Raleigh North Carolina and surrounding areas

I just got home douche. Didn't want to leave the wife in the dark alone.

 

My wife said the power here has been out for 3 hrs now. I just drove back from overland

 

Luckily we haven't lost power yet. I won't be surprised if we do later tonight...I walked out with my gopro earlier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J8Ewz1GJHo

 

Never lost power. Over 7" in my rain gauge since last night (had 1/2 inch when I went to bed). Have a few trees down but they aren't technically on my property so no harm no foul I suppose. I'll reassess tomorrow...

 

Everyone give a status update tomorrow. I'm gonna drive around the Garner area to assess. I'll post anything of interest.

 

massive tree branch came down right outside my apartment unit. literally within feet of cars. would have crushed them like ants... don't worry, the Taco is parked safely away from any trees.

 

Picture doesn't do a justice... came down right in between the sidewalk and the hood of a Mercedes. Lol

 

Off topic of the hurricane; need an oil extractor for my boat, I'm not convinced I have to buy one and am looking at different diy options, wondering if y'all have any opinions/experience on the matter.

Option one is to get a drill pump(small portable pump requiring drill for outside power) and then run pipe for intake/output. Probably my cheapest option.

Option two would be using either an old propane tank or my old compressed air tank and plumbing it so that I'd draw a vacuum, then suck oil in, and drain. Downsides: more expensive d/t the fittings required. Compressor required to draw a vacuum.

My current option three is to buy a commercial pump. Anywhere from $40-75 for a half decent looking manual one from Amazon.

Any advice? Anyone have any experience with anything listed above?

 

This will do the job,

Silverline 4-Liter Oil and Fluid Extraction Pump, 919236

https://www.amazon.com/Silverline-9...id=1475982270&sr=1-4&keywords=extraction+pump

But THIS

$112 Mityvac 7201 2.3 Gallon Fluid Evacuator Extractor and Dispensing Pump, Push Button, Manual Operation, Chemical-Resistant Polyethylene, Automatic Overflow Prevention, Quick-Drain Spout, Large Base

https://www.amazon.com/Mityvac-7201...475982448&sr=1-5&keywords=mityvac+vacuum+pump

Is the shit, sucks and blows, made changing the trans fluid in my truck a breeze when on the rack

 

http://m.northerntool.com/products/shop~tools~product_200660221_200660221?hotline=false

This is a lil bad ass, has been running since 2pm yesterday, hasn't missed a lick. Bought it last week, wasn't what I was after, but it has done well.
It's small enough to haul around camping and large enough to run AC on camper. And should I need more power, can easily be parralled with a 2000w or another 3000w of same brand.
Mostly I'm writing this as I've been up all fucking night because of the storm. I'm bored and tired and I can't sleep.
FM

 

Still no power I'm JoCo?

 

Still no power over here dude. You know I'm the closest to you. Shit

 

No power, no water where I live.

Going to go forage for gas here in a bit, need gas and diesel now, gotta get the tractor switched over to work mode, gonna need bucket for tree removal me thinks

Looking kinda messy out there !

And damn it's cold ! It ain't supposed to be this cold after a hurricane !!

 

Surprisingly, I never lost power. I'm getting ready to chuck the chainsaw in the taco and drive around to see if anybody around needs a hand.

 

News just said that a lot more people could lose power today...so I'm prolly next

 

It's pretty soggy out there, power is out here due to 2 trees a mile away.
Don't expect they'll get on that before mid late afternoon. No worries.

 

We are still without power. But who cares. The generator is powering everything fine.

Is it bad I'm running the genny just so I can watch football today?

 

It's crazy, how close we are and only lost power for two hours yesterday

 

It really is. We lost power early in the day and got it back. But around 7 when the wind picked back up, it went out again.

 

My power only flickered. Never actually lost it