Oil On The Sidewalk

There are a lot of electrical items at the top of this electric power pole.

Beneath the power pole, there are puddles of oil on the sidewalk. Water from the recent rain is standing on top of the oil.

Here is another view showing oil all around the base of the power pole. The Oil splats in the foreground are in the direction of the prevailing wind compared with the power pole, and this oil might have fallen down from the power pole during windy weather.

The oil in the background is all around the power pole, and a bunch of the oil on the sidewalk has tracks through it. The electric transformer oil may contain toxic PCB's.

Up on the pole there is a 220 volt utility transformer and some high voltage, high frequency power filters mounted below. One of the high voltage, high frequency power filters is obviously leaking transformer oil, which falls down to form a (possibly toxic) puddle at the base of the pole including the nearby sidewalk.

It is a fact that the 220 volt utility transformer should be mounted lower than the high voltage filters. However, the main fact of this complaint is that one of the high voltage, high frequency power filters is obviously leaking transformer oil which is being picked up and tracked around the neighborhood on shoes, skate wheels, and bicycle wheels at the corner of Calora and Bonnie Cove.

fin

My Railroad Crossing Simulator

Coming to a school ground near you.

Learn how to cross train tracks safely.

RR Xing Sim_2012.jpg

Well, it's not really mine, but I helped!

Read More

Fin

My Old Hangout

My old hangout is being renovated.

My old hangout is being renovated while you are viewing this blog. 

Someday I will hang out here again. 

fin

My Surveillance Trailer

This surveillance trailer turned up in the neighborhood recently.

Two cameras, solar Powered, with Wi Fi.  Who knows where the information goes? At the very least, yours truly is in the picture of Google Earth.  Or Google Earthlink.

On an un-related note, here is what happens to your package when you give me the WRONG ZIP CODE !

fin

My Public Library

During a recent visit to San Diego, yours truly saw a large building with a sign out front that reads, "San Diego Public Library" under construction.

fin.

My Train Wreck (Not!)

During a recent patrol of the neighborhood, an item was found to be hanging in the fence, which could be an indicator of foul play.

Sometimes there is a sign nearby to indicate the location of an incident.

Look again in case that you missed it!

fin.

My Helicopter

This helicopter used to be fun, but then his behavior became unpredictable and erratic. When I picked up the helicopter, I could feel that the red and black wires were very hot.

A closer inspection found that the black wire was actually loose in the connector.

After de-mating the connector, a black spot of burned plastic can bee seen exactly where the black wire had been connected loosely inside of the connector. The metal coating on the connector has turned black. There's the problem!

Even when the connector is mated together, we can see the black spot through the translucent plastic. This is what to look for on your electric powered helicopter.

The solution is to get rid of the connector and then carefully weld the black wires together.

Cover the black wire connection with electrical tape, then weld the red wires together. Tape the red wire as well. The resulting connection is probably lighter in weight, than the connector was. Removing unnecessary weight is key to successful helicopter performance. The helicopter works better than ever.  These red and black wires don't get hot anymore, hence the electric motors have a little more power.

Fin.