REMC
So, the local REMC (a sort of electric cooperative, a part of the New Deal that worked*) had their board elections Thursday. As it turns out, when you just want people to show up and vote (as opposed to enduring a three-hour sit-down dinner filled with praise for the cooperative and its endeavours), AND they still get the dinner anyway, just as a carryout; turnout and enthusiam are greatly increased. Who could possibly have guessed??
At any rate, it was fun this year. You went to the REMC, joined a huge line of cars (back out into the road) and drove through the six-lane garage/warehouse combo where you voted, got a gift, got a $10-off coupon for your electric bill, then got handed box dinners in a nice cloth tote bag. Dinners were turkey sammichs (quite good), with mayo and mustard packs, a little tub of baked beans, a package of potato chips (mine were catastrophically salty - I suspect Lay's had some sort of manufacturing issue - mom's were normal), and a cookie. You also got a bottle of REMC-branded water.
The gift was a flashlight, perhaps a worryingly inauspicious present to receive from one's electric provider, but quite the nice flashlight anyway. It is seriously bright, plus one side of the handle is a glass window, behind which are an array of these square yellowish LEDs that act as a work light or an area illuminator. It also has a flashing red beacon mode.
As it had turned out, just the day before (Wednesday), the REMC had had to come out and replace our transformer, which had begun to leak high voltage. The household voltage had gone up to 296VAC. A surprising amount of the household goods survived, I suspect because so many countries use a 230VAC standard, and equipment these days largely incorporates a converter/filter inside, so as to be globally sellable without modification. Many of the incandescent bulbs let go with a mighty *POP*, and the surviving bulbs and the heating devices (tea boiler, pizza cooker, etc) operated with amazing enthusiasm. The toaster produced black toast even on the low setting. At any rate, a thing that will happen, and not the cooperative's fault (plus they marched right out and replaced it within about two and a half hours), and I'm lucky to have had so little damage.
*The surprise is at the end of the article. As late as 1965, there were still Indiana farms without electricity. I vaguely recall from my childhood how LBJ was pushing to complete and enhance the New Deal, and seeing the photo essays, etc., showing rural families in poverty. That Americans were still having electricity laid in in the Space Age shouldn't surprise me, but somehow it does. I remember that as a very bright, comfortable time, so there's some conceptual discord.
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* ***** Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/223675.html
At any rate, it was fun this year. You went to the REMC, joined a huge line of cars (back out into the road) and drove through the six-lane garage/warehouse combo where you voted, got a gift, got a $10-off coupon for your electric bill, then got handed box dinners in a nice cloth tote bag. Dinners were turkey sammichs (quite good), with mayo and mustard packs, a little tub of baked beans, a package of potato chips (mine were catastrophically salty - I suspect Lay's had some sort of manufacturing issue - mom's were normal), and a cookie. You also got a bottle of REMC-branded water.
The gift was a flashlight, perhaps a worryingly inauspicious present to receive from one's electric provider, but quite the nice flashlight anyway. It is seriously bright, plus one side of the handle is a glass window, behind which are an array of these square yellowish LEDs that act as a work light or an area illuminator. It also has a flashing red beacon mode.
As it had turned out, just the day before (Wednesday), the REMC had had to come out and replace our transformer, which had begun to leak high voltage. The household voltage had gone up to 296VAC. A surprising amount of the household goods survived, I suspect because so many countries use a 230VAC standard, and equipment these days largely incorporates a converter/filter inside, so as to be globally sellable without modification. Many of the incandescent bulbs let go with a mighty *POP*, and the surviving bulbs and the heating devices (tea boiler, pizza cooker, etc) operated with amazing enthusiasm. The toaster produced black toast even on the low setting. At any rate, a thing that will happen, and not the cooperative's fault (plus they marched right out and replaced it within about two and a half hours), and I'm lucky to have had so little damage.
*The surprise is at the end of the article. As late as 1965, there were still Indiana farms without electricity. I vaguely recall from my childhood how LBJ was pushing to complete and enhance the New Deal, and seeing the photo essays, etc., showing rural families in poverty. That Americans were still having electricity laid in in the Space Age shouldn't surprise me, but somehow it does. I remember that as a very bright, comfortable time, so there's some conceptual discord.
*****
* ***** Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/223675.html