Thursday, May 15, 2008

Home for the Holidays

Why were the flags flying at half mast all across Nebraska today?

We made it home without serious incident today. Everyone is very happy to be back after two weeks away.

It's a very strange thing how some things work just fine forever, and then suddenly decide to malfunction the one time you're away. Case in point: one of my pond pumps.

Upon our return, The Mrs. reported that neither waterfall in the back pond was working, and that the pond was filled with algae. I figured that the water level was low from evaporation, and I got out the hose to refill it. Then, I noted that the water level was plenty high enough to feed the pumps. The pumps were just dead.

Uh oh.

I went to the breaker box and found a tripped GFI breaker. I reset it, and it immediately tripped again. I went back to the pond and unplugged everything (two pumps and two heaters), and reset it again. This time it worked. I plugged in one pump, and it started up. When I plugged in the second, it tripped again. I repeated this a couple times just to be sure.

So, the greatness of having redundant pumps is eliminated if one of the pumps decides to develop a short. That takes out the whole pond's electrical.

And WTF? Why does a pump develop a short when we're away? Why not any of the other 50 weeks this year that we're home? And these aren't cheap pumps. They're like $250 bucks. Why would it develop a short at all?

I'm hoping that my "spare" pump is the same flow rate. I got that when I decommissioned the pond that is now the rock garden. However, that was a much, much larger waterfall, so I'm guessing this is a much higher flow pump that will not be right for this application, and I'll end up buying a new pump on Saturday.

Fudge sticks.

Cabela's was a big disappointment. Their fishing section was about half the size of Sportsman's Warehouse, and they didn't have the thing I wanted. Much like a non-mouthy woman, it is mail order only. I did manage to score a 50 round magazine for my 10/22, though. I can get those locally as well, but not this brand.

And Cabela's bathrooms are nothing special. Lowe's has the best damned bathrooms of anybody.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Flags were flown at half-staff on May 15, 2008, in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day.

The holiday was created on 1 October 1961 when Congress asked the president to designate 15 May to honor law enforcement officers. John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law on October 1, 1962. According to a proclamation by George W. Bush in 2002, "Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week pay tribute to the local, State, and Federal law enforcement officers who serve and protect us with courage and dedication. These observances also remind us of the ongoing need to be vigilant against all forms of crime, especially to acts of extreme violence and terrorism." Much of the holiday centers around the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., whose walls feature the names of the more than 17,000 law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.