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Feedback loop in my front yard.
Feb. 5th, 2011 08:00 pmI left up some of my front yard christmas lights. Specifically a floodlight that shines on the driveway down to the side of the house where I sometimes park my car, and a string of clear lights that run up alongside the front walk. because I don't like to trip and fall walking into the house in the dark, and I REALLY don't want my 80 year old mom tripping and falling on the front walk.
So, we have a lot of snow on the ground now. The bank along the front walk is over two feet tall, even after the snow has been through some melt cycles and has compacted down. the snowbank on top of the floodlight is taller, since that is where the snowblower piles lots of snow from the driveway. the light has sort of melted a cavern out of the snowbank after each storm after a day or two. Until then I have a big glowing snowbank to illuminate the driveway.
The photocell timer for these lights happens to be only a couple feet away from the floodlight. So, the other night, I happened to get home early, before the lights turned themselves on. later that night, my dad hears me walking around and tells me that the yard lights are flashing.
Huh? I sez to myself. So look out the window. Yup. the lights are turning on, and after a few seconds, turning back off. Then wait a few more seconds, and the lights turn back on again, and the cycle repeats on and on. It's after midnight, and I'm sure not going out to try and troubleshoot this now. So I go downstairs and unplug the lights where they come inside the basement window. back to bed and sleep.
Next day at work, I'm pondering how the heck one of those photocell timer things could fail such that the thing flashes on and off. When they fail, they usually fail open or closed, and that's pretty much it. Then it dawns on me. The thing is inside a snowbank next to the floodlight. The reflected light is fooling the thing into believing it's daytime.
Get home that night, wait until it gets dark out. Plug it in and watch it start cycling again. Grabbing a shovel, I crunch through the snowbank until I can reach the light with my shovel and break away the crust of snow and ice that was reflecting most of the light back into the snowbank. and, et wallah! The light stays on. There I fixed it!
I also have ice dams on the roof, icicles more than ten feet long hanging from where the gutter drain spout used to be connected to the gutter, and water is seeping into the house off of the roof. the barn, which is unheated, has about two feet of snow on the roof, and ice dams as well, but much smaller than the ones on the house.
Today I assembled a long stick and knocked down a bunch of the icicles that were dangling over the front door. I was worried that one of them would fall down and kill me or my parents. Shoveled away the broken ice and opened up a path through the snowbank for the impending rain to the storm drain on the street.
Then I went to five different optical shops before I could find someone who carried safety glasses that had lenses that were actually large enough to protect my eyeballs from flying bits of impending blindness. One of them didn't have any safety lenses at all, two had a really small selection, and they all had small lenses. The last one happened to have one pair that was barely large enough. (the second sears optical shop I tried) It will, of course, take ten days to get them in. So much for glasses in an hour. I also found out that my health plan, which claims it pays for one pair per year, only covers frames that cost less than the least expensive safety glasses available, and I have to get my eye exam from that shop, and order the glasses that day from that shop. *feh* Another health plan benefit that isn't.
So, we have a lot of snow on the ground now. The bank along the front walk is over two feet tall, even after the snow has been through some melt cycles and has compacted down. the snowbank on top of the floodlight is taller, since that is where the snowblower piles lots of snow from the driveway. the light has sort of melted a cavern out of the snowbank after each storm after a day or two. Until then I have a big glowing snowbank to illuminate the driveway.
The photocell timer for these lights happens to be only a couple feet away from the floodlight. So, the other night, I happened to get home early, before the lights turned themselves on. later that night, my dad hears me walking around and tells me that the yard lights are flashing.
Huh? I sez to myself. So look out the window. Yup. the lights are turning on, and after a few seconds, turning back off. Then wait a few more seconds, and the lights turn back on again, and the cycle repeats on and on. It's after midnight, and I'm sure not going out to try and troubleshoot this now. So I go downstairs and unplug the lights where they come inside the basement window. back to bed and sleep.
Next day at work, I'm pondering how the heck one of those photocell timer things could fail such that the thing flashes on and off. When they fail, they usually fail open or closed, and that's pretty much it. Then it dawns on me. The thing is inside a snowbank next to the floodlight. The reflected light is fooling the thing into believing it's daytime.
Get home that night, wait until it gets dark out. Plug it in and watch it start cycling again. Grabbing a shovel, I crunch through the snowbank until I can reach the light with my shovel and break away the crust of snow and ice that was reflecting most of the light back into the snowbank. and, et wallah! The light stays on. There I fixed it!
I also have ice dams on the roof, icicles more than ten feet long hanging from where the gutter drain spout used to be connected to the gutter, and water is seeping into the house off of the roof. the barn, which is unheated, has about two feet of snow on the roof, and ice dams as well, but much smaller than the ones on the house.
Today I assembled a long stick and knocked down a bunch of the icicles that were dangling over the front door. I was worried that one of them would fall down and kill me or my parents. Shoveled away the broken ice and opened up a path through the snowbank for the impending rain to the storm drain on the street.
Then I went to five different optical shops before I could find someone who carried safety glasses that had lenses that were actually large enough to protect my eyeballs from flying bits of impending blindness. One of them didn't have any safety lenses at all, two had a really small selection, and they all had small lenses. The last one happened to have one pair that was barely large enough. (the second sears optical shop I tried) It will, of course, take ten days to get them in. So much for glasses in an hour. I also found out that my health plan, which claims it pays for one pair per year, only covers frames that cost less than the least expensive safety glasses available, and I have to get my eye exam from that shop, and order the glasses that day from that shop. *feh* Another health plan benefit that isn't.
