It's getting apocalyptic out there
rachellll came to visit DC and her cadre of friends and I was lucky enough to spend a whole weekend with her and her hubby. We had a lovely dinner on Friday (in a restaurant where we were the youngest adults by about a decade) and were just waiting for our check when the lights started going on and off. When I peered outside, the debris on the road was moving along at an alarming pace. After a few minutes of flickers, and our feeble attempts at getting our waitress to take our credit cards, the lights finally died and the candles on the tables became more than decorative. We finally gave all our information to the waitress and ducked outside only to be met with a city with no lights, a highway littered in snapped branches and a carpet of leaves, and dark houses.
Luckily for me, 10 minutes after I got in the door and got ready for bed by flashlight, the lights came on in my house. Not so luckily for most of the surrounding area, others didn't fare as well. In the middle of a pretty bad heat wave, more than 3 million people in the DC area had to live with no power and an estimate of a fix that was almost a week.
It took us 2 hours to drive an alleged 30 minute path, because all of the lights were busted and trees blocked off our navigation route. Finally, we arrived in a very cute neighborhood to visit st_theodora and iskandra_asima and their cute son. They had no power, but did have a fairly cool basement, so we spent a very lovely time chatting. They then had to deal with many more hours/days with no power - it was truly madness out there.
An attempt was made to visit the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, but it looked like the vendors and exhibitors had the right idea and packed up early. The heat was almost unbearable, so we ducked into an actual Smithsonian of the Natural History flavor for an hour or so. It took almost that long to then find a bathroom. I appreciate the Natural History museum especially, because a) I love science, and b) there are things to touch! I am a very tactile person and I love to interact with exhibits. I want more of this and I think the museum missed some opportunities to make things more tangible. I think it's time to make more exhibits where people can poke things. I would be there every week (not really).
More friend visits and meals were had. People described their suffering with no power - someone made a snarky reference to developing countries having better infrastructure. We took pictures with a rooster and shopped at a farmer's market. And then it was all over and I waved goodbye.
The loss of power did affect me a bit more than just that one hour. My landlady invited the woman for whom she works to stay with us, since her power was out. She is 99 years old and has a live in home attendant who also came along, so we shared the house and were able to help out. Plus, it was never boring (especially at night when the old woman would wake up and call for someone until someone came to soothe her). My work building lost power on Monday, so I had an extra day off. My landlady didn't have to return to work until Thursday. Just a few days of madness. The apocalypse receded.
Luckily for me, 10 minutes after I got in the door and got ready for bed by flashlight, the lights came on in my house. Not so luckily for most of the surrounding area, others didn't fare as well. In the middle of a pretty bad heat wave, more than 3 million people in the DC area had to live with no power and an estimate of a fix that was almost a week.
It took us 2 hours to drive an alleged 30 minute path, because all of the lights were busted and trees blocked off our navigation route. Finally, we arrived in a very cute neighborhood to visit st_theodora and iskandra_asima and their cute son. They had no power, but did have a fairly cool basement, so we spent a very lovely time chatting. They then had to deal with many more hours/days with no power - it was truly madness out there.
An attempt was made to visit the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival, but it looked like the vendors and exhibitors had the right idea and packed up early. The heat was almost unbearable, so we ducked into an actual Smithsonian of the Natural History flavor for an hour or so. It took almost that long to then find a bathroom. I appreciate the Natural History museum especially, because a) I love science, and b) there are things to touch! I am a very tactile person and I love to interact with exhibits. I want more of this and I think the museum missed some opportunities to make things more tangible. I think it's time to make more exhibits where people can poke things. I would be there every week (not really).
More friend visits and meals were had. People described their suffering with no power - someone made a snarky reference to developing countries having better infrastructure. We took pictures with a rooster and shopped at a farmer's market. And then it was all over and I waved goodbye.
The loss of power did affect me a bit more than just that one hour. My landlady invited the woman for whom she works to stay with us, since her power was out. She is 99 years old and has a live in home attendant who also came along, so we shared the house and were able to help out. Plus, it was never boring (especially at night when the old woman would wake up and call for someone until someone came to soothe her). My work building lost power on Monday, so I had an extra day off. My landlady didn't have to return to work until Thursday. Just a few days of madness. The apocalypse receded.