Saturday, June 30,
2012 5:05PM: I am nicely wired! Just finished my second meal of the day –
Chobani blueberry yogurt with an entire pint of fresh raspberries, a cup of
Kool-Aid mixed with apple juice, and an orange sherbet vodka chaser. I “chased” the sherbet because it is melted;
I could have sipped it through a straw.
As it was, I used a little tea party-style teacup to ingest the
vodka-sherbet concoction. Oh I almost
forgot to mention the handful of Skittles for dessert. Wired for sure!
Power has been out since about 11PM Friday night, thanks to
the monster storm that caught many people by surprise. The good news is that Hilva and I have been
through this before, so we’re not freaking out.
More good news – even as the temperature soars to over 100 degrees
today, we’re comfy in our home right now.
Our dwelling catches the sun in the morning and the shade during the
hottest part of the day. Also, we still
have gas and running water (not to mention shelter).
This is the biggest storm and outage in these parts since –
well, since last year. Two million or so
homes and businesses in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia metropolitan area) have no
power. The powers that be (!) at the
power companies had the good sense to tell all affected that this outage might
last for days, even as long as a week.
While I was writing that last sentence, that little jackass
on his scooter rode by our building. Why
does something so tiny have to make so much noise? (Infants get a pass.) The scooter bothers me even more when I’m
trying to watch television. Well, that’s
not a problem today, is it? No TV, no
computer, no Internet, and no smartphone.
My smartphone isn’t dead, but it will be if I use it again, so I’ve
powered it off in case we need it for an emergency. I left Mom a message in NYC telling her that
I’d be out of pocket until Sunday evening when I’m at dialysis or the power
returns, whichever comes first.
@$%$#@$ Scooter Boy just rode through again.
Last night’s storm caused at least three fatalities in the
MVA and dozens of casualties. We are
grateful to be here and healthy and in relatively good shape when many around
us are not able to say the same. That
said, it’s still frustrating as hell.
I’ve been running the logistics in my head all day, and staying put
until it’s unsafe to do so seems to make the most sense.
A fridge and freezer full of food are about to go
south. If power isn’t restored soon, my
plan is to polish off leftovers and perishables first, and then start cooking
everything in the freezer – first the chicken thighs and salmon, then the
steak, then the chopped turkey and ground beef (3 pounds!), then the Italian sausage. My
logic is that the frozen food has some chance of being useful if we cook it,
but no chance of being useful if left to thaw and spoil. The Great Cook-Off starts early tomorrow.
Saturday, 7:52PM: Daylight is dwindling. This should actually be a rather comfy
sleeping night, especially if another storm passes through. No updates to pass along; we’ve elected to
ride it out sans any new information. We
both have “power-ful” options on Sunday if there is still no power: Hilva can travel to the office, and I have to
go to dialysis in the evening. Metro
trains are running (I can see and hear them from my bedroom window), so getting
downtown is no more difficult than the usual schlep.
“What about staying with friends?” you may ask. With over two million homes and businesses
without power in the area, many are in the same quandary. I’m hoping for the evening to pass quickly
and uneventfully, as things will doubtless sort themselves out on Sunday….
Oh yeah – Scooter Boy has been quiet for hours. I’m guessing he ran out of gas.
Our neighbor just stopped by for some assistance in getting
a flashlight to work. The contacts were
rusty and she had the wrong size batteries, but we were able to resolve both
issues. She in turn lent us a couple of
candles (we can’t find ours). Neighbors
in need are friends indeed!
The blackout hasn’t kept me from working out. I ran a couple of miles this morning before
the heat became a health issue, and plan to do the same Sunday morning.
Thank goodness I keep my Kindle Fire fully charged at all
times! I have all night to read (Windows
7 Configuration, SQL Server 2012, and the Bible) and play Scrabble. I also just downloaded the complete works of
Edgar Allan Poe – perfect reading for an odd evening!
As the last daylight rays bid farewell, so do I….
Sunday, 1:14AM: Power restored! I was blissfully dreaming about french fries
drenched in ketchup when I was rudely awakened by the TV. POWER!!
YAY!!
CHARGE! Charge the
smartphone! Charge the battery-powered
TV (just in case)! Power on the PC! Charge the iPod! Must have Internet! Is there any ice left? The food has been saved! I hear the Windows 7 Welcome sound! Was that french fry dream in color? Not sure.
Can the sherbet be saved? All
signs point to no. Last but not least, I
downloaded Poe to my Kindle. Silly Dave
forgot to download it from the cloud when he ordered it.
The day without power will make for a very healthy Dave, as
I ate a week’s worth of yogurt and fresh berries in one day! I also downed a couple of days’ worth of
orange sherbet.
In review, I don’t think we could have handled the situation
any better than we did; good for us! J
A final note: Power
outages would be an excellent time to stage an invasion, if one were the
invading sort. Reasons: inability to communicate electronically;
population is focused on basest needs; police are tied up responding to calls;
no television. When power is restored,
population is again focused on basest needs.
Ideally, one would position troops during a first outage, and strike
during the second.
On that happy note, I’m off to get something to eat!
