two bottles we brought. Lucy says they are almost out, too.” She went to Jessica and took her hand. “You two come with me. Are you tired? You look exhausted.”
Sam and I removed the smaller items from the vehicle, setting them to the side to deal with later. I drove close to Sam’s back door and we wrestled one of the genny’s from the rear hatch.
We’d brought a few ten-gauge extension cords with end connections for two-twenty from the farm supply store. I asked Sam to read the instructions attached to the machine. While he did that, I went inside his house to prepare their electrical service to receive power. The first thing I did was shut off his main breaker. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell the power would come back on, but it would be a mess if it did while the generator was attached.
Because the furnace and the kitchen stove, as well as the clothes dryer and water heater used propane, the electrical load wasn’t huge and five thousand watts would be plenty as long as they managed how much of a load they put on it.
I cut off the receiving end of the extension cord and stripped a length of the cover to expose the three wires. I then removed the cover from his breaker box. The breaker for the air conditioner was rated for fifty amps. I removed the wires from it. After connecting the green wire from the cord to the grounding post in the box, I inserted the remaining two wires into the terminals of the breaker and flipped it to the ON position. Now all we needed to do was crank the generator, plug the other end of the extension cord into the two-twenty outlet, and Sam’s house would have power.
I rejoined him by the generator. “All set inside?” he asked.
“I am if you are.”
Sam pressed the start button and it started with a roar and then settled to a noise level much lower than I expected. I waited a minute or so for the engine to warm up and then plugged in the business end of the cord. The engine slowed as it took the load.
Sam’s face broke into a smile. “No sparks. I reckon you do good work, brother.”
“Will the water pump work now?” I asked.
“Not yet. The power for it comes from the shop.”
Installing the second generator to power the shop went as smoothly as the first. The breaker box was in view of the workbenches we utilized as a dining table. Jessica and Jerold were scarfing stew from the bowls Becky served them.
After I made the connections, I went outside to rejoin Sam. He wasn’t at the generator. I found him at the back of the shop undoing the rope he’d strung to isolate us from his family. He stopped what he was doing and came over to me.
“What’s up?” I asked
“Lucy came out while you were inside the shop. She told me none of you seemed sick and she was tired of the rope. She told me I was treating family like you were strangers and that we’d all take our chances together.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I feel the same. Heck, if you’re infected, riding inside the Durango with you, mask or not, I figure I’m already infected.”
I nodded. “You’re probably right, but just remember, we didn’t argue with you about the isolation. Taking down the rope is your idea.”
“I know it is, but Lucy’s right. You’re my brother.”
He moved closer and pulled me into a hug. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since you arrived,” he said as he released me. “Let’s get the generator cranked so we can have water. Hot baths for everyone.”
Before going inside to tell my family the good news, I took a moment to explain to Sam that they would need to manage their power usage and not have too many things on at one time. I also reminded him we had a limited amount of diesel fuel and we needed a plan to get more.
*****
Things went smoothly for the next three days. There was enough diesel fuel on hand to run the generators during the day. They were modern units and fuel use was very frugal. Sam still had a lot of frozen food in his
Sam and I removed the smaller items from the vehicle, setting them to the side to deal with later. I drove close to Sam’s back door and we wrestled one of the genny’s from the rear hatch.
We’d brought a few ten-gauge extension cords with end connections for two-twenty from the farm supply store. I asked Sam to read the instructions attached to the machine. While he did that, I went inside his house to prepare their electrical service to receive power. The first thing I did was shut off his main breaker. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell the power would come back on, but it would be a mess if it did while the generator was attached.
Because the furnace and the kitchen stove, as well as the clothes dryer and water heater used propane, the electrical load wasn’t huge and five thousand watts would be plenty as long as they managed how much of a load they put on it.
I cut off the receiving end of the extension cord and stripped a length of the cover to expose the three wires. I then removed the cover from his breaker box. The breaker for the air conditioner was rated for fifty amps. I removed the wires from it. After connecting the green wire from the cord to the grounding post in the box, I inserted the remaining two wires into the terminals of the breaker and flipped it to the ON position. Now all we needed to do was crank the generator, plug the other end of the extension cord into the two-twenty outlet, and Sam’s house would have power.
I rejoined him by the generator. “All set inside?” he asked.
“I am if you are.”
Sam pressed the start button and it started with a roar and then settled to a noise level much lower than I expected. I waited a minute or so for the engine to warm up and then plugged in the business end of the cord. The engine slowed as it took the load.
Sam’s face broke into a smile. “No sparks. I reckon you do good work, brother.”
“Will the water pump work now?” I asked.
“Not yet. The power for it comes from the shop.”
Installing the second generator to power the shop went as smoothly as the first. The breaker box was in view of the workbenches we utilized as a dining table. Jessica and Jerold were scarfing stew from the bowls Becky served them.
After I made the connections, I went outside to rejoin Sam. He wasn’t at the generator. I found him at the back of the shop undoing the rope he’d strung to isolate us from his family. He stopped what he was doing and came over to me.
“What’s up?” I asked
“Lucy came out while you were inside the shop. She told me none of you seemed sick and she was tired of the rope. She told me I was treating family like you were strangers and that we’d all take our chances together.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“I feel the same. Heck, if you’re infected, riding inside the Durango with you, mask or not, I figure I’m already infected.”
I nodded. “You’re probably right, but just remember, we didn’t argue with you about the isolation. Taking down the rope is your idea.”
“I know it is, but Lucy’s right. You’re my brother.”
He moved closer and pulled me into a hug. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since you arrived,” he said as he released me. “Let’s get the generator cranked so we can have water. Hot baths for everyone.”
Before going inside to tell my family the good news, I took a moment to explain to Sam that they would need to manage their power usage and not have too many things on at one time. I also reminded him we had a limited amount of diesel fuel and we needed a plan to get more.
*****
Things went smoothly for the next three days. There was enough diesel fuel on hand to run the generators during the day. They were modern units and fuel use was very frugal. Sam still had a lot of frozen food in his
Similar Books
