Jul 19 - packed and ready

Well, packed anyway.  Ready is a state of mind and I'm not sure about that.

A lot happened, and didn't, yesterday.

I didn't go for a ride.  The power was off from noon to six.  Paul Lamb didn't show up until 10am.  I was getting really, really agitated.

Paul Lamb did show up.  He did get the driveway done ... yay !  It looks great; now I hope that we don't have any huge downpours until it gets time to settle.  His bill also came in at 3/4 of his quote -- that was a very nice surprise !  It didn't take as much gravel and he was able to use a smaller bulldozer than originally planned.

It rained on and off while Paul was working.  That's actually good because it helps a) keep the dust down and b) pack the gravel.  

We had a tornado warning for the area (thousands of square miles up to and including North Bay) but of course nothing ever materialized and we never even had any strong winds.  They're pretty careful now when there are thunderstorms.

The power went off sometime before noon and Hydro One said that there were 7000 customers affected (good) and that it would be back at 8pm.  They exceeded my expectations by coming back online early.  7000 customers is good because the more customers, the higher the priority !

During the power outage we had a water pump problem.  It didn't come on.  It seems that if there is a low voltage situation, it automatically goes offline for a while and then resets itself.  Coincidentally other demands (fridge, freezer, wine cellar cooler mostly), must have been too much for the generator.  It did cause me some momentary panic.  This pretty well confirms for me that I need to do something about a standby generator.  Pouring gas into a hot generator isn't my idea of a low-risk activity.  Besides, these kinds of voltage drops can cause electronics in some of this equipment to fail.  It's time I looked into this.

I am packed, bike and bags.  Of course there are a few last minute things, but that's normal.  I also have to haul the dang things up to the car.

My plan is to head our around 10:30; to Stef's at 1pm; to the airport at 4pm; checked in and over to Terminal 1 at 5pm for Mass; back to Terminal 3 and the flight at 8:50.  We'll see.  It's worth a try.

Learning from the last time, I checked myself into a cabin further back on the airplane so that I get on the aircraft earlier and don't risk having problems stowing my bags.  These overnight flights aren't fun and I need as much space under the seat in front of me as possible.

Onward ?  I hope !