Buy a generator? It's too late for Henri, but not for the next storm

(your needs may vary)

I lost my power this morning and was reminded, again, of what a pain it is to be without water (well pump goes out), internet, stove, even Sirrus. My power was restored after just two hours, but we've had at least two hurricanes and a couple of ice storms hit Greenwich in the not-too-distant past that have knocked out power for up to 8-9 days. That’s inconvenient.

So here’s an unpaid, unsolicited plug for my good friend and Greenwich resident Lou Van Leeuwen, who besides owning/running the custom home company Greenwich Construction, is the local Generac dealer, at Greenwich Power Supply.

Lou and his crew can calculate your power needs, install a Generac, and service it over the years. Generac’s a good product, one of the best, and Lou is good folks.

Now maybe he’ll take me out striper fishing.

They’re on River Road in Cos Cob, the number is (203) 900-1122, which you should write down; your internet is likely to be down when you need it.

A related story: I have an electrician friend (two friends? Who knew?) who sized and installed a generator for a McMansion in the back country a while ago, and some months later received a furious call from the owner during one of our multi-day power failures. My then 87-year-old mother, along with much of the town, had been without heat or lights for a week by then, but this homeowner had a more serious problem: while the generator was doing an admirable job keeping the actual house going, it was not of sufficient size to keep both the pool and the tennis court lights on simultaneously! No kidding — the guy was bellowing in fury, and if my friend hadn’t hung up on him, he‘d have had his feelings seriously hurt.

Don’t be that guy.