It’s not a pretty site when the lights go out…due to storms and violent weather as we had in Dallas on the early morning of April 10. I was awakened at 4:00 am to the sounds of high winds and rain pounding on my bedroom window. At the time it seemed like some pretty nasty weather, but I had no idea just how bad.  My wife and I eventually went back to sleep.

At 5:45 the alarm went off. I got up and headed downstairs for my morning cup of coffee. As I approached my front door I could see trees lying in the street. I quickly opened the door to realize they were my two Bradford Pear trees from my front yard.  Completely sheared off a the base. One was in the street and the other had fell over into the neighbors yard. Bradford Pear trees are very pretty in the  fall, but are not a very hearty tree. My neighborhood was hit pretty hard, with almost every other house having damage to their trees, fences or roofs.  Luckily, no one was hurt, but we had a pretty big mess to clean up.

I lost two trees, my wooden fence blew down and my arbor is toast.  Not as bad as some, but still a mess.

Although we never lost power, there were reports of over 200,000 homes with power outages.  Now this is the time to have a portable gasoline generator.  People are still cleaning up, and I can still hear chain saws screaming in our neighborhood. The insurance adjusters are pretty busy, as are the fence people, roofers and tree surgeons. We were very fortunate and grateful that no one was hurt here, so life goes on.

Well, spring has definitely sprung in Dallas. It was in the upper 70’s today and I see it’ll be 82 or so tomorrow. Pollen has been really bad this past week or two and my allergies have taken notice.  It has been about three years since I’ve had to go to the doctor for anything other than a checkup. I went twice last week! And it was all allergy related. If you suffer with allergies as I do, there is one thing you can do when it comes to using portable air conditioners in the home or office…get one that is equipped with the Ion and UV light.

The purpose of UV light, the technology of UV Germicidal lighting (UV-C) is to effectively inactivate microorganisms.  Due to its short wavelength (200 to 270nm), UV-C penetrate outer membranes of bacteria, yeasts, molds and viruses - attacking the DNA which makes up  their structure.  By breaking the chains within the DNA, the microorganism is then unable to reproduce and die.  UV Germicidal light has proven effective in a growing number of applications where control of microorganisms is important.

Well, it’s that time of year again…time to spring forward another hour. I actually LOVE the daylight saving time. I like having time in the evenings when there is still enough daylight to do something outside.

This time of year brings about other things that are not so much fun too…thunder storms. We seem to get some pretty violet thunder storms here in Texas, and others areas of the country get even worse. Electrical outages can be annoying and just downright frustrating. There is always the possibility that everything in your freezer or refrigerator will spoil if the blackouts are prolonged for more than a few hours. More and more people are using portable gasoline generators for emergencies such as this.  They are usually hard to find when there are hurricanes, tornadoes, strong winds or other natural disasters.

Portable generators are not just for emergencies though. They’re good to have if you own a RV, go camping (without roughing it too much), sporting events, marine use, commercial use and on construction sites.

So with the time change, so does the weather. Be PREPARED with portable gasoline generators with enough power to keep your appliances running. Ideal for camping, tailgating, and emergencies.

Wow! Was I ever wrong about Spring already arriving here in Dallas. We got another good snow yesterday and last night. Some areas near me got 7-9 inches of snow…we only got about 2 inches at my house (as you can see in the picture), but that was enough for me. I know you guys up north are use to this, but it’s a big deal here. Driving is a nightmare around Dallas when we get snow or ice. There are so many overpasses that get black ice, and no one knows how to drive on ice here…we just don’t get enough practice.

Well, even though it’s cold and with snow on the ground, I’m getting lots of calls about people needing portable air conditioners for their server rooms. I had to go on one call yesterday to an office that needed some additional cooling in their small server room. The building shuts off the air conditioning at night and on weekends, so they needed some supplemental cooling to keep the servers from overheating.

Well, I’m going to enjoy the cold weather because before  you know it, the temperature will be rising fast here. Stay warm for now!

Just as I was warming up to the idea that Spring had arrived early in Dallas…in the upper 70’s last week, we get snow this week. Monday evening it began to snow here and continued into the night. When I came out the next morning there was approximately 2 inches of fluffy white snow on the ground.  I had to drive around the neighborhood just to see the snow, as we only get this about once a year. So the picture included is of the park were we walk the dogs.

While walking the dogs last week, I mentioned to my wife that I thought Spring was arriving early. Our Bradford Pear trees are full of white blooms, so surely the cold weather is over.  She laughed and didn’t agree (she’s always right).

Well, yesterday and today I pulled out the portable electric heater again to take the chill out of my office. I don’t normally like to run the central heating unless it’s really cold. That heat tends to dry out my sinuses, so I just like a little heat to take the chill out. Now they’re predicting a possibility of more snow tomorrow. We’ll see, and I’ll keep the portable heater handy.

I came across the coolest little appliance recently that I just had to add to my online store.  It’s the kegerator. The Avanti MBD5L Mini Pub kegerator to be exact. This little dispenser holds the 5 liter kegs of your favorite brew. It keeps it cold using the 16-gram CO₂ cartridges. 

When I saw it for the first time, I immediately thought of our Cajun family crawfish boils…ooooohhh sha…bring out da corn and potatoes, we gonna have a crawfish boil. Now we can have our favorite cold beer right there on tap.  What I like about this kegerator is that it’s so portable I can bring it out by the pool, or load it up and take it with us camping, or tailgating. It works on AC or DC power.

I’m also impressed with how easy this kegerator is to assemble and how quick and easy it is to connect the CO₂ Pressure Regulator and tap the keg.  A good tip I learned was to chill the keg in your refrigerator first, then when it’s good and cold, put it in the kegerator and it will stay cold. When it’s beer thirty somewhere I’ll be sipping my favorite beer this summer and using one of the coolest compact appliances to keep it cold.

Does there come a time at your house when it’s not hot enough to turn on the central AC unit, but uncomfortable enough that you would like to be cooler? It happens pretty often at my house. Just yesteday the temperature got up to about 79 degrees, and then today it is in the 50’s.

That’s pretty typical in Dallas this time of year. But don’t worry, it will be up in the 100’s before you know it. But on days like yesterday, having a portable air conditioner comes in handy. I rolled it into my office and let her run…keeping me and my pups cool and comfortable, all without having to turn on the power draining central AC unit. The exhaust duct connection to the window installs and removes quickly, so setup is a snap. 

I really got some use out of my portable AC units last summer. My wife wanted me to refinish a computer desk, but it was sooooo hot outside, I decided to do my work in the hot garage. Well, I plugged in the portable air conditioners (yes, I have two), ran the exhaust ducts under the garage door, and began my work. My refinishing job turned out great and the portable air conditioners saved the day. So, who needs them?  I DO.  These portable AC units have been one of the best investments I’ve made.