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SATURDAY EDITION
❘ FEBRUARY 20, 2016
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
DISASTER PREP
B Y D AVE R OBINSON
Special to the Siuslaw News
T
he best thing about generators is they
give us the ability to function with
some normalcy when the electricity
fails. Generator owners exude a certain
smugness knowing they can still function,
to a degree, when all others have just been
relegated to the stone age. The generator
owners I know don’t realize they’re being
smug, nor do they purposely conduct them-
selves with an air of superiority, but it’s
there. Trust me.
If you have been considering joining this
exclusive club of generator owners, first ask
yourself some questions. What do I plan to
do with it? Am I going to just power up my
travel trailer when I’m camping or do I
intend to provide electricity for my home
when the power goes out?
The power company does an amazing job
of keeping the electricity flowing, especial-
ly during our winter wind and rain storms.
How those lines stay attached to their poles
and keep the juice running is a marvel of
engineering. But we all know there are still
times when things happen and service is
interrupted. Sometimes things get fixed
right away and sometimes it’s days before
the lights come back on.
It’s those times when it takes more than a
day or so that you need a generator. You
may need to pump water out of your well,
keep your refrigerator and freezer cold, or
RYAN CRONK , EDITOR
❘ 541-902-3520 ❘
Opinion
Generators
in some cases open your garage door.
Here are some things to keep in mind.
Unless you’re in the position to spend
upwards of $15,000 for a permanently
mounted unit, don’t plan to energize your
whole house. A smaller, portable unit of
3,500-watt capacity will handle your fridge,
freezer, a few lights and your TV. The going
cost for a unit like that will be in the $500
range. The bigger the wattage output, the
more the unit will handle. Like everything
else, you get what you pay for. Avoid the
$99 2-cycle unit. It will probably do more
damage (like to your computer or to your
flat-screen TV) than it does good. A high
quality surge suppressor is a really good bit
of insurance for your delicate electronics.
There are some nice features offered on
today’s units. Electric start will save your
back, muscle strain and a whole lot of physical
energy. Some generators are designed to run
on two different fuels. The ones I’ve seen will
use either gasoline or propane. Very handy
since propane will store longer than gasoline.
Some are diesel powered and yet some will
run off natural gas. The natural gas version
must be plumbed into the natural gas supply,
which could become interrupted during an
earthquake or other disaster.
And finally, the wheel kit. The wheel was
invented to avoid all the lugging and drag-
ging when it comes to putting your genera-
YESTERDAY’S NEWS
tor in its place. Get wheels.
The main drawback with generators: they
require fuel. Don’t plan on using your genera-
tor as a long-term solution. Even running the
unit only a few hours a day for more than a
week, you would need to store more stabilized
fuel than most budgets allow. Not to mention
the inherent dangers of storing gasoline.
Speaking of gasoline, today’s ethanol-
infused product presents its own problem.
Ethanol naturally attracts water, thus dramati-
cally shortening the storage life of gasoline. A
generator sitting idle for months on end will
almost surely fail to start because of bad gaso-
line. The solution is to purchase non-ethanol
gas (at a much higher price) or using a product
such as Sta-Bil to keep fuel fresh for 12
months or longer.
A very good resource for information is
the Generator Buyer’s Guide at Northern
Tool and Equipment’s website. They’ve got
answers for your generator questions. They
also offer a huge inventory of brand-name
generators.
______________________
Dave Robinson is the postmaster in
Bandon, Ore., and author of “Disaster Prep
for the Rest of Us.” He may be contacted at
disasterprep.dave@gmail.com. Visit his
website for more disaster preparedness tips,
www.disasterprepdave.blogspot.com.
MOMENTS IN TIME
The History Channel
On Feb. 22, 1732, George Washington is
born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, the
second son of a plantation owner. Initially a
loyal British subject, Washington eventually
led the Continental Army in the American
Revolution and became known as the father of
the United States.
On Feb. 27, 1827, a group of masked and
costumed students dance through the streets of
New Orleans, marking the beginning of the
city’s Mardi Gras celebrations. Though early
French settlers had brought the tradition of
Mardi Gras, Spanish governors later banned the
celebrations.
On Feb. 25, 1870, Hiram Rhoades Revels,
a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, is
sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming the first
black American ever to sit in Congress. During
the Civil War, Revels, a college-educated min-
ister, served as a chaplain for the Union army.
On Feb. 26, 1935, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler
signs a secret decree authorizing the founding
of the Reich Luftwaffe as a third German mili-
tary service. The Versailles Treaty that ended
World War I had prohibited military aviation in
Germany.
On Feb. 23, 1958, five-time Formula One
champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina is
kidnapped in Cuba by a group of Fidel Castro’s
rebels. Fangio was released the next day after
the Cuba Grand Prix ended.
LETTERS
A very happy
birthday
My 100th birthday celebration
was a huge success thanks to the
more than 100 people who joined
me Saturday afternoon, Feb. 13,
at the Florence Senior Center.
I appreciate each and every
one of the people who attended
and brought hugs, well-wishes,
cards and gifts.
You all made my day!
Harold Nusbaum
Florence
On Feb. 28, 1964, Thelonious Monk
makes the cover of Time magazine.
Beatlemania was at its peak, but contemporary
jazz music had captured the imagination of a
significant number of American music fans.
On Feb. 24, 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court
votes 8-0 to overturn the $200,000 settlement
awarded to the Reverend Jerry Falwell for his
emotional distress at being parodied in Hustler
magazine. The court ruled that Hustler’s paro-
dy, although in poor taste, fell within the First
Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech
and the press.
Fewer entry-level
jobs in Oregon
It is said socialism is like drug
addiction; the person will continue
increasing the consumption of poi-
son until either dying of it or run-
ning out of money/crime. Many
feel the quickest and least painful
method for a society to get past this
condition is by encouraging its
destructive addictions.
I applaud Oregon’s latest to
further destroy entry-level jobs
and increase the need for welfare.
By restricting the peoples’ right
to contract, the cost of living will
increase, the quality of life will
decrease and more creative ways
will be forced on businesses to
reduce the workforce.
The typical response to stay
competitive in business is to: not
start, quit, not expand, reduce, out-
source, relocate, employ machines,
and/or do without. Example of the
last is when businesses convert
green landscaping to rock lawns
eliminating yardmen. Home size is
now shrinking since labor costs for
every 1,000 square feet is increas-
ing through social engineering like
minimum wages.
EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.
To pay someone $15 an hour,
businesses must pay $5 to $10
extra in taxes, insurances, com-
pliances and so on. It is hard to
justify hiring someone without
needful skills or providing basic
manual labor for $20 to $25.
Labor is a pyramid; very skilled
and in-demand few at the top and
many unskilled or without useful
skills forming the wide base. Each
increase in labor costs raises the
hirable line across the bottom.
Those below are excluded from
work and any means of self-support,
becoming society’s expanding wel-
fare and/or homeless population.
What is the sense of forcing a
“living wage” figure if it results
in more people becoming too
expensive to hire?
Keith Stanton
Florence
New political rules
New rules that Bill Maher has
my permission to utilize:
TV political campaign reporters
must not use the word “resonate”
more than three times in one report.
Fox News must not be allowed
to polygraph its political commen-
tators. Doing so would break its
budget. At any time it would need at
least 100 spare machines. Each
week Sean Hannity would blow up
half of them.
Chris Matthews needs to stop
having man-crushes. First, it was
George W. Bush in 2003: “He’s like
Eisenhower. He looks great in a
military uniform. He looks great in
that cowboy costume he wears
when he goes West.” Then there
was GOP primaries presidential
candidate Fred Thompson in 2007:
“Can you smell the English leather
on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort
of mature man’s shaving cream …
after he shaved?”
Barack Obama’s speech-making
inspired Chris to say, “My, I felt this
thrill going up my leg.” Now, Chris
is pals with John Kasich.
If Hillary Clinton wants to have
Democrats and Independents
believe that she is a truthful person,
she needs to stop her GOP-style,
fact-exaggerated smears of Bernie
Sanders, who wants a single-payer
medical insurance system.
“We had enough of a fight to get
to the Affordable Care Act. So I
don’t want to rip it up and start
over.” You don’t have to cancel the
ACA, Hillary, before you set about
trying to legislate single payer.
Harold Titus
Florence
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E DITOR P OLICY
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Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax
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Pres. Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Gov. Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, OR 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line 503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email:
Sen.ArnieRoblan@state.or.us
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753/FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
State Rep. Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email:
rep.caddymckeown@state.or.us
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416/ 800-944-9603
541-269-2609/ 541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan (Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
West Lane County Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email:
Jay.Bozievich@co.lane.or.us