1958 F.W.D.

Well folks I am back on the air. We lost power about 2200 on Monday night, and got it back about 2230 Tuesday night, so just about 25 hours without power or heat (gas hot water radiators but with a modern electronic ignition/computer controlled boiler with a 110v blower fan) We stocked up on supplies thinking worst-case scenerio and got batteries, some LED flashlights, food, propane for the grill and some cast iron cookware to use on the grill. We also had about 50lbs of ice which we never used. Some lessons learned: Need to get a gen set, wife and I have been humming and hawwing on that one, every time we start to save for one something comes up and the money gets diverted. But now we are adament- we need power to have heat, so it must happen for the sake of the kids, plus the freezer (we always buy meats in bulk.) Another lesson learned is we need to get a Coleman lantern to get a good amount of light so we can play board or card games. I used to have one from when I camped a lot, but coincidentally it was destroyed at my parents house when their basement flooded a few years ago. Another lesson learned is you need to make sure all the flashlights and the lighters get to one central location so that you dont have to play "hunt for the flashlight" when it gets dark. I have a large cooler with a built-in battery powered AM-FM radio which came in real handy. We decided that we are going to keep a few of the LED flashlights, batteries and some candles inside the cooler for romantic occasions such as this again. Good to have it all available. The only damage we had was a few sections of our 6' stockade fence blew over, and some limbs from our 100' tall pine tree fell on our neighbor's house, does not look like there was any damage though. All things considered, we were very very fortunate. After seeing the news from Staten Island, I am not bitching at all about anything. Professionally however, I wont get into specifics, but some of the shit I have seen the last 48 hours as a building inspector make me think we need more chlorine in the gene pool. And Mackman, please let us know where you are- if you are within driving distance perhaps we can get you some stuff including toys/clothes for your daughter.

MACKMAN- where are you located????

That was really cool to watch.....as long as its not your rubber......lol

Hellertown, Pa (exit 67 of I-78) at 1630 hours today: Right now we have pretty moderate rains, and the winds are definitely kicking up. I estimate constant winds of 20mph with occasional gusts of 40-50mph. They say it will get real bad starting after 1800 hours and will rock and roll all night long. The candles and flashlights are close at hand and a pot of chili is slow-brewing on the stove.

PUHLEASE.......Waukesha has been building gen sets that make Detroits look like the lawn-boys that they are trying to imitate.. There was a really good video on youtube of an episode of modern marvels shot at the Waukesha factory, building a 24 cylinder 3000+ HP engine, too. Cant find it though.

I am involved in emergency management, and from what I know of a declaration of emergency (at least in Pa.) I dont think they CAN stop you from going home- unless you are placing yourself in clear and present danger.

Brocky I am about 15 miles north of Doylestown. If this storm does what they say it will do, we stand to get anywhere from 6 to 12" of rain and sustained winds of 40mph + gusts of 6-75. I am seriously considering installing one of those water-evacuation type sump pump backups. Works like a Navy peri-jet, uses the pulling action of flowing water to draw a suction on a line and pulls the standing water out. Dont need any power, as long as the city water is still flowing you are good to go.

Yup thats who the group was, could not remember their name. Cool stuff, wish I had the money and patience for that. I have an R/C 1:25th scale WWII Stuart tank, thats about the extent of my R/C fun.

Hey Woodhog if you are on facebook, I just posted pictures and videos yesterday of a 1:14 R/C Model Tractor Trailer club that was at the Mack Trucks "Trucktoberfest."

An FWD, for the un-initiated, is an option Mack owners can rely upon when they get their Mack stuck in the mud....... Quick story. Many of you know that the FWD was delivered new to my VFD, where my father has been, still is an active member. He was 19 when it was delivered new, and is the truck he learned to drive and pump on. Well, sometime in the late 60's, early 70's, our neighboring company sank their 48 L Mack pumper to the running boards in the mud at a field fire. They called upon my father (who also did towing/recoveries at the time) to see what he could do- he was at the fire with the FWD (not stuck, of course.) He hooked onto the tow eyes of the L-Mack with the FWD, locked the center differential, put it in first, and the rest was history, The Driver of the L-Mack was D.C. Sr. Fast forward to 2002. They still had (and still do have) that L Mack. We were at a muster at Cooper River Park in Camden NJ. The driver of the L Mack got it stuck in the mud by the river bank after pumping for a few hours. Said driver called upon ME to help out....hooked a chain to the front tow hooks of the L Mack to my front tow hooks, locked the center differential, put her in reverse and the rest was history!!! The driver of the L Mack: D.C. Jr!!!!!

Honda's are very good units. I used to work for a guy years ago that swore by Yanmar Diesel generators- I only had two bitches with them however.....the "portable" ones were heavy as hell, and also if you did not maintain the battery for the starter, "rope-starting" them was a royal pain in the ass due to the compression, would take three forevers to get it rope started. But once you had the things running as long as you kept fuel and oil in them they would go forever. I acquired a 6KW Winco once. Had a burned valve and piston, all I needed to do was disassemble, hone the cylinder, lap the valve seats and put in new valves and a piston and she was good to go, I just didnt have the money at the time and gave it to a friend. To this day I still write that off as one of my all-time dumbass moments.

seatcovers.

hahahaha thats funny because I wouldnt pay half of Harbor Freight's price for one of those get sets.

Ahhhhh I see you saved the best for last.......

This should piss off you guys- a friend of mine was just at Lowes here in Bethlehem Pa and there was a guy apparently driving around in a box truck, buying ANY generators he could get his hands on- just walks right into the store and says "I want them all" and lays out a wad of cash as thick as your arm. Then out in the parking lot he got caught selling them back to people for double what the store was selling them for. Rumor has it he and others like him have been doing it for the last 2 days.

I think people are panic-striken because many many places that depend on electrically/computerized cash registers/checkouts simply shut down if the power goes out- it's not like 20 years ago when you could go down to the corner grocery store that doesnt have power and buy some stuff and have gramps ring it up using the manual cash register.....Nevermind some dumbass teen ager (with a few exceptions) trying to do that nowadays and count you out change for a twenty for 11.67 in purchases. Same thing goes for gas and fuel- get it now while you can while there is still power. Here in the Southeaster Pa area, the big snowstorm last halloween put many folks without power for 8-10 days. I admit it- I gassed up my silverado tonight, and the wife will be gassing up her van tomorrow when she goes to work- she's a home visit nurse and actually needs to make sure she is topped off. I sent her out grocery shopping yesterday for a few gallons of milk for the kids and some other misc. supplies but other then that we're pretty good. Freezer is stocked up with all kinds of goodies, and we can cook on the grill or griddle if we have to. My only fear is losing power AND taking on water in the basement at the same time. I think I have the water problem licked though. Need to get that gen set we keep talking about.

FUCK snow. That is all. Carry on.

What a fantastic day. It didnt even occur to me to get the motley crew together for a pic- It was me and little 1958FWD's, Leversole, Farmer 52, Fxfyrmn, and Doug Maney....Is there anyone I missed???

Hi, I'm 1958FWD, and this is my brother Darrell, and this is my other brother Darrell...........

Congrats!!! You and the oldest need to get a few man-dogs to help you guys offset balance out the inequalities!

Ken if my neighborhood wasnt going to be full of trick-or-treaters tomorrow I would invite you to bring it over to my house tomorrow and wash it proper with the hose and water and all that......lol

Mike, after your Macungie incident, I now disconnect the batteries on the FWD at any show I go to. (electric fuel pump.)

Why is she wearing a Mae West? And nice smile....At least she's a good sport, she could have told you that you were number one.....If I were younger and single, I would have tried to get her to stop for a coffee!!!

Yup, thats about exactly the amount of time they told me, and took. Just got my goodies in the mail the other day.