“At long last.......”

Generac Stand-by generator. (Photo by the so-called “old guy” with the dreaded and utterly reprehensible Nikon D100.)

Yesterday (Wednesday, August 13, 2008), along with completion of our giant window replacement project, we had a heating-contractor service our stand-by generator.
The stand-by generator kicks on automatically if the power fails. The idea is to maintain both our freezer and refrigerator, plus the furnace and water heater, though gas, have electrical inputs.
The recently deceased 94-year-old nosy neighbor got one, although he was probably about 90 when he did.
We weren’t about to be upstaged by that old smarty-pants. Anyway, it seemed like a good idea out here where the power fails occasionally.
Just a regular service-call. Change the oil and filter, the plugs, and the air-filter; and test the function and output. (He also added water to the battery, which is a car-battery.)

(Photo by the so-called “old guy” with the dreaded and utterly reprehensible Nikon D100.)

I walk around the house to where the generator is and the technician has the lid up.
It’s depressing to think we’ve probably had this thing 3-4 years, and I’ve never had the cover open.
Linda always says she knows I had a stroke because I didn’t open it as soon as we got it.
“So what is it?” I asked; “a Briggs-and-Stratton overhead-valve V-twin running on natural-gas?”
I was given the look.
“Briggs-and-Stratton are junk!” —A great comment since my zero-turn has a Briggs-and-Stratton “Intek” V-twin.
“This is actually made by Generac, an industrial engine that will last forever if you maintain it.”
“Kind of like the Kawasaki flat-head in my John Deere riding-mower,” I said. “That thing’s 14 years old, and runs like a watch. All I do is change out the oil and filter every year, the plug, and often the air-filter.”
Techy then showed me how to check the oil-level and change the oil.
“It ran last winter once for eight hours continuous.”
“If it runs that long, ya should check the oil-level.”
“Very interesting,” I said. “At long last.......”

RE: “‘Old guy’ with the dreaded and utterly reprehensible Nikon D100.......” —My macho, blowhard brother-from-Boston, who is 13 years younger than me, calls me “the old guy” as a put-down (I also am the oldest). I also am loudly excoriated by all my siblings for preferring a professional camera (like the Nikon D100) instead of a point-and-shoot. This is because I long ago sold photos to nationally published magazines.

RE: “Out here where the power fails occasionally......” —We live in the country.

“Plugs” equals spark plugs.

“Linda” is my wife of 40+ years.

I had a stroke October 26, 1993.

Our “zero-turn” is our 48-inch Husqvarna riding-mower; “zero-turn” because it’s a special design with separate drives to each drive-wheel, so it can be spun on a dime. “Zero-turns” are becoming the norm, because they cut mowing time in half compared to a lawn-tractor, which has to be set up for each mowing-pass.

Before the stroke, I fiddled each gasoline gizmo the day we got it.