GPzMike Abroad

Since the break in's that have occurred we have stepped up our security presence on the roof. We have a constant guard on the roof from morning to 10pm when we go lights out and people head to their tents for the night.

Additionally, I was asked to put lights up there that would keep all but the most adept thieves from being able to hide in the shadows to ply their trade.

Well, you know me...lol. You want lights? I'll give you LIGHTS! 1500watts of halogen lights lighting the main tent area and another 2,065watts lighting the street/wall that has been their entry point.

Imagine my surprise when the single 20amp breaker popped after 5 minutes of run time! I rather knew it would. Hunted around for a 30amp breaker and having found one I installed it. While not technically legal to use in the US the math does indeed indicate it will work (120vx30amps=3600watts and I'm pulling down 3565watts. Imagine my surprise when after 10 minutes of run time it pulled down the entire system! Didn't expect that, though if I'd done the math I might have been able to estimate we were in the trouble zone.

So now I've broken the circuit into two separate legs but since they are fed by the same feed from the panel I am forced to run 1/2 of the lighting system until we can get 250watt halogen bulbs for the light heads.

The funny part of all this is that we are spending the lion's share of our electricity lighting an area of the compound that has virtually nobody in it while the rest of the base has constant activity and use. At this point it's better for everyone's eyesight to head up to the tent area to read a book at night - there's more candle power per square foot up there than anywhere else on base!

It's also sad that I've brought to Haiti one of the things I hate the most about living in a 'civilized' country - the light pollution (and horrendous waste of associated natural resources to keep it that way) these countries produce is simply atrocious. And, like here at the compound, I'd be willing to bet that those 'evolved and civilized' countries piss away more of the resulting candle power on uninhabited areas than inhabited ones.

Don't believe me? Ever driven by a car lot at night at 12am? How about a mall? Or just looked inside any number of stores? Or the 12 street lights at every single freeway on/off ramp...hell, why bother having headlamps on a car! It's insane! What a sad, sad commentary on our 'civilized' ways that we cannot leave anywhere unprotected by lights for fear of the evil that men do.