Let’s say you have a problem — a puzzle, if you will, that needs solving. You think about it. You stare at it. And then you think and stare some more.
You’re stumped.
More thinking. More staring. You’re stuck in that cycle for hours.
Days. Weeks.
Suddenly, when you’re not staring at your puzzle or thinking about how to solve it, the answer streaks across your consciousness like a meteor. Obviously!
For maybe a month now, I’ve wanted to add another space heater to our furnace-less camper’s living area. Since we’d reached the limit of what the onboard electrical system can handle, however, we’d have to power it directly from the meter pole.
We had an extra space heater. We had a heavy-duty extension cord plenty long enough to reach. All I needed to do was find a way to route the cord into the living space.
And that had me stumped.
I figured it’d be a bad idea to try retracting (slightly) a slide, slipping the cord past the weatherstrip, and then hoping I could return the slide to position. (None of the slides has moved since May of ’23.) I really didn’t want to drill a hole in the shell, either.
One of the crank-out windows on that side of the camper is missing its screen. I thought about bringing the extension cord in that way, then closing the window against the cord and sealing it the best I could.
But… no. Or maybe. I was stuck in a think-stare-stumped loop.
Late yesterday afternoon I was crashed in my recliner, waiting for Deb to call from her homeward commute, when the solution came to me. Obviously!
I checked my watch. I had time to make it happen before the phone rang.
Scrambling up the clay mound that supports our power pole, I plugged the extension cord into a 20A outlet. I stretched it across the driveway to the camper’s own exterior outlet, where I disconnected the line feeding the heated hose and wet-bay heaters. I plugged that into the extension cord.
Inside the camper, I plugged the additional space heater into a wall outlet and switched it on. Done.
See, I’d fallen into the trap of believing that I had to power the heater directly from the pole, which required somehow bringing the cord into the camper. Instead, I used it to power stuff that already was outside, which shed 1200W of draw from that onboard circuit.
Obviously! But did it work?
The overnight low was 16°F — colder than Sunday night but not as windy, so conditions were similar (if not identical). I woke up around 1am and checked the temp in the area where we sleep: 71°F, over ten degrees warmer than it was the previous night.
Success.
(To anyone who’s thinking, “But you should never, ever use an extension cord with a space heater!” — calm the fuck down. That caution is meant to discourage the use of 18ga and 20ga dime-store lamp cords. The 12ga and 14ga extension cords we use will be just fine.)
I changed my mind about what to do next with the rest of the downed oak by the road. Rather than deal with the trunk and then the brushpiles, I switched it up — we’re supposed to get measurable snow in about 48 hours, and I figured it’d be easier to work through the small stuff before it gets covered up and sopping wet.
There was light snow in the air when I waded into it this morning, and the temp was 21°F. I bundled up against the cold and got busy — not my favorite kind of woodcutting, but not terribly taxing, either.
My primary goal was to harvest whatever I could from the piles. This is the kind of wood that nobody but me (as far as I know) bothers with, really scrawny stuff. As long as it’s solid at both cut ends, though, and it’s two inches in diameter or bigger, hell, I’ll take it.
The second objective was to reduce the size of the piles once I’d finished mining them. Several passes through each with a chainsaw took care of that to my satisfaction.
Barely an hour’s work left me with a modest amount of homely branch wood. Since I hadn’t taken time to manicure the chunks while cutting them to length, I used a carpenter’s hatchet to neaten them up as I pitched them into the truck.
I piled it all on a pallet back at the wood yard. Pieces that size will rot quickly if they’re left on the ground, so that was an important final (for now) step.
I’m not sure how much actual burn time will result from today’s effort, but I’m pleased with what I came back with. It’s personal, kind of a stewardship thing.
Seven-and-a-half months ago, a violent force of Nature dropped a large, healthy red oak in the most convenient spot possible for processing. More than anything else, I’m proud of how little will be left behind when I’m done with it.
Waste not.
I fielded new cold-weather gloves today, a pair of Carhartt gauntlets in Mossy Oak Bottomland camo.
They kept my hands pleasantly warm, considering the conditions, without making it difficult to handle the chainsaw or hatchet.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB