First World Problem
On Monday, when the big storms came racing through the upper midwest, we had wires come down in our backyard. They set one of the trees back there on fire, and took out our electricity, as well. When I called the power company an hour or so later, to check on the outage, I was told there was no estimated time for restoration yet.
On Tuesday, when I went to the gas station to get a bag of ice, I heard that we weren't expected to have power again until Saturday. And we were pretty lucky, since we didn't really have anything in the way of damage, beyond the burned tree. Other people had it much worse.
Still, I don't really recommend going almost an entire week without electricity, unless you're really prepared. Psychologically and everything. We had lots of candles, and flashlights, and know enough to not open up the fridge and freezer all the time. It also helped that quiet_dignitea's mom was pretty much unaffected by the storm, so I took the three oldest kids out there. My Cindy Lou Who has been a real trooper, staying at home with me with no television. It took me a while, but I finally figured out the best arrangement of candles to give me enough light to either do sudoku puzzles or even knit a little bit after she went to bed and before quiet_dignitea got home from work (they've had scheduled overtime since the beginning of July, pretty much).
They got the power back on today, Friday, at 6:09pm. Almost a day ahead of time. Thank goodness. I probably looked okay from the outside, but I don't know how much longer I could have taken it.
I checked the freezer, and the ice cube trays still had a film of ice on them! The gallon of milk that Thing One bought just before the storm hit (as in, I told her to be careful walking because the wind was already picking up, and when she got back, I told Little Cat Z she couldn't go for a walk because of the storm coming in) was finished today, without ever tasting even a little bit off. Hopefully this means we won't have to pitch a lot of stuff. Everything in the house seems to be working as well as it did before the storm. I've already run the dishwasher once - the load I put in there Monday before the storm hit. I have done some handwashing, and we've been using fewer dishes than I've been washing, but I just never managed to catch up!
It really can give you a better appreciation for the things you have that others don't.
On Tuesday, when I went to the gas station to get a bag of ice, I heard that we weren't expected to have power again until Saturday. And we were pretty lucky, since we didn't really have anything in the way of damage, beyond the burned tree. Other people had it much worse.
Still, I don't really recommend going almost an entire week without electricity, unless you're really prepared. Psychologically and everything. We had lots of candles, and flashlights, and know enough to not open up the fridge and freezer all the time. It also helped that quiet_dignitea's mom was pretty much unaffected by the storm, so I took the three oldest kids out there. My Cindy Lou Who has been a real trooper, staying at home with me with no television. It took me a while, but I finally figured out the best arrangement of candles to give me enough light to either do sudoku puzzles or even knit a little bit after she went to bed and before quiet_dignitea got home from work (they've had scheduled overtime since the beginning of July, pretty much).
They got the power back on today, Friday, at 6:09pm. Almost a day ahead of time. Thank goodness. I probably looked okay from the outside, but I don't know how much longer I could have taken it.
I checked the freezer, and the ice cube trays still had a film of ice on them! The gallon of milk that Thing One bought just before the storm hit (as in, I told her to be careful walking because the wind was already picking up, and when she got back, I told Little Cat Z she couldn't go for a walk because of the storm coming in) was finished today, without ever tasting even a little bit off. Hopefully this means we won't have to pitch a lot of stuff. Everything in the house seems to be working as well as it did before the storm. I've already run the dishwasher once - the load I put in there Monday before the storm hit. I have done some handwashing, and we've been using fewer dishes than I've been washing, but I just never managed to catch up!
It really can give you a better appreciation for the things you have that others don't.
- We had to use an emergency lantern if we wanted light in the bathroom, but we still have indoor plumbing.
- I had to use matches to light the burners on the stove, but the stove still worked otherwise, and I was only boiling water because I wanted it hot, not because it was unsafe otherwise.
- We had a tree on fire for a short while, but I was able to call emergency services (who were really busy, but they were super polite and professional anyway).
- We have our power back, but there are people in Iowa who are still without (from the same set of storms), and, of course, there are people all over the world who don't have it in the first place.