There’s some rule in Murphy’s book of laws that states if you prepare for something you will never need it. Well over the past couple of years history has shown that our trees like to fall on neighboring houses and the power goes out for extended periods of time. This year I’ve had a feeling that the stars were beginning to align themselves for some major fall storms (aka: hurricane season). So I decided I should save Annapolis from pending doom by preparing my generator and my chainsaw for action.
Things come in 3s. First, my ever reliable lawn mower wouldn’t start. I took it apart, clean and re-built several times. No start. Poking around I figured out I wasn’t getting spark. Spark plug checked out. Hmm… ignition coil. ok, try that. Easy once you find the part. Back together, I was soon mowing the forest that had grown in its absence.
Then storm preparation: Chainsaw. Same principles as the lawn mower, so I wasted no time (having just found a parts warehouse that carries these parts) and replaced the coil. Starts… sort of. Now its just running like shit. Maybe it could be that ethanol that’s been sitting in the carb for 3 years since the last time it ran. Cleaned/rebuilt carb – vroom!
Next came the generator. Spark was fine, but ethanol… big problem. Rebuilt carb – vroom!
So now that my power equipment is up and running, I’m ready for a storm. Sure enough, hurricane Matthew started heading this way but instead laid its wrath upon Haiti, the eastern Florida coastline and the Carolinas. While I feel for the millions effected by a storm that shares my name, I’m pretty sure I saved Annapolis from its wake.
