I attended the Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectors Show in Rosemont, IL over the weekend. It is a three day show filled with dealers from all over the US and Canada, featuring autograph guests, card auction houses, authenticators, and more. I wish I would have taken some photos but my phone battery isn't what it used to be and after about 10 minutes of walking around, I kind of forgot about doing it.
I have been going to these shows each year (twice a year in March and November) for the past 5-6 years and can generally anticipate what I am going to see there. Most of the shows take place in the smaller convention hall at the Convention Center, leaving the larger hall for shows like the NSCC or whatever comic book convention is currently taking place. Somehow though, they always find ways to cram a lot of things to see in that space. But for some reason, this years fall show seemed a bit off.
The first thing I noticed as I traversed the convention floor was how well we were able to maneuver up and down the aisles. It seemed the interior aisles had been widened to accommodate more traffic, or at least that's the way it appeared. With enough mapped out space to fit over 300 dealers, I was amazed at how much underutilized space there was on the main floor area. Usually the dealer tables line each aisle from end to end. This weekend (or at least on Saturday) I counted at least 17 empty dealer spaces. I'm not sure what to pin this one on. Could be a number of things like cost, timing, or even the pending weather in the Eastern part of the US. Regardless, there was much less to see as we made our rounds.
The autograph lineup was still top-notch as Mounted Memories had guests signing throughout the three day event. You can check out their lineup here if you want to see what you missed out on. But something I noticed on Saturday was the sheer turnout in the autograph pavilion. While most shows of this kind draw thousands of people to the auto lines, this one seemed a bit flat. I'm not sure if the guest list on Saturday wasn't up to snuff for the auto seekers out there in the Chicagoland area but the lines for people like Brian Urlacher, Len Dawson, and Gordie Howe were smaller than I ever expected. Maybe it was the price tag on having items signed, I don't know. Also, I noticed that after 3PM, announcements for guests stopped completely. At about 3:30, the auto pavilion was a ghost town. That was also weird for a show that ended at 5PM. Not even the "meanderers", as I call them, were left hanging around. I didn't partake in any auto hounding, as is customary for my show attendance. While I'd love to get things signed by all the guests, I tend to get nervous with the price tags the show promoters put on some of these players.
My third beef with the show, and this is probably not the shows fault by any means, was the lack of new hockey product available from many of the box dealers, and for that matter, the number of box dealers that were even there was minimal. These shows usually boast about 7-10 large volume "retail" dealers of unopened product. These dealers sometimes include folks like Dave & Adams, Baseball Card King, Blowout, Atlanta Sportscards, Steel City Sports, etc. D&A was there, the King was there...the rest, not so much. There were two other dealers that had any significant amount of product available that I found. Only one of those had any hockey product. Even D&A was sort of a disappointment because they only had their main box table. Their "discount" table was no where to be found this time. Maybe everyone is ramping up for Black Friday. Yeah, that's it. I will blame Black Friday.
Finally, I was actually disappointed with the amount of "Discount box" tables at the show. There were tons. TONS! In fact, this time it was actually rare to see anyone that didn't have countless 3500-5000 count boxes full of $.10, $.25, $.50 or $1-3 cards. Ask and you shall receive (as I have after previous shows) is how the old line goes, but this was kind of overkill. When you consider that many dealers simply got into these on a whim, it was a little off-putting. You could tell by the preparation they put into them. Most dealers with discount boxes have done them for years, have them sorted, have them priced accordingly and have them stocked with manageable inventory so the collector's can peruse without dropping handfuls of cards onto the concrete floor. There were a large number of guys with boxes set up this way, but when you took a closer look, nothing had a label.
Perfect example...one table I stopped because something shiny must have caught my eye. I began looking through a rare box of hockey singles. There were three rows in about 100 present on the table with hockey cards. The lid was proudly displayed behind the box as if to say "look at me if you want to know the price". I did. There was no price. I asked the dealer, who reluctantly looked up from his phone for a minute, how much were the hockey cards. He says, "That depends. Most of the goalie cards are a buck. The rest, it just depends." Frustrated by that answer, I begin to quickly sift as I didn't want to spend more than another minute here. Seeing my frustration, he exclaims, "Just hold a card up that you'd like and I will give you a price." Ok, cardboard merchant, I will. So I begin with a small stack and hold up one, after another, after another. Five prices in and the dealer says, "How about you make a pile and I will quote you a price when I'm done." But I liked your first way. I don't find enough to justify a pile so I say, "Will you take $10 for these here?" He says, "How about $12?" "$11 and you got a deal", I retort. I leave the table $11 bucks poorer....but wait till you see what was in that pile in my next post. 5 Lesson's learned from this joker and others...
1. If you are selling cards at a show/online/store etc., price your merchandise. It helps you as a seller and prevents you from having to look everything up or haggle with people. If there is one thing collector's don't like, it's having to stand and wait for a dealer to look up a price in Beckett. It's unprofessional. Who is running your business? You? Or the price guide? It's called a guide for a reason...not a law.
2. Know what you have. If you know nothing about the product you are selling, why bother? Don't ask me what it is or what I think it is worth. There were too many guys with hockey offerings at this show that had no idea what they were selling. They didn't know who the players were (unless they were Hawks), they didn't know anything about the sets they came from, they didn't care to know either. Just because a card has an autograph or a piece of memorabilia doesn't make it immediately a minimum $15 card. At least make an effort.
3. Pay attention to your customers. I know of the 500 people you see in a day at a show, only 20-30 might make a purchase. But every one of those other 470 people is a potential customer. When you are chowing down on a gyro with cucumber sauce running down your face or buried in your iPhone or laptop computer and can't look up for fear that you will miss a Facebook alert, you have no business being there. People want engagement, they want interaction (except the 400lb greasy, sweaty guys at the $.25 vintage baseball table), they want to know that you are interested in whether or not they make a purchase. I walked away from two tables that I planned on spending at least $10 at but couldn't get either dealer's attention to ask a question.
4. Have fun. Too many frowns. Too many scowls. Too many folded arms with pouty looks on their faces. That prevailed all day long. It seemed the only people having fun at this show were my kids, the people at the PSA booth, and that guy that yells at people for touching his cards. Card collecting is supposed to be fun. You aren't going to make a ton of money in this business and you definitely won't if people think you are angry and bitter about it. You got into this business because you love the hobby and love sports. Try to show a little bit of that passion you once had.
5. Act professional. Immaturity, rudeness, and a generally condescending attitude don't help anyone. You are running a business, we are patronizing your business. If you had a storefront and we came in, I highly doubt you would ignore us, scoff at our inquiries, or act as though we are inconveniencing you buy spending money on your products. I deal with business people all day with attitudes and grudges against humanity. I certainly don't want to spend my free time involved with my hobby dealing with the same types of people.
As a side note, I'm all for using "hype-men" or models to promote a product. I understand why it's done and generally, I think most people get it. But having half-clothed models standing next to your table, not giving things out, not trying to offer something or get you to sign up for something, not even promoting anything noticeable, but just standing there making googly eyes at everyone doesn't make much sense to me. No I don't want to take a picture with you. No I don't want a hug from you. Just move out of the way so I can look through that box over there. Because when my kids ask me "what happened to that girls' pants", I'm no longer amused. (I know it's probably hypocritical but this is my rant)
But it wasn't all bad. In fact, despite my criticisms (of which there are always many) I had a great time with the kids, got to see a couple friends in the hobby, traded some cards, and picked up a few needs along the way. I always enjoy these events because it gives me an opportunity to meet with other collector's and exchange cards, stories, and sometimes ideas. I will be posting some of the stuff I got at the show a little later. There were some interesting things I was able to find.
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Friday, November 22, 2013
Random Thoughts
- I couldn't figure out the viewing hits on my Stormaggedon posts earlier in the week. I was posting them from my phone onto the Blogger system. But normally I do a check to see how they appear. This time I wasn't because it was too difficult with multiple browsers on my phone. I now realize that they weren't posting until 12 hours or more after I sent them to publish. I don't know if this is a glitch in the system or what but it is kind of annoying. What if I had something important to say? Should the fact that I'm mobile penalize my thought process? My readers want my thoughts now!!
- There is a big card show this weekend in Rosemont, IL. It's the 46th annual (which I don't get because it happens twice a year) Chicago Sun-Times Sports Collectibles Convention. It's a Mounted Memories sponsored show so the autographed guest list is something comparable to a National-type show. Feel free to click the link if you want to take a look. It's sort of impressive but if you were to get the cheapest things signed by every person autographing, it would cost you $4,033. I still haven't decided if I am going to make my way out there yet. I always say that, and I always end up going. But it wouldn't be me if I didn't at least put on the illusion for a couple minutes. I'm taking the kids, too (assuming I go). Maybe I'll post pictures on my Twitter account (which you should follow...that's what Twitterer'ses are supposed to say, right?)
- I have been working on, getting ready to, try and, (you like all those non-excuse excuses?) ramp up my internet sales a bit. I realize I have way too much stuff and really need to get rid of some. Trim the fat, so to speak. I know there are a lot of collector's out there that would want to trade and I am glad to do so. I take requests. If I have ever posted something that you like, let me know and I will see if it still exists. Even if you don't remember anything but still want to trade, tell me what you collect and I'll find something. But I know I can't give everything I have away in exchange for a bunch of Pittsburgh team common cards and cards I already have 15 of. That's fine if I'm dumping the same things in return but there are only so many Stan Belinda and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala cards one person can find room for. If anyone is interested in anything I have up now, check out my storefront thingy over on Collector's Revolution. I have been having much better success on there than eBay and with less fees. I just sold another card today in fact.
- Do trade fodder posts, as in "Here are X# of cards I have with pictures. Who wants to trade?", actually work? If so, share your experiences in this in the comments below. I want to know who does these and does them successfully. I am thinking of throwing up some good trade fodder but don't really know what will get people to bite or not. I know I'm not the best trader in the world because I have been known to take an eon to send but I'm trying to improve. When you do them, how do you decide on trading? Do you trade by the dreaded book value? Do you trade by number of cards? Do you swap auto for auto, GU for GU? I think the blogging community could tap into the proverbial "trade night" that some B&M stores still do. Thoughts?
- Speaking of B&M (brick and morter) stores, I am going to be doing some research on B&M hobby shop marketing. I may reach out to some of you in the hobby world for opinions and such. Anyone who would like to offer their 2 cents on the traditional hobby shop in today's digital market, feel free to comment or email me. I will be doing a post about it in a couple weeks with more information. I know many of you still have LCS's that you frequent and some of you even have some that you drive great distances to visit. This is all good stuff I may be interested in picking your brains on.
- Are there any hockey "personalities" that really get on your nerves? I believe there are. By personalities, I am referring to players, coaches, announcers, executives, officials, anyone that has some type of higher than team janitor or production crew assistant profile. I thought about this the other day while watching NBCs coverage of the game on Wednesday. My list started to get very large and cumbersome after a while of thinking. I am going to share with everyone my list of Top 10 Hockey Personalities That Annoy Me in a future post. As hockey fans and pseudo-writer/blogger/members of the "press", I feel it is our duty.
- There have been a lot of interesting hockey products released so far for the 2013-14 season. I know most of the hype has been around the Double Rookie Class. Even some manufacturers have built that into their marketing materials and advertising. Great. But what good is a double crop of rookies when 2/3 of them may be AWOL in a few months? I get the excitement and intrigue, but from a collector's standpoint, unless you are a "prospector" by nature, you may be in for a Double Disappointment. I plan on doing a review of products so far this year and exploring more into the Double Rookie Class of this years product in some future posts.
- I just spent time time explaining future posts I plan on writing in a post. That was weird.
- I like to use bullet points now. They're neat.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Stormaggedon: Day 4
Wednesday 6AM: As she heads off to work, I get last minute instructions on getting the boy to school. All I want to do is lay there and sleep for another 30 more minutes but I know I'm just going to roll around. Being in a strange bed always makes me sleep restless. I know I have to get up probably in at most an hour and get dressed, get breakfast, and get him to school. I offered to take him because based on my parents house location, it would be a waste of time and gas for her to backtrack. Plus, she had to stop at the store on the way to work and pick up stuff for a baby shower.
Wednesday 6:50AM: I roll out of bed, sleep already gone from my eyes. I head to the bathroom to take care of all the particulars. As I come out, I see he's already awake. I tell him to get dressed so we can get things moving for the day. He asks "Have you seen where my mom went?". I tell him she went to work like she does every morning. He says "Oh! Yeah I knew that." We continue to round up all our things and make the beds until we are ready to go. We head upstairs to see what we can find by way of breakfast. My fear is that the only cereals will be an assortment of fiber enriched twigs and berries type cereals that most kids would scoff at. But to my surprise, I find Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or whatever the store brand is called). Jackpot. What kid doesn't like CT Crunch?
Wednesday 7:35: We head out the door with bags in hand. I load up the truck and make sure he is securely belted in. I don't think he has ever been in my truck so I didn't want him to freak out being so high off the ground. After climbing in he says, "You're truck is way bigger than my mom's car. I like being this high." Excellent. We head to his school, wait in the parking lot for a few minutes for them to open the doors, and then he heads in. Mission accomplished. Now, do I dare check the house?
Wednesday 8:05: I get to our street. Trucks are gone. Poles are up. It's daylight so I can't really tell if anyone has lights on in their houses. All I can really see is that there are two new streetlights past the house that weren't there before but neither are on. I pull in front of the house into my customary parking space. As I get out and open my passenger door to unload the bags, the neighbor pulls up and yells "Do we have power yet?" I tell her that I didn't know yet. The crews were out last night but we stayed somewhere else. She says "You had a generator, didn't you?" I tell her yes. As she pulls away I hear her yell "We lost everything in our (g.d.) fridge". Sorry to hear that.
I make my way up the stairs of the porch. I open the screen door and immediately hear the cat meowing on the other side. She doesn't enjoy being left alone overnight I don't think. She is always extra friendly the next day. I open the door, walk in, shutting the door behind me. I turn to the right to hang up my keys. I turn to the left and peer over at the TV. While the screen is a reflective black, there's something at the bottom right that I have missed for a few days. A little red light. WE HAVE POWER!!
After 75,000 outages, almost 3 full days of waiting, a few sleepless nights, and worries over losing food and flooding basements, we can finally get back to normal.
Wednesday 6:50AM: I roll out of bed, sleep already gone from my eyes. I head to the bathroom to take care of all the particulars. As I come out, I see he's already awake. I tell him to get dressed so we can get things moving for the day. He asks "Have you seen where my mom went?". I tell him she went to work like she does every morning. He says "Oh! Yeah I knew that." We continue to round up all our things and make the beds until we are ready to go. We head upstairs to see what we can find by way of breakfast. My fear is that the only cereals will be an assortment of fiber enriched twigs and berries type cereals that most kids would scoff at. But to my surprise, I find Cinnamon Toast Crunch (or whatever the store brand is called). Jackpot. What kid doesn't like CT Crunch?
Wednesday 7:35: We head out the door with bags in hand. I load up the truck and make sure he is securely belted in. I don't think he has ever been in my truck so I didn't want him to freak out being so high off the ground. After climbing in he says, "You're truck is way bigger than my mom's car. I like being this high." Excellent. We head to his school, wait in the parking lot for a few minutes for them to open the doors, and then he heads in. Mission accomplished. Now, do I dare check the house?
Wednesday 8:05: I get to our street. Trucks are gone. Poles are up. It's daylight so I can't really tell if anyone has lights on in their houses. All I can really see is that there are two new streetlights past the house that weren't there before but neither are on. I pull in front of the house into my customary parking space. As I get out and open my passenger door to unload the bags, the neighbor pulls up and yells "Do we have power yet?" I tell her that I didn't know yet. The crews were out last night but we stayed somewhere else. She says "You had a generator, didn't you?" I tell her yes. As she pulls away I hear her yell "We lost everything in our (g.d.) fridge". Sorry to hear that.
I make my way up the stairs of the porch. I open the screen door and immediately hear the cat meowing on the other side. She doesn't enjoy being left alone overnight I don't think. She is always extra friendly the next day. I open the door, walk in, shutting the door behind me. I turn to the right to hang up my keys. I turn to the left and peer over at the TV. While the screen is a reflective black, there's something at the bottom right that I have missed for a few days. A little red light. WE HAVE POWER!!
After 75,000 outages, almost 3 full days of waiting, a few sleepless nights, and worries over losing food and flooding basements, we can finally get back to normal.
Stormaggedon: Day 3
Tuesday 1AM: I wake to the sounds of popping and gurgling outside my window. What the heck is that? THE GENERATOR!! Oh, no. Please don't tell me it's dying. Please!!
I get up out of bed and head to the back door to get my shoes. I'm half undressed because I'm still partially sleeping. Once I realize this, I go back in and throw on a sweatshirt. I head outside. It's dark. Very dark. I forgot my flashlight. I head back in, grab the industrial Mag lite off the counter and return to a "choked" up generator. There is white smoke coming out of the engine. What could be wrong? Gas? Oil? I check all the gauges. Everything indicates it is ok but the noises, the sputtering, the smoke, what's causing this? I examine all the knobs and switches. And then I see it. Somehow, the choke got switched to the closed position. I flip it back and the unit fires back up to a dull purr. Whewww! That was close. I return inside, everyone still asleep, crawl back in bed and sigh deeply into my pillow.
Tuesday 6AM: "I'm leaving for work. The generator is almost out of gas," she says. What! How can that be? Sunday we ran it all night and there was still over a 1/4 tank left when I woke up. The space heater!! (in my best Jerry hating Newman voice) That think sucked over half the power itself and drained the gas quicker. That's not cool. Not cool at all. Especially considering that gas prices shot back up about $.20/gallon right before the storms. I already filled three of our gas tanks and it cost over $50. How much more am I going to have to spend? Are we still going to lose all the groceries in the fridge? How much longer is this outage going to last? I check my phone. Estimated time for restoration of power...THURSDAY!!! It's getting worse!!
Tuesday 7:30AM: I decide to go to work early. My idea is that as long as we don't open the fridge and it doesn't rain, everything will be good. I'm shutting the generator off and plugging back in the stuff in case by some miracle the power comes back on. I text her and let her know the plan. We can turn it back on when she gets home. Oh, look. A text from my dad. "You guys should come stay here tonight. It's going to be cold." How much colder can it get? I look at my phone. Tonight's low, 28 with windchill feeling like 22. Ugh. I text her to get her vibe on the idea. We agree that unless the power comes back on, that is probably our best bet, preventing us from burning through another tank of gas and freezing to death to boot. I go back in the house and pack a bag.
Tuesday Noonish: I check the Estimated times again...still Thursday. We are listing in one of four areas that took the most damage to equipment. The estimated times are "worst case scenario" times if they run into problems repairing the broken lines. But up until I left for work this morning, I hadn't seen one single utility truck on our street except the tree cutter guys clearing the line paths along the road. The broken poles are still broken, the downed lines are still down. The overall power outage map has shrunk considerably. Of the 75,000 people without power, 98% of them have been restored. Over 50% of those left are in my town and the neighboring town to the north.
Tuesday 3:30PM: I text her to see when she is leaving work. They have another case to deal with and it has to be finished before she leaves. After that, she will head home, turn the generator back on for awhile to cool the fridge back down, empty the sump, and charge the phone. She has to pack a couple bags of clothes for our overnight sleepover.
Tuesday 4:30ishPM: I text my ex to see if she is bringing my boys to my office or if I am picking them up. They are on their way. The power still isn't on at home so I am just going to bring them to my dad's for awhile too. But what about food? I'm not going to assume we are being fed too. I text to see what the plans our...no plans. I ask if she wants to meet for food or if we are all fending for ourselves. She says we can meet. How about pizza? Fantastic. Let's do it.
Tuesday 5:45PM: I get a table for five at the local pizza place. They will meet us in a few. In the meantime, the boys and I settle in for a nice dinner. They have coloring pages for them to do and after ordering, they go to work on some fall themed pictures. After about 15 minutes, the others arrive and we make small talk before our food arrives. This was the first time we have sat down to eat a meal together since Sunday morning. We discuss the events of the last couple days and voice our concerns going forward if nothing gets fixed. She mentions that there are 6 utility trucks on our street as we are sitting there, working on the light poles. They must have heard me. Maybe we will have power before dinner is done. Maybe we can cancel the sleepover.
Tuesday 7:30PM: As we head to my parents house, I decide to detour down our street to assess the situation. There are the trucks. There are the workers. There are the new light poles. There are all the dark windows of the houses too. Still no power. Oh well. One last check of their website. Estimated time to restoration of power, Wednesday by day's end. Wednesday now, huh? So we moved up? That's good. It's still another day to wait but at least it's progress. Who knows? Maybe they will get it on sometime tonight.
We finally arrive at my parents. We are welcomed inside to a warm and invited home. It's nice to have a place to go and sleep in a warm bed. Here's hoping tonight is the only night we need to do this.
I get up out of bed and head to the back door to get my shoes. I'm half undressed because I'm still partially sleeping. Once I realize this, I go back in and throw on a sweatshirt. I head outside. It's dark. Very dark. I forgot my flashlight. I head back in, grab the industrial Mag lite off the counter and return to a "choked" up generator. There is white smoke coming out of the engine. What could be wrong? Gas? Oil? I check all the gauges. Everything indicates it is ok but the noises, the sputtering, the smoke, what's causing this? I examine all the knobs and switches. And then I see it. Somehow, the choke got switched to the closed position. I flip it back and the unit fires back up to a dull purr. Whewww! That was close. I return inside, everyone still asleep, crawl back in bed and sigh deeply into my pillow.
Tuesday 6AM: "I'm leaving for work. The generator is almost out of gas," she says. What! How can that be? Sunday we ran it all night and there was still over a 1/4 tank left when I woke up. The space heater!! (in my best Jerry hating Newman voice) That think sucked over half the power itself and drained the gas quicker. That's not cool. Not cool at all. Especially considering that gas prices shot back up about $.20/gallon right before the storms. I already filled three of our gas tanks and it cost over $50. How much more am I going to have to spend? Are we still going to lose all the groceries in the fridge? How much longer is this outage going to last? I check my phone. Estimated time for restoration of power...THURSDAY!!! It's getting worse!!
Tuesday 7:30AM: I decide to go to work early. My idea is that as long as we don't open the fridge and it doesn't rain, everything will be good. I'm shutting the generator off and plugging back in the stuff in case by some miracle the power comes back on. I text her and let her know the plan. We can turn it back on when she gets home. Oh, look. A text from my dad. "You guys should come stay here tonight. It's going to be cold." How much colder can it get? I look at my phone. Tonight's low, 28 with windchill feeling like 22. Ugh. I text her to get her vibe on the idea. We agree that unless the power comes back on, that is probably our best bet, preventing us from burning through another tank of gas and freezing to death to boot. I go back in the house and pack a bag.
Tuesday Noonish: I check the Estimated times again...still Thursday. We are listing in one of four areas that took the most damage to equipment. The estimated times are "worst case scenario" times if they run into problems repairing the broken lines. But up until I left for work this morning, I hadn't seen one single utility truck on our street except the tree cutter guys clearing the line paths along the road. The broken poles are still broken, the downed lines are still down. The overall power outage map has shrunk considerably. Of the 75,000 people without power, 98% of them have been restored. Over 50% of those left are in my town and the neighboring town to the north.
Tuesday 3:30PM: I text her to see when she is leaving work. They have another case to deal with and it has to be finished before she leaves. After that, she will head home, turn the generator back on for awhile to cool the fridge back down, empty the sump, and charge the phone. She has to pack a couple bags of clothes for our overnight sleepover.
Tuesday 4:30ishPM: I text my ex to see if she is bringing my boys to my office or if I am picking them up. They are on their way. The power still isn't on at home so I am just going to bring them to my dad's for awhile too. But what about food? I'm not going to assume we are being fed too. I text to see what the plans our...no plans. I ask if she wants to meet for food or if we are all fending for ourselves. She says we can meet. How about pizza? Fantastic. Let's do it.
Tuesday 5:45PM: I get a table for five at the local pizza place. They will meet us in a few. In the meantime, the boys and I settle in for a nice dinner. They have coloring pages for them to do and after ordering, they go to work on some fall themed pictures. After about 15 minutes, the others arrive and we make small talk before our food arrives. This was the first time we have sat down to eat a meal together since Sunday morning. We discuss the events of the last couple days and voice our concerns going forward if nothing gets fixed. She mentions that there are 6 utility trucks on our street as we are sitting there, working on the light poles. They must have heard me. Maybe we will have power before dinner is done. Maybe we can cancel the sleepover.
Tuesday 7:30PM: As we head to my parents house, I decide to detour down our street to assess the situation. There are the trucks. There are the workers. There are the new light poles. There are all the dark windows of the houses too. Still no power. Oh well. One last check of their website. Estimated time to restoration of power, Wednesday by day's end. Wednesday now, huh? So we moved up? That's good. It's still another day to wait but at least it's progress. Who knows? Maybe they will get it on sometime tonight.
We finally arrive at my parents. We are welcomed inside to a warm and invited home. It's nice to have a place to go and sleep in a warm bed. Here's hoping tonight is the only night we need to do this.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Stormaggedon: Day 2
Monday 6AM: It was a long night. I think we woke up every hour or so, listening for the generator, listening for the sump pump, and worrying about what the day would bring. Plus, it was quite cold outside of the covers. We still have to go to work because running a generator costs money. As she leaves for work, assuring me that there was plenty of gas in the generator, I try to get comfortable and catch an hour or so more of sleep before I get ready for work.
Monday 7:30ish: I finally roll reluctantly from bed, lumbering toward the back door to check the generator. As I go outside, I immediately notice how chilly it is and hope as the sun rises higher it starts to warm up. I look at the gauge on the generator and see that it is almost empty. I reach for the gas can, putting in about a gallon or so. I return the cap and go back inside to get ready for work. I check my phone app for the utility company and see that we are scheduled to get power back by mid-morning. FANTASTIC!!
Monday 8:30ish: I head out the door, late as usual, and begin my journey to my office (which is about 15 miles away). I decided that since the power was going to be switched back on, I would plug the fridge and the sump pump into their respective outlets so that when the power was turned on, they would begin their normal functioning of preventing my basement from flooding and providing me with cold beverages and nourishing food. I wrapped the extension cord up, put it back in the basement, and placed the generator back into the shed where it lives. Off I go.
Monday 11ish: It's a typical Monday at the office, getting caught up on stuff from the previous week and beginning new projects. I keep thinking about the fridge at home so I go on the utility company's page to check again. Our new estimated time of restoring power is...WEDNESDAY!!!??? What happened to mid-morning? My fridge isn't going to hold out all day, is it? The sump is going to flood the basement! I gotta get out of here. I head out of the office for lunch and decide to go back home to hook everything back up. When I get there, I check everything. Fridge still cold, freezer still frozen, sump...empty? Ok. Great. I head to the shed to retrieve the generator. 30 minutes later, I'm back on my way to the office again. That wasn't so bad, I guess.
Monday 4ish: The day is almost over. I know she will be heading home soon if not already so any issues should be addressed shortly. Things could be way worse and I think we are going to be able to pull this one out. Just as long as it doesn't get too cold outside. I check the weather on my phone. Tonights low, 33 degrees. 33!! I don't know about anyone else but that's about 40 degrees colder than I like it. The in house temperature is holding at 57 but that is certainly not going to last as the sun goes down.
Monday 7:30: I'm frantically trying to find ways I can hotwire my furnace to the generator. Oh, it can be done. But not by me, the most mechanically deficient person on earth. I call my dad who explains the general process of removing covers, stripping wires, destroying extension cords. I had enough of that noise. It's not going to happen. Let's break out the space heater. But wait...doesn't that thing frequently trip the breaker normally? Where's the owner's manual. Our generator can safely support about 2400-2500 amps. The fridge and sump each use about 800. So that leaves another 800-900 left. We have our cell phones plugged in too though. But those can't be that many, can they? Something is going to have to go.
It's not raining and the sump seems to be holding it's own without filling up. Lets pull that for now and plug in the heater. We will put it in the kids room and just put another blanket on our bed. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. After switching the heater from room to room for a few hours, it took it's position in the kids bedroom for the rest of the night.
Monday 8:30:
Me: I'm hungry. Are you hungry?
Her: Yes.
Me: Well we have gas. We can cook something.
Her: How about a frozen pizza?
Me: Ok.
Her (after five minutes): But the oven isn't getting hot.
Me: Do you have an electric igniter?
Her: I don't know. How do I know...oh wait, yes. Yes I do.
Me: How did you come up with that?
Her: It's written on the stove by the clock (nice).
Me: Ok, we should be able to light the pilot. Open the oven door. Is there a hole or something where you can access the pilot.
Her: I don't know.
Me: Let me look.
I go to the stove. Peer inside. The bottom inside of the over covers the entire thing. I feel around and see that the bottom can be removed. But it's bolted in. Two in the front, two in the back. I can see the broiler through a few holes though. Maybe I can light it from there. I open the drawer, grab the Mag lite again and peer inside. I can see the long metal gas receptacles (you know the ones with all the little holes in them). What if I turn on the gas and hold a match? Will that work or blow my face off? I grab the phone, Google "How to light an electronic ignition oven when the power is out". 20 minutes later, after reading arguments on forums between people that believe it is safe and the others that warn of melting skin and loss of limbs, I consult the expert again. My dad answers and I say "Last question", further explaining the situation. He says "Sure...pull the bottom plate off the oven and you can light it in there." I explain it's bolted on. He says "Ok, do you have a broiler." Yes. "Good. Pull that out. Can you see the pilot?" I reply, "I don't know. Is that the mechanical looking thing in the back" (you see, I'm not mechanically inclined)? "Yes," he says "You have to hold a match to that, it will catch, warm up the coil and then the oven will ignite." "So you mean I have to stick my arm all the way in there with a lit match, turn on the gas, wait for it to catch, and hope I don't die?" "Unless you want to pull out the over, take the back off and light it that way, basically yes", he says.
I hang up. Grab a bag of Doritos off the counter and retreat to the couch where I belong.
Monday 10:15: Time to fill the gas tank on the generator. It's going to be another long night.
Stay tuned for part 3
Monday 7:30ish: I finally roll reluctantly from bed, lumbering toward the back door to check the generator. As I go outside, I immediately notice how chilly it is and hope as the sun rises higher it starts to warm up. I look at the gauge on the generator and see that it is almost empty. I reach for the gas can, putting in about a gallon or so. I return the cap and go back inside to get ready for work. I check my phone app for the utility company and see that we are scheduled to get power back by mid-morning. FANTASTIC!!
Monday 8:30ish: I head out the door, late as usual, and begin my journey to my office (which is about 15 miles away). I decided that since the power was going to be switched back on, I would plug the fridge and the sump pump into their respective outlets so that when the power was turned on, they would begin their normal functioning of preventing my basement from flooding and providing me with cold beverages and nourishing food. I wrapped the extension cord up, put it back in the basement, and placed the generator back into the shed where it lives. Off I go.
Monday 11ish: It's a typical Monday at the office, getting caught up on stuff from the previous week and beginning new projects. I keep thinking about the fridge at home so I go on the utility company's page to check again. Our new estimated time of restoring power is...WEDNESDAY!!!??? What happened to mid-morning? My fridge isn't going to hold out all day, is it? The sump is going to flood the basement! I gotta get out of here. I head out of the office for lunch and decide to go back home to hook everything back up. When I get there, I check everything. Fridge still cold, freezer still frozen, sump...empty? Ok. Great. I head to the shed to retrieve the generator. 30 minutes later, I'm back on my way to the office again. That wasn't so bad, I guess.
Monday 4ish: The day is almost over. I know she will be heading home soon if not already so any issues should be addressed shortly. Things could be way worse and I think we are going to be able to pull this one out. Just as long as it doesn't get too cold outside. I check the weather on my phone. Tonights low, 33 degrees. 33!! I don't know about anyone else but that's about 40 degrees colder than I like it. The in house temperature is holding at 57 but that is certainly not going to last as the sun goes down.
Monday 7:30: I'm frantically trying to find ways I can hotwire my furnace to the generator. Oh, it can be done. But not by me, the most mechanically deficient person on earth. I call my dad who explains the general process of removing covers, stripping wires, destroying extension cords. I had enough of that noise. It's not going to happen. Let's break out the space heater. But wait...doesn't that thing frequently trip the breaker normally? Where's the owner's manual. Our generator can safely support about 2400-2500 amps. The fridge and sump each use about 800. So that leaves another 800-900 left. We have our cell phones plugged in too though. But those can't be that many, can they? Something is going to have to go.
It's not raining and the sump seems to be holding it's own without filling up. Lets pull that for now and plug in the heater. We will put it in the kids room and just put another blanket on our bed. Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket. After switching the heater from room to room for a few hours, it took it's position in the kids bedroom for the rest of the night.
Monday 8:30:
Me: I'm hungry. Are you hungry?
Her: Yes.
Me: Well we have gas. We can cook something.
Her: How about a frozen pizza?
Me: Ok.
Her (after five minutes): But the oven isn't getting hot.
Me: Do you have an electric igniter?
Her: I don't know. How do I know...oh wait, yes. Yes I do.
Me: How did you come up with that?
Her: It's written on the stove by the clock (nice).
Me: Ok, we should be able to light the pilot. Open the oven door. Is there a hole or something where you can access the pilot.
Her: I don't know.
Me: Let me look.
I go to the stove. Peer inside. The bottom inside of the over covers the entire thing. I feel around and see that the bottom can be removed. But it's bolted in. Two in the front, two in the back. I can see the broiler through a few holes though. Maybe I can light it from there. I open the drawer, grab the Mag lite again and peer inside. I can see the long metal gas receptacles (you know the ones with all the little holes in them). What if I turn on the gas and hold a match? Will that work or blow my face off? I grab the phone, Google "How to light an electronic ignition oven when the power is out". 20 minutes later, after reading arguments on forums between people that believe it is safe and the others that warn of melting skin and loss of limbs, I consult the expert again. My dad answers and I say "Last question", further explaining the situation. He says "Sure...pull the bottom plate off the oven and you can light it in there." I explain it's bolted on. He says "Ok, do you have a broiler." Yes. "Good. Pull that out. Can you see the pilot?" I reply, "I don't know. Is that the mechanical looking thing in the back" (you see, I'm not mechanically inclined)? "Yes," he says "You have to hold a match to that, it will catch, warm up the coil and then the oven will ignite." "So you mean I have to stick my arm all the way in there with a lit match, turn on the gas, wait for it to catch, and hope I don't die?" "Unless you want to pull out the over, take the back off and light it that way, basically yes", he says.
I hang up. Grab a bag of Doritos off the counter and retreat to the couch where I belong.
Monday 10:15: Time to fill the gas tank on the generator. It's going to be another long night.
Stay tuned for part 3
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