Powerless To Stop Them
What started as a fun-filled birthday ended as quite an adventure.
The first Sunday of flag football (our seventh season) was gusty. I couldn't catch a pass to save my life. They were either blown off course or they'd go through my hands. At least I ran back a kickoff for a touchdown.
In the afternoon, Char took me to a movie. The wind had picked up and by the time we reached Upper Arlington, there were small limbs down. Then full-sized trees started toppling and powerlines snapping. One thick branch hit the windshield solidly and cracked it. Gave us both a good scare. Good thing we were only going 25.
In the safety of the theater, we watched Burn Before Reading. Or, at least we tried to. The power went out twice during and once after. I liked it, though. And I'm glad I'm not any of those characters.
We got home around 9 and we immediately saw some siding missing from the front of the house. We just got that replaced a year ago, for Pete's sake. With flashlight in hand we surveyed the back yard. I noticed a dark spot in the back lawn and Char asked if I smelled burnt corn. I quickly realized the black, snake-like path in the grass was a downed powerline. The electricity had burned a trench in the grass. The rain thankfully wetted the ground enough that the grass didn't go up in flames and lead to the house. Calls to AEP rang busy all night.
Soon after we got to bed we saw flashing lights through the open windows. It was a fire department truck making the rounds. I went out to show them the downed line and they roped off half the yard. They were running support for AEP because they were thoroughly unprepared for this, having sent a lot of their technicians to Texas for hurricane Ike. It may be days before we get power back.
In the morning, we woke to a call from a co-worker telling us that the building didn't have power either. Oh, if only we had power it would be great, filling the days with TV, Xbox, and the Intertubes. But no. We reverted to entertaining ourselves like our forefathers did. We played Scrabble™ and ran errands, including getting the windshield fixed.
As I'm writing this, I'm a refugee. Patzilla and Featherflock invited us over to enjoy the conveniences of the modern world. If we don't have power tomorrow, we'll be heading up to my sister's.
The first Sunday of flag football (our seventh season) was gusty. I couldn't catch a pass to save my life. They were either blown off course or they'd go through my hands. At least I ran back a kickoff for a touchdown.
In the afternoon, Char took me to a movie. The wind had picked up and by the time we reached Upper Arlington, there were small limbs down. Then full-sized trees started toppling and powerlines snapping. One thick branch hit the windshield solidly and cracked it. Gave us both a good scare. Good thing we were only going 25.
In the safety of the theater, we watched Burn Before Reading. Or, at least we tried to. The power went out twice during and once after. I liked it, though. And I'm glad I'm not any of those characters.
We got home around 9 and we immediately saw some siding missing from the front of the house. We just got that replaced a year ago, for Pete's sake. With flashlight in hand we surveyed the back yard. I noticed a dark spot in the back lawn and Char asked if I smelled burnt corn. I quickly realized the black, snake-like path in the grass was a downed powerline. The electricity had burned a trench in the grass. The rain thankfully wetted the ground enough that the grass didn't go up in flames and lead to the house. Calls to AEP rang busy all night.
Soon after we got to bed we saw flashing lights through the open windows. It was a fire department truck making the rounds. I went out to show them the downed line and they roped off half the yard. They were running support for AEP because they were thoroughly unprepared for this, having sent a lot of their technicians to Texas for hurricane Ike. It may be days before we get power back.
In the morning, we woke to a call from a co-worker telling us that the building didn't have power either. Oh, if only we had power it would be great, filling the days with TV, Xbox, and the Intertubes. But no. We reverted to entertaining ourselves like our forefathers did. We played Scrabble™ and ran errands, including getting the windshield fixed.
As I'm writing this, I'm a refugee. Patzilla and Featherflock invited us over to enjoy the conveniences of the modern world. If we don't have power tomorrow, we'll be heading up to my sister's.