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Don Y[_3_] Don Y[_3_] is offline
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Default bye-bye land line telephone

On 5/11/2016 9:47 PM, HerHusband wrote:
We have probably a dozen 1500VA UPS's scattered around the house.
They come in handy in an outage as you can plug a CFL or LED lamp
into one and have LOTS of light (instead of living with flashlights
or candles). Figure 10-15W for a CFL gives you many HOURS on one
of these beasts (battery capacity is ~170WHr; assume 70% efficiency
gives you 120WHr -- so, almost 10 hours for a "60W equivalent" CFL)


Novel idea, but that's one expensive flashlight.


Naw, just an extension cord running from a nearby light fixture to
the nearest UPS! I.e., 4 or 5 feet would suffice to connect a nearby
floor lamp to the UPS for this computer!

We kind of enjoy the rare power outage. It's an excuse to take a break from
technology, build a fire, light some candles, and spend some quality time
together.


It depends largely on what we are "trying to get done" when the outage
strikes. E.g., if SWMBO has settled down to watch a movie, it's annoying
not to be able to *finish* that movie. In that case, I'll drag out one
of the larger laptops and let her watch it "in her lap" -- not quite
the same experience as on the big screen but better than having to
come back to the MIDDLE of the story some time later (when she may
want/need to be doing something else). Likewise, if you'd made time to
read a book, you want to continue reading -- not have to return to it
at a later time that's more convenient for the electric company!

If I'm "writing code", I can quickly copy the file(s) onto a thumb drive
and move over to a laptop to continue (none of my systems can stay up
for that long even on the larger UPS's -- can you spell "powerhog"?)

If it's daylight, then, chances are, we're outside or away from home
and don't really care about the outage.

As for "time together", that's already built into our schedules. So,
we each know what time we can expect to address our individual wants/needs
while still ensuring that we don't become "just roommates".

That said, my VOIP adapter and phone base unit are connected to my
computer's UPS system.


The "backup" is important as you may want to USE that phone during
the outage. E.g., to call to REPORT the outage! :

If the outage lasts more than an hour or two (rare), we can always fall
back to our cell phones. Or, people can just call back later.


We *welcome* not hearing from people. But, aren't eager to be
cut off from our ability to phone others! "Why don't we do our
grocery shopping NOW and get it out of the way. Do you think
stores X, Y and Z are suffering outages? Would it be a waste
of time to drive over? Perhaps call first??"