I follow the weather via a local facebook page. It is almost always correct. Where we live, the weather reports are often based out of Seattle, with our area included. Sometimes it's accurate, sometimes it's not. My weather said it would snow today. Kevin's weather app said no, it wouldn't. Guess who woke up to snow? We did.
Guess whose power went out just as I was standing up from my desk to go shower at 8:00 this morning? Yeah, mine.
I always give it a minute before reporting it because often enough it will pop back on. But not so much this morning. I made the report and the automated service predicted a 10:30 am restoration time. Okay, that's not too bad. Other than the not shower thing.
This isn't my first experience with no electricity. A few years ago we went for FOUR DAYS, which was remarkable in it's suckitude. Four Days Click the link for the original post and the three subsequent following posts.
This is where I say that Kevin spent part of his vacation making sure that the parents generator was serviced and ready to go in case this happened. When I checked, I could hear it happily whirring away, keeping them warm and with lights. Usually he comes home to care for the parents but it wasn't an option today, he had two meetings that couldn't be missed. Since the Four Days thing though, we have a pretty solid process in place.
At 8:00 am, it's still not quite light yet. I brought down my kerosene lamps to see if I could use them to read by. Well, it's been years since they were in use and they were dusty and sticky. The wicks needed replacing and does kerosene go bad? What I'm saying is that it wasn't successful. And the house now smelled like kerosene.
Okay, well, we know I have candles. I went to the cupboard where they live(d) and no candles. Then I remembered where I put them and was good to go. Until about a year ago, there was a radio in the bathroom. But it wasn't being used anymore so I took it out. It's battery powered so I kept it...in Monica's Closet. So I had to dig through it - in the dark - to get it because the battery-powered light was no where to found. Now we have candlelight and music.
I remembered the not-showering thing from Four Days and went to address that issue. Changed clothes, the cringingly named whores bath (read the Four Days post, it's explained there). I have dry shampoo and used that with some success. It wasn't a warm shower but at least I felt a little better.
Then I played solitaire dominoes at the dining table and read some magazines. I tried reheating my coffee on the stove with some success. I tried to not think about the food in the refrigerator and freezer that I couldn't get to and instead had a banana and peanut butter & crackers. Add Kevin phoning every thirty minutes for a status update and that's how most of the day went.
I told him I would let him know and that I would phone the power company again. The automated system made me re-report the outage. That didn't feel good. I'm already trying to squelch the ptsd from the Four Days without Power thing. I then hit all the buttons until I got a real live person.
I explained what had happened AND that the last time the restoration time kept being changed, we were out of power for FOUR DAYS. She was properly horrified and assured me that it wouldn't be that long. Oh, and now the restoration time was 6:30 pm.
Again, trying to squelch the ptsd, I did the rote "There are elderly folks who live on the road. One of which requires oxygen and two that are medically fragile. If this is going to be A Thing, we need to know." She was sympathetic but could provide very little insight.
Then I walked next door to make sure they were still okay. My father-in-law insisted to start the generator for our house. Kevin was coming home in an hour or so and I really wasn't worried about the generator, but the f-i-l insisted. Luckily, I had notes on my phone for the process because this is a task that he's no longer able to do. He's 84 and has had significant cognitive skills loss. It's terrible but now we know. Eventually, the generator was started and I had heat again. And a lamp. Because he won't take no for an answer.
I phoned Kevin with a question when my f-i-l gestured. "Ask him to bring gas home." I repeated the request and Kevin pauses. "I...don't...have...a...gas can. I'm at WORK." Now this is a two-fold problem: whenever something needs gas - lawnmower, tractor, whatever - it's our gas that gets used; because of course, the b-i-l never has gas. Also we had to literally and actually tell my f-i-l to stop putting gas cans in the back of their van to get filled.
This is one of those Fix Your Face times. I had to not react to Kevin's response while my f-i-l was right there. "Okay, f-i-l can maybe call your brother Who Gets Home Earlier Than You, that he needs to get gas for the generator." My f-i-l was a little shruggy because they know they can't count on the b-i-l. But if we don't make him step up, he doesn't. And I can get out to get gas so it wasn't an EMERGENCY, it was just the principle of the thing.
It had been about fifteen minutes of the generator running when my m-i-l phoned. I had a little panic as I answered, thinking the f-i-l had over-exerted himself. No, no, they were just curious why their television wouldn't work. They plugged it in but it wouldn't connect to the satellite. Well, because their televisions are on our system and my satellite does not have power.
I told her that I would see if I can power up my satellite without running a daisy chain of electrical cords and would let her know. Then Kevin called because it had been thirty minutes. I explained what had happened and he was all "Umm, I think they can MANAGE." I just laughed and said "Then you tell them." Turns out, I couldn't so they didn't have television after all. "It's okay, honey, we were just curious" she says when I break the news.
Now, the water thing. If there is no power, there is no water or sewer. We have buckets of water outside to flush the toilets so that part was taken care of. I have bottled water stored in the pantry so that was taken care of. Usually, if it's stormy enough to risk losing power, I will fill one or both of the bathtubs. Because this was a surprise, I didn't. I brought in snow to melt in the sink if I need to wash something, true Little House on the Prairie style.
All the while this is happening, and in addition to Kevin's calls, I posted on social media and messaging my friend with updates. Because these things are in important to do when you don't have power and you should conserve the battery on your phone. So, maybe it was good that the generator was running. Also, I kept using the flashlight on my phone instead of the actual flashlight.
Oh, and the internet. I only have a little hotspot that works if the power goes out and it's only until the battery dies. I had already called out to work but I kept having the impulse to go on the laptop and work. Then I'd remember I didn't have internet, check on my phone, and rinse and repeat.
At one point, I thought "I'll get the truck out of the driveway and take Lucy to get coffee and treats, maybe charge my phone. THEN I remembered the last time we drove in the snow to get coffee. Snowplow and a totalled truck. So, we stayed home.
Then without warning, the house roared back to life. Three hours ahead of the scheduled time. I happily went around the house undoing all of the above and continued my life as scheduled. EXCEPT, the power coming back on meant I had to make dinner. Gotta give to get, I suppose.
I didn't publish this post this morning because I wanted to add photos. But I needed to go shower. I went into the bathroom, which the door had been shut to conserve heat yesterday, and saw this:
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| Yeah. |
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