Hi Secondcurve:
Glad to be of help. I'll also add that two years ago, we were living in CT for Hurricane Irene and the October Blizzard. We did not have a generator. We lost power for 8 days due to Irene and another 8 days due to the Blizzard. We had a well and septic, which means that there was no bathing or flushing....pretty gross in a short period of time. And, we lost the fridge and freezer full of food each time. That Christmas, Mrs MeredithMan and MeredithKids said all they wanted from Santa was a generator!
Anyway, my view is that after having gone through that miserable experience, (twice in 3 months!), a few hundred bucks per year to make sure the generator is in top notch shape and will kick on when the power goes out is well worth it.
MM