At 22 Apr 2008 21:55:16 +0000 Larry wrote:

> My I recommend the EU1000i or EU3000is. I own both...(c;
> http://www.hayesequipment.com/eu3000is.htm
> http://www.hayesequipment.com/eu1000.htm


My brother-in-law bought the 1000's 800-watt predecessor in 1999 because,
despite my ridicule of him, he bought into the Y2K hysteria. (Frankly, I
think
he was secretly hoping the world was going to go "Jericho" just to have a
use for all of the outdoor and survival gear he'd been buying over the
years!)

While we're off topic, my wife and I invited him and his future wife to our
place Y2K Eve (he brought the generator and a gun, "just in case...") and
to f--k with his head, I rigged the TV's and stereo's outlets and all of
the 1st floor lights with those X-10 remote control power modules. (I was
an X-10 "Smarthome" distributor then, and fortunately for the gag, I lived
in a very old lake house at that time with few overhead light fixtures, so
most of the lighting was from floor lamps and swag lamps, making the gag
plug-and-play without having to install any remote-controlled wall switches
that I wasn't already using anyway.)

As you can guess, as Dick Clark counted us down to oblivion I got ready,
and when the ball dropped, I hit the remote in my pocket and plunged the
whole floor into silence and darkness! I think the loud "click" of a dozen
X-10 relays firing as the "world" came to an end probably added to the
effect! ;-)

It took him a good 10 seconds of panic (or glee- I'm still not sure which!)
to realize the streetlights, neighbors' houses and even a hallway light
upstairs in my house had still had power before he realized it was a gag.