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A short message

Posted on May 1, 2023May 1, 2023

Electricity is a miracle. I’m not even certain I believe in it.

Last week my trailer developed an electrical “short” that killed all my 110 volt electrical outlets.

A fine fellow from this area who specializes in RV repair came out, ran a bunch of tests, periodically consulted a hand-held meter and agreed.

“You’ve got a short.”

“Oh?”

“And instead of tripping a breaker it blew your Ground Fault Curcuit Interrupt plug.”

“Ok. Let’s — by that I mean you — fix it.”

“I’ll have to order the plug. See you in a couple of weeks.”

So, Saturday my satellite communication thing… Starlink… arrived. I’m determined to make it work.

Seventeen miles to buy an extension cord and 17 miles back. I plug into the campsite’s power panel and bingo. Electricity or some other invisible force powers my new tether to the outside world.

Until the Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt gizmo on the power panel trips. And refuses to re-set because, after all, it’s Electricity.

So again, I’m updating on my phone at the gatehouse. The gatehouse is the only place in this campground — and for miles around — that has a cell signal. Which I also don’t understand.

Through an intermediary (my friend, James Draper), here’s today’s missive to be posted on the internet… which also confuses me… while I wait for the electrician and a special order Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt plug.

11 thoughts on “A short message”

  1. Rich says:
    May 1, 2023 at 1:12 am

    Just finished reading from the start of your adventure; well done sir. Looking forward to your future posts, when you have better connectivity.

    Reply
    1. Bill Woodall says:
      May 1, 2023 at 10:20 am

      Good morning. Rich. Happy to have you here.

      Reply
  2. Amanda says:
    May 2, 2023 at 10:43 pm

    During the massive hail storms and lightning strikes of last week, several lake residents had to replace all of their ground fault plugs in their houses. Not me, thankfully. I guess the electricity from lightning is too much for them. Be glad you just have one!

    Reply
  3. Fred Gebhardt says:
    May 4, 2023 at 12:07 pm

    Love the new cover photo. Makes me a little jealous.

    Reply
    1. Bill Woodall says:
      May 4, 2023 at 2:57 pm

      🙂

      Reply
  4. NANCY Weber says:
    May 4, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    Oh electricity! It is a mystery in these homes on the road. I’ve learned something about it every few months over the past few years. So you have zero electricity for two weeks? And do no ability to even charge a 12 volt system? I like the new cover photo!

    Reply
  5. Lisa Reid says:
    May 5, 2023 at 5:22 am

    No electricity? Did you run a power cord to some master source so you have power in your tiny house? I thought I would die without power for 61 hours two years ago during the Deep Freeze. Of course, it was also five degrees outside but electricity is something we just can’t do without.

    Reply
    1. Bill Woodall says:
      May 5, 2023 at 10:29 am

      Only the 110 outlets were down. All the appliances worked. And I cook on propane.
      I got the outlets back last night, BTW.

      Reply
  6. Jeff M says:
    May 7, 2023 at 11:44 pm

    Here you go, Bill. I got 8/10.

    https://www.advrider.com/are-you-a-moto-electronics-guru/

    Reply
  7. Bill Woodall says:
    May 8, 2023 at 12:27 am

    7,

    Reply
  8. Rosemary Whitten says:
    May 8, 2023 at 1:19 am

    Hi Bill. I follow your blog but just now read about your electrical woes. In Laneville Tx we are at the VERY north end of a line serviced by Oncor. Since we are a small community, we are always low priority. This past Friday we had 21.5 hours with no electricity on the same day that summer seemed to arrive in E Tx with a vengeance. I understand why my mother used to say that air conditioning and perma pressed clothes were by far the best inventions made by mankind!
    Hope you continue to have a wonderful summer and grand adventure

    Reply

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