Here's a discussion point: 20 years ago, AEP had a website to report power outages at. Of course, this was the time when a camera on a phone was a "fancy" feature. Almost nobody was reporting a power outage online at the address the power outage was at. As we know, it's almost impossible these days to live without power. We have home WiFi cameras, all sorts of smart devices, etc. We can charge phones and tablets from cars, but generally just smaller devices. Some ISPs have devices that will connect to 4G in cases of power outages. They have battery backups which are generally good for just a few hours. I'd imagine StarLink is the same. It's gonna be useless after the battery dies, right? Who has a guess on how long it'll be until a home generator is a commonplace item? (Not necessarily for "all the things" but the necessities like the refrigerator/freezer, internet, maybe one TV, washer/dryer.) It's still kind of a rare thing to have a home generator, because society can still function for several days in a row without power. But there'll probably be a time when it'll be near-necessary to have one. When will that time be?
I've been thinking about it. When we were in Tanzania almost two years ago, there was a major power outage in Arusha, which is a fairly large city (fortunately, after I got my Opening Day tickets). The Tanzanians apologized profusely, stating "you never have this happen in the US". We chuckled to ourselves. The very week we got back, we had a day long outage her in Columbus....
That 2008 outage comes to mind. Watch this commercial. If you don't realize it requires a battery backup, it's a bit comical. https://www.ispot.tv/ad/fRxA/comcast-business-power-on-59-internet-and-securityedge
Mookie's house has a Generac standby generator that runs on natural gas. If the power goes out it automatically kicks on. Seamless. The first time it happened they didn't even know it until he noticed that the rest of the houses on the street were dark. They're kind.of expensive - his came with the house - and maybe as a convenience so that you don't have to stop watching TV for.a little while it's kind of a luxury but he's a big fan.
Hand cranked generators aren't uncommon. They won't power your house but can charge your cell phone or an emergency radio.
I used a hand-cranked flashlight once. I'm not sure I'd recommend it. It was a lot of work for very little result.
We live between two houses that each has a generator. When our power goes out and you can hear a generator on…. We will be buying one at some point.
I have found that posting x.com links don't always work right, but if you convert them to twitter.com, they work a little better.
Sounds like Jersey Mike's is going to be gone soon as well. Jersey Mike’s sandwich chain is acquired by private equity firm Blackstone for $8 billion https://apnews.com/article/jersey-m...-transaction-d45eb865f912eb39bbd7ac8ad8a86fcd
Chipotle invested in Brassica a few months back, so it will probably start sucking soon too. Shame, Brassica’s bread is unbelievably good.
Quiznos suffered the same fate; expansion to 4500 stores, sale to bloodless vultures, management by idiots, massive money burn, store numbers down to 150 or so. They looked to be done but they were bought a year or so ago by an outfit that - shock of shocks - actually wanted to turn it into a viable.business. Now they're gradually expanding into the whole gas station partnership model and doubling up.with Cinnabon and the like. They're being very strategic but it looks promising. But of course everyone's model now is BucEees, which is taking over the world. I heard they're opening one in Ohio somewhere. It's a hell of a place.
Everyone lost their minds when Sheetz started popping up everywhere. I think they’ve attributed Sheetz with memories of vacation travels or something. Every one I’ve been in here in Ohio has been dirty, shelves aren’t stocked, restrooms aren’t clean, food sucks, etc. Loves has been pretty much the gold standard as far as truck stop/gas stations go IMO.
Speaking of that, is that IKEA still as awesome as everyone hyped it up to be? I remember when it opened, the cops were thinking about controlling traffic like it was OSU football type traffic. They were expecting LARGE numbers.
I heard it’s going to be in the Dayton area somewhere. My guess would be near the malfunction junction of I-70 and I-75. (TBF, that interchange is significantly better since it was redone.)
The restaurant is pretty good, if you like Swedish food. We go every few months, but as our house is mostly furnished the way we want it, we don't buy as much. The one oddity back in the day was their picture frame department--all of the frames were metric sizes--think A4 paper vs 8X10 or 8.5 X 11. They still have some of those, though most of the stuff is now US sizes. I've needed them as we have purchased art and I've gotten award certificates in Europe.
Buc-ees will be at I-70 and St Rt 4. East of Huber Heights. Mile marker 41. They’ve been delayed by a lawsuit between the county and city on who gets to provide utilities. I imagine it will get sorted out but Buc-ees isn’t happy at the moment.
The Columbus area Frisch's closed yesterday. They had locations in Heath, Groveport, and Grove City but had the same issue as the Cincinnati area stores, they owed rent to the PE firm that did the lease-buybacks. I went to the one in Grove City and it was jammed for the last day. They said the one in Washington Court House is still open.
Moved my oldest son to Memphis a couple of weeks ago. Stopped at the Buc-ees in Smiths Grove, KY (exit 38 off of I65 a little North of the Covette museum at the Bowling Green exit). The place had been open for about 4 months, so was still very new, clean, fresh and well maintained. Best way I can describe it would be as a gas station/ convenience store (think Speedway on steroids) with a little Crackle Barrel gift shop thrown in and customers from Wal-Mart.
Peacock is back with their Black Friday sale! As long as you're not an active subscriber, you should be good. REALDEAL ($20 for a year) or REALDEALMONTHLY ($2/mo for 6 months) This is just for the version with commercials in the archives. Pay extra if you want no commercials in your archives. NBC and DirecTV (includes Stream and U-Verse) should get it included as a result of an upcoming contract renewal, although it'll probably take a few months to add. I believe Spectrum customers already get it.
That Morgan chick will save your old and faded Crew jersey. https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2024/11/25/columbus-crew-jersey-saving