don't have unlimited funds for replacing those things, so a few extra seconds to ensure gentle transitions could be worth $$$. Now out to the gen, open the panel and unplug the 12/3 cable to the transfer switch and the power cable for the fan in the sound enclosure - that gen produces a lot of heat that must be dissipated somewhere so the fan in the box moves more than 200CFM of air to keep things cool. A check with the IR thermometer only showed the gen's hottest spot up 3 degrees F from running in free air in a summer comparison, so that's acceptable cooling and possibly more cooling than needed in winter. That's OK, running a bit cooler should make the gen last longer ;-)
Gen's off, cover's off the gen and the cover can be hung back on the rafters in the equipment shed. Give the gen five minutes to cool before topping off the gas tank and then moving it back into the shed. Meanwhile, back inside to fire up the inverter, connect the 12/3 cable to it and power up the furnace, fridge, counter outlets and some LED lighting. The freezer has run long enough to have shut off so it's at "normal" temperature and doesn't need power for another 12 hours or more. My five minutes of inside power work are completed, so back out to gas up the gen, put the gen back in the shed and lock things up. No, I'm not carelessly wandering in and out - I'm using my phone in wifi mode to check the outside cameras each time before I go out.
Gen's back in the shed, doors are locked. Looks like the gen used just over a half gallon of gas today and there are about 15 gallons in the shed. Might be a bit more, as the "five gallon" cans hold closer to 5 1/2 gallons and I usually fill them until the gas pump does auto-shutoff, so probably 16+ gallons. That's more than two weeks at a gallon per day so I think I'm good for power. Time to be back inside and check the temperature of the battery bank. It's at 53F so might be OK overnight. I should connect the eLog recording device to one of the spare solar charge controllers so I can have a record of battery temperature every eleven minutes during the night. That way I'll know for certain how much capacity the battery bank will have overnight. That only takes a couple of minutes. Done. Time to be in warmer space and to monitor what's going on outside while the drone is up again.
---
I hear my call in code. That's Karl telling me the drone is on its way. I have two VHF/UHF handheld radios with scan capability (BaoFeng UV5R) and a high capacity battery in each. One is scanning the two meter ham band and local LEO and utility frequencies; the other one is scanning the FRS and GMRS frequencies so we'll know if the guys in camo are using any of those frequencies for their communications. I also resurrected an old CB radio with scan capability and it's monitoring those frequencies. If they have an outside lookout, they should be using some type of communications so he/she can keep the others posted on what's happening outside. Are they that good? Don't know yet…
Something broke the squelch on the CB.
'… another drone. It's up high and it's too dark to see it through the rifle's scope. You have anything with night vision?'
'No. It's too high for birdshot?'
'Unless you have some magnum birdshot loads . Remember that I'd be shooting almost straight up and that's not what the shotgun's made for.'
'OK, just keep an eye on it and see what you can do if it gets lower.'
'Wilkins out.'
'Taylor out.'
Wilkins and Taylor? Aren't they and Anderson the deputies that usually patrol out here? Wasn't the city's big TV station planning some type of exposé of local drug running and possible LEO involvement? If they're getting the calls from the Sheriff's Dispatcher about reports in this area, they could easily be covering up the accident in the short term and the snow will just make it more difficult for anyone to check on them. Guess I should have reported the 'Shots fired' incident - but that would have told them who they were shooting at and where I was. Better that I didn't until I have conclusive evidence. Maybe the drone will…
'Old man, you need to see the IR images. Same drop off location but blue. Don't answer.'
That tells me the drone found something or someone of interest. Maybe several someones for Karl to not be identifying? Time to bundle up even better than before and go find the thumb drive. The thermometer out back is showing 23F and the snow is well over a foot deep - easy to measure if you just compare the height of the snow against the brick wall with the bricks being about 3 1/2 inches each. I have the blue drive so back inside and repeat the paper towel wrap and gentle fan drying of earlier today. Drying in progress. Brew a cup of chamomile tea while I wait and have something calming to drink until I can explore those images.
---
I see Karl's reason for concern: four Sheriff's cruisers behind that house and the IR shows one "body heat" image outside the building, three "body heat" images inside the building, two much hotter heat sources - maybe a kerosene or propane heater and something for cooking - inside the building. Is there anyone I trust enough to call about this? I should think on that for a bit. While I'm thinking, I can process some images to have an overview in daylight, an enlarged view of the building with an overlay of the heat images and anything else that looks useful. Add some notes about the names I've heard on the CB radio - too bad for them that they're not using code names - and then I can post all this to an image website using my phone. Are the numbers on all the cruisers visible? I need to go back through the daylight images for that.
---
Chapter 7
Wednesday, 13 January, 18:30
Images posted, including the wrecked truck, downed powerlines, lot filled with Sheriff's cruisers (with all the numbers easily readable), IR images of the human and other heat sources in the building there (including the daytime image with IR overlay - nice to be able to edit images) and with a date and time narrative of what's happened out here today. Use a new email address to notify five people in the Sheriff's chain of command of the events today and with a link to the images - nice that their email info is on their "Contact Us" page, a copy of that email to the nearest State Trooper post with reference to the TV station's "possible LEO involvement" promo, a copy to that TV station's investigative reporter and a copy to the FBI. Maybe there will be a positive response from one or more of those. Unless I hear a chopper or a large vehicle with a lot of ground clearance, I won't even be looking out the windows but the cameras will provide a limited overview of what's happening near me.
Need to tell Karl that images are posted and emails have been sent. To the two meter rig and key 'images up. emails sent.' and that very short message probably wasn't noticed by anyone. Now to eat supper while I wait for someone to respond. Beef stew again? It's quick, easy and still a five star meal. It's dark enough in the house to need more light so set an oil lamp on the kitchen table and let it be the main source of light while I use the 3-AA had light to light my work areas. Covered bowl out of the fridge. Decent size serving in a pan. Pan on the stove. Simmer burner lit with the grill lighter and turned down low. Coffee pot reloaded and on the stove. Light that burner with the grill lighter. Now I wait for things to heat.
I enjoyed that and there's enough left for at least one meal tomorrow. Maybe I should check the home-canned things for another great meal? Head light back on and down the stairs…
Beep! Beep!
BAM! BAM! BAM!
That's some serious door-bashing to go with the motion alarm. What do the cameras tell me? Blue snowmobiles with the gold star of the State Troopers down at the bottom of the hill? I'll go answer with the door intercom.
'Yes?'
'You're Jack Wilson?'
'Yes.'
'You sent an email about the county mounties?'
'Yes.'
'We'll be on watch here while the rest of the force surrounds that building. Stay away from the windows. We'll notify you when it's safe.'
'Will do.'
My evaluation from the camera images is this is a SWAT team in Level III armor and equipped with automatic weapons. I'll guess that their 'force' is somewhat larger and perhaps even better equipped. What do the outside microphones tell me?
Not much, as the cameras show people in white camo moving almost invisibly and only using hand signals. Wonder if this was already planned but today's events just upped their timetable? I may never know.
'Deputies Wilkins, Taylor and Anderson and Sheriff Wilcox, this is the State Troopers. You are surrounded. We have drone-collected images of where you are and IR images of your hiding places and heating and cooking sources. You have sixty seconds to exit the building, unarmed and with hands on your heads or we use tear gas. Counting down: 60, 59, 58…'
How fast can Karl get the drone back up? Send a few words of CW. While I wait for his response, set one handie-talkie to the State Troopers Tac1 frequency. I hear an 'R' from Karl so the drone is up. Send him the Tac1 frequency.
'I'm here, Jack.'
Let the troopers know.
'Karl is on this frequency and has his IR drone headed for the building you're watching. Ask him about status there.'
'Karl, this is Captain Howard. Where are they?'
'One was out front, behind the vine-covered trellis, but he's headed for the front door. Three inside, at the back of the building. Daylight images showed two or more snowmobiles back there. They used CB channel 38 for some communications earlier today.'
'Rogers, can you see snowmobiles?'
'Yes.'
'Destroy them.'
'RPG on its way.'
BOOM!
'This is Karl. Looks like they had just started to open the back door and the blast slammed the door into the first one of them and him into the second one. They're both down inside the building. The other two are headed for the windows on the East side.'
'Baker, you have them?'
'Yes. Everyone close your eyes, flashbangs going off now.'
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Those are not usually damaging but can certainly be disorienting. Glad it's them and not me.
'This is Baker. Both down and cuffed. Team headed inside for the other two. Their status?'
'This is Karl. Both still on the floor. That's all I can tell from the IR image.'
'Better than going in blind. Entry teams at front and back doors, two on the floor. Go!'
Bang!
Bang!
'This is Team One. One shot fired by Wilkins. One shot fired by us. He needs a medic. All weapons secured.'
'Caldwell, do your thing. Patch him up enough for snowmobile transport unless he needs a chopper.'
'Two minutes, Captain.'
'Captain, through wound on his upper arm. He's OK for snowmobile back to the trucks.'
'Sanders, pictures and video inside. Volunteer as much help as you need for collecting evidence.'
'Captain, we'll need a big truck - and a forklift. There are barrels of chemicals for making meth and I'm not yet sure what else. Need to have a HazMat team do the removal of some of this.'
'Myers, bring in the snowplow and then whatever other vehicles are needed. Baker, take a snowmobile, go knock on the door of the power co-op's District Manager and bring him here. He can organize his people once he sees the damage. Team at Jack Wilson's house, stand down. I don't want any of you shooting me when I come in on a white snowmobile.'
'SWAT Four standing down.'
knock. knock.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Wilson, it's Captain Howard. May I come in?"
"Sure."
"You have heat and light with power off?"
"Backup power that's maintained by solar panels except when there are days without sun and then I use a small generator to recharge the batteries."
"How many tens of thousands of dollars did that cost you?"
"It's something I've put together over the past five years and I have less than $3000 in the entire backup system: solar panels, charge controllers, batteries, inverters, serious battery charger, inverter generator, transfer switch and extension cords. It's not whole house power and it's not auto-transfer when the power goes out, but it covers fridge, freezer, furnace and some LED lighting. I can take the stairs down to the basement and have that system started in less than two minutes."
"Could you give me details?"
"Yes. Here's a Word document about determining how much power you need. This thumb drive has a Word document that covers the process of me building this system and a spreadsheet giving the runtimes of the system based on the size and type of battery bank, the loads being powered and how much solar or generator power is available."
"You're not in the solar power business?"
"No, just decided a while back that I did not want to be shoveling seven inches of snow in the dark at 30F to get a cold generator out of the shed and try to get that cold generator started, so I researched alternate power systems and solar plus a generator was the most cost effective for us."
"Us?"
"My better half is at a grandkid's high school graduation 600 miles away and in much nicer conditions. I chose to not abuse my back more by traveling so she went alone."
"Karl is?"
"Karl Cosgrave. Four houses down on this side of the road. We're both retired military. We're ham radio operators so we explore and experiment with new and different forms of communication. I'm into low power VHF/UHF communications and Karl's interest is drones and their possibilities with visible light and IR imaging."
"I'll have to say his images and your presentation of them are both very professional. We don't have images as good at what you posted with our very expensive state-of-the-art equipment."
"At best, you'd have to describe Karl's equipment as a one-of-a-kind prototype, as the drone was built to carry the surplus sensors from a Chinese UAV. They were part of its IR ranging equipment but together we built an interface that could extract 4K video in US standards."
"Would the two of you be interested in new jobs?"
"Not me. You'll have to ask Karl yourself. I'd rather be retired and spend my quiet time writing 'The End Of Civilization As We Know It' stories. I do have a bit of a following, with one book approaching 2000 copies sold."
"Do any of your books reflect life as it was today?"
"Not exactly, but today's events certainly look to be fertile ground for ideas."
"You have a link to those books?"
"My card. That link will get you to my Author's Page and all the books are listed and linked there."
"Thank you, Mr. Wilson. I'll go thank Karl in person and maybe get a peek at his one-of-a-kind drone."
"He's just down the road."
Bzzt!Bzzt!
"Excuse me, my phone. This text is positive for you as well - the Power co-op will have trucks and people here to fix things as soon as the snowplows can clear the roads. We had DOT trucks and crews on standby and they were moving as soon as the perps were in custody. I can't promise when you'll have power, but those crews should be here in a couple of hours. Thank you again, Mr. Wilson."
"Call me Jack."
"OK, Jack. I'm Paul. We're sure we have the ringleaders but there may be a lot of underlings running free for a while. What do you and Karl need for protection?"
"Here's a list."
"Automatic weapons - that would make you equally armed to some of them. Armored roof cupola?"
"A shooting position that has 360 degree visibility but is armored up to .50 caliber."
"How?"
"This diagram."
"That's a stroke of genius!"
"That's a lot of thought and doing research a long way back on staying safe while returning fire."
"Let me talk to my boss. Taking down the leaders of this group with only one shot fired at my guys carries a lot of weight with their decisions. Karl has something similar?"
"Yes on the shooting position. Not sure about anything else."
"Thanks again, Jack. I'll be in touch."
"See you, Paul."
---
Bzzt!Bzzt!
That's my phone. It's the power co-op's app.
'Your power went off at 03:19. Estimated Restoration Time (ERT): January 14, 10:30AM'
Well, that's better prospects than I had an hour ago. I should check the temperature of the batteries. Looks like 54F. Good enough when power might be back in another 16 hours or so. That means I should run the inverter gen in the morning to recharge the batteries from the overnight usage but that might be the last gen usage for a while if the co-op can get things fixed in that time frame. We shall see. I think I could use a calming cup of chamomile tea about now.
---
The end.
