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From: Adam on 12 Oct 2007 20:13
Moe Trin wrote:
>> the outlet my computer system's plugged into is one of seven
>> (seemingly random) electric outlets controlled by a 15A circuit breaker.
>
> The apartment I lived in before I got married (~400 square foot) had a
> 15 Amp breaker per room. I had some fun even then trying to juggle the
> load to avoid popping breakers.

The manual for the laser printer says minimum recommended circuit
capacity is 16A at 120V. Right now it's in the same outlet as the power
strip for the rest of my computer system. Anything else would involve
lengthy extension cords and connecting cables, as the next-nearest
electric outlets are still on the same circuit.

> If your phone is grounded at
> A and the power at B, there will be an appreciable difference in those
> voltages, and this will translate into smoke at the thing that isn't
> meant to see that kind of voltage difference. The surge protector is
> (in your case) going to try to handle that difference.

I know that a phone line surge protector has to be connected to ground
somehow. So if it's connected to the power line ground, the surge
protector is faced with the difference between that (side of the
building) and the actual phone line ground (back of the building)?
Should I try to inconspicuously connect the two outdoor ground posts
with 12-gauge wire? :-)

>> Okay, looks like I'll be giving away one APC Smart-UPS 1500, minus
>> battery, at the next LUG meeting.
>
> I didn't realize the battery is missing.

Yep. Do you have any better suggestions for what to do with it? New
(and with battery), those go for $270-$500 US, and a battery for it will
be at least $80 plus shipping. Yesterday at Best Buy I priced UPSs and
can get something more appropriate for my system for under $100...
eventually. And I'm not sure how urgent getting more RAM is -- I think
1G should be adequate for running both Mandriva and some other OS under
VMWare, since each OS ran well enough on its own when I had 640M.

>> they saved money by having the tenants pay their own water bills
>
> Of course - they don't reduce the rent (or at least reduce it the
> amount they had tacked on to cover the water bill).

They also bought the complex I used to live in, while I lived there.
The previous owner included free "expanded basic" cable TV (about 60
channels), and of course one of the first things the new owner did was
stop that, without reducing the rent. I expected that. I'd hoped that
they would have at least made it an extra-cost option, so tenants would
only pay the "wholesale" price, but they didn't even do that. OTOH they
seem to be having problems renting apartments there. Serves them right.

> As regards the Water Quality Report, see if the water supplier has a
> web site or give them a call. It _may_ also be on file with the EPA
> and possibly findable with a search engine.

Took a while, but I found the water quality reports for my town for 2005
and 2006 online. Also some interesting VERY local demographics. Thanks!

Adam


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