Robbed!--Never mind, I'm an idiot!

Correction, Had several cans of gas. Still has a generator though. Will be cruising the hood tonight, I need a back up for the back up.

Wait a minute, I have a Prius to back up my generator. Well I suppose we could pawn it. Sure would have been nice to have 10-15 gal of gas instead.

 

Evan

Ok, by now I'm sure you've had a good laugh over this and moved on. I hate to s*** on your Corn Flakes, but IMHO your location is perhaps more "ideal" for a serious home invasion than a major city. At least it would be here in Manitoba

I find your comment about "very little traffic" interesting too. How do you know that? I used to think that my hobby farm, being right at the end of a long winding gravel road, with a gate across the driveway, was pretty quiet too

Then around 3 years ago I put in a DVR and several night vision cameras. I actually wanted to see how many deer were snooping around while I was gone.

The answer: plenty of them, even a few fox and a moose.

Also, about once a month or so, somebody would park at the road, walk in (Apparently couldn't read the No Trespassing signs), peek through the windows, walk around to the back door, try the door knob, walk over to the detached shop/garage, peek in the window, then walk back to their vehicle

Made hardcopies of clear shots of the guys face, dropped them off at the nearest RCMP detachment. Apparently, they had questioned that guy before about tresspass. That gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling

Around 2:45am had some teenagers try to do the same thing. I guess they noticed the dull red glow from the IR illuminators and changed their minds, they got the hell out of there. Never any indication they had returned, so I left that one alone.

Last fall, when the company agreed to put the satellite internet terminal at my hobby farm, I hooked the router up to my DVR, as it supports network access. Very handy to be able to access in real time, check for motion alarm trips, etc

So never say never, unless you have personally verified nobody is snooping around, you could be in for a nasty surprise

I recently moved the DVR surveillance system from my hobby farm to the home I bought last fall. I put a new system in at the hobby farm, very high resolution and nice features. Yes, it has an extended runtime UPS

This is the DVR

Nuvico -

I have these cameras at key points

Nuvico -

These for indoor use

Nuvico -

I'm not trying to scare you, but I really do think you should consider if you have any immediate or potential long-term threats. Some criminals target doctors as they are under the impression the doctor home is chock-full of oxycontin and vicodin

The security system I mentioned above is perhaps a bit overkill for your need. Even that system is fairly straightforward to install yourself. If you can setup a home network without burning down the house, you should be able to handle this

jay

 

Re: Robbed!

Yeah we're both a couple of middle-aged coots, that's for sure. I already have a pretty bad case of CRS (Can't Remember S***)

jay

 

First off, I'm glad that you just had a "senior moment", I know that they're really pretty annoying, but much better than the alternatives, even if we are just talking about a couple of gas cans.

Second, I really had to respond to the question about reporting this had it been "real". The answer is always "yes". The police, like the rest of us were born with dormant ESP genes. If we don't tell them what's going on in our neighborhoods, they really have no way of knowing. If you're concerned about the "magnitude" of the crime, call the non-emergency number (all departments have them). That way they can triage the call as is appropriate for what their current load is; if it's slow someone might be there right quick, if it's busy, well it could be hours. Either way, they still know about what happened and they have the option to deal with it as they can.

Sorry for sermon. I sit on the Board of Directors of the special taxing district that I live in, and this is a common refrain (and vicious circle) about police response and police reports. People wonder why the police aren't patrolling around all the time. When you talk to the police it's because they put the patrols where they have high incident report levels. If the small things don't get reported, the patrols tend to go other places....

Now of course we don't have a built in embarrassment mechanism for calling the police on yourself.....

 

Next year you can hide your own Easter eggs. . .
I've been hiding things from myself & then having to replace them when I need them because who knows where they might be. I actually have a little notebook where I write down where I have put important things - like my passport. Right now I am searching for a box of Splenda packets - I bought 2 on sale & do you think I can find either one - of course not!

 

If I did that, I'd be looking for where I put my little notebook.

Tom

 

LOL. Me too.

I should never clean up. I keep buying what I can't find. Today I found my Windex and my 409. Right where I put them AFTER I built new shelves for my broom closet after the tankless water heater went in and I reclaimed the space. Duh. Hopefully now I'll remember that's where I put them and the paper towels.

I'm currently reorganizing the kitchen because of the dishwasher installation. I'm going to have nightmares I'm not going to remember where I put things. They don't make sense where they are now but they've been there for 20 years and I remember where they are.

 

Wow. I'll say.
I'll think we'll just stick with the dogs for our farm.

 

Just how old is the gas in those cans?

If someone had stolen your gas, they may have just been doing you a favor.

When I had a two tank pick-up truck, someone had siphoned several gallons out of the right tank . . . the one which I couldn't switch to for about four years. I really hope their engine really enjoyed that varnish! Carma is a bitch! ound:

 

That's already pretty old. I'd use that gas, mixed 50% with new, in something else (not the Prius!) and put the Sta-Bil in the new replacement gas.

When you want your generator to run, you want your generator to run without problems.

 

Yes, it probably is that bad after 8 months. I wouldn't use fuel older than about 2 months, unless it had stabilizers put into it -- when it was fresh!

There are two problems. One is not that bad and one is a biggie. The first is the loss of volatility. This will happen over time as the more volatile of the hydrocarbons are released into the air. If the tanks are absolutely airtight and full to the brim, you don't have much to worry about -- except for explosions, that is.

The second is oxidation of the gasoline. This is what happens when gasoline basically turns to varnish. It will start to turn dark, and it will give off a different smell, not so sweet as sour. This is bad gasoline, and using it can, literally, gum up your engine. Don't use oxidized gasoline in any decent engine!

You can prevent oxidation by using a stabilizer. You have to do this while the gas is fresh. You also can prevent oxidation by keeping gasoline stored in air-tight containers that are completely full. Just don't tell the fire marshal I told you to do this. It really is dangerous to store gasoline (or anything semi-volatile) in air-tight containers exposed to heat sources (like the sun) or in places where the ambient temperature gets much above 80.

Check the gasoline. If it is still clear and doesn't have an odd smell, then you likely can use it. I just wouldn't use it in an engine you haven't started in some time, because it won't have the "pop" you need to get the engine going. You could use it in the Prius, but only as a portion of a tank of fresh gas (say 1/4 of a tank, but only after you've just filled up the first 3/4 and are going on a long drive).

 

E

Personally, I use PRI gasoline for my gasoline powered stuff, and PRI diesel for my diesel powered stuff.

PRI Advanced Fuel Treatments

No, you don't have to buy it a barrel at a time. It's safer than StaBil, though it does cost more

j

 

Perfect! So long as it is thrown in with some fresher gasoline and is getting good use, you should be OK. You also could give it to someone for use in a two-cycle engine. At least the smell gets covered by all of that oil! The only problem you'd have is quantity. Not too many two-cycles get that much use.

 

Anybody in the area drive an Escalade or Hummer? :madgrin:

 

What about the gas cans? If he gets rid of the bad gas are they still OK. Or will the contaminate the next batch if filled up?

(Maybe you should leave the gas cans out in plain site and pray someone steals them from you?)

 

No problem with the cans, the varnished gas is gone when they are emptied, any residue is diluted enough to not cause problems.