atomic_fungus (atomic_fungus) wrote,
atomic_fungus
atomic_fungus

#5483: Normally the power goes OUT when a pole fuse blows.

So, Wednesday morning, very windy day--power goes out sometime between 10:30 and 11. Battery backups in computer room start screeching; I wait five minutes and then go shut everything down. Back to bed--but noises outside lead me to go have a gander, and while I'm standing on the back patio I hear something go POW out front; and a few moments later I jump when there's an even louder POW! closer to the bunker.

Go out front: sure enough, fuse has blown up on the power pole. Different one than the one that usually goes. Took a brief walk down the street to see where the other blown fuse is, but didn't see anything conclusive.

Shrugging, I went back inside, to find the power on.

Now, I understand how that can be; power is transmitted in three phases, 120° apart. A typical dwelling is served by two phases at most (so you can run appliances that require 240v, like an electric stove or dryer). And as I said, the line that blew is one that rarely does, and that particular line is a phase that does not serve the bunker.

Still, it seems counterintuitive, that power would go back on after the fuse blows. Again, though, I get it. There are all kinds of automatic systems in place for situations like this and I'll bet this is what happened: one phase on the stub gets shorted and the system cuts power to all three of them. When the power is applied again, the shorted phase blows a fuse, but the other two continue to operate normally.

I feel sorry for people to whom electricity is something which appears in the wall socket by magic.

Anyway, the ComEd trucks are on the scene, and have been driving back and forth along the street; I expect they've fixed the short and now they're going to replace the blown fuse.

* * *

Going to have to do something about the tree in the front yard, though. It's got a sizable bole which is dead, and I don't want that chunk of wood coming down in an uncontrolled fashion.

* * *

People train themselves to be bedwetters. There's a lot to what Ace says here.
There's no great mystery to what's going on. People who train themselves to be cool and clear of mind will find themselves becoming more cool and clear of mind.

People who train themselves to go to pieces over every damn thing will find themselves getting better and better at going to pieces over every damn thing.

When you valorize a mental disorder and turn it into a virtue to be cultivated, guess what you're gonna get? More mental disorders.
He's right.

* * *

I just don't know what to add to this.
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