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gwynHow do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 49 degrees in the warmest part of the house this morning would be one fine example of numerical accounting. I could barely get out of bed even though my hip was aching, it was so painfully cold.
The great storm of aught-six. We lost power about midnight or so on Thur night, for good, and I listened all night as the wind howled and things crashed against my window. It was hard to sleep because of the noise -- the huge gusts of wind, the sounds of transformers popping, the sirens wailing all night, the pounding rain sheeting off my overflowing gutters and hitting the already soaked ground... gah. Not to mention my terror that a tree would crash through my roof. And I missed the busiest day of work for me (Friday I do double duty on a lot of things and it's my late night on the desk), so I'm sure my co-workers loathe me right now.
This morning when I finally got out of bed and was trying to drink some ice-cold water in my ice-cold house, I was looking out the window at the damage in the back yard again, when I saw a utility truck drive fast up our street. I thought, Oh my god, rescue is at hand! and then he kept driving past my neighborhood, and I actually started to cry. I can't even tell you how hard it is to be this cold, not much worth eating, only the gas water heater to provide some warmth on occasion, and know that your area is always last on the list for the city. So I went to turn the shower on, and heard a sound, and... the power was on! Frabjous day! Frabjous joy!
I trundled off to my writing group at Uptown Espresso, and the place had a line going out the door. Everyone's so desperate for something hot to drink. The street lights are functioning again, which makes driving a little less hellish. And the trees have been pulled off most of the roads around here now. No one else from group was there so I came home and reset clocks, etc. It's now almost 69 in the house. It feels like Hawaii. We got a slight dusting of snowy rain, too, in my area. That's how cold it was.
My poor neighbor's tree crashed into their car. My other neighbor lost a tree a couple years ago against my fence, which finally broke apart in the wind Thur night. My new gate was blown off the hinges. He fixed it, though, and is going to fix my fence. yay. I have a bad headache from the lamp oil. But I had two fully charged laptops so I could watch a movie for a little while last night, which was great, because I was so effing bored when it got dark. It took both of them, too, to watch all of V for Vendetta, but I only got a couple scenes into my next Carnivale S2 disc before the second one quit. I've had to throw out most of my fridge and freezer contents. That's a lot of money thrown away, a lot. Ouch.
The mayor said this was a once in two-hundred-year event. I sure as hell hope so.
The great storm of aught-six. We lost power about midnight or so on Thur night, for good, and I listened all night as the wind howled and things crashed against my window. It was hard to sleep because of the noise -- the huge gusts of wind, the sounds of transformers popping, the sirens wailing all night, the pounding rain sheeting off my overflowing gutters and hitting the already soaked ground... gah. Not to mention my terror that a tree would crash through my roof. And I missed the busiest day of work for me (Friday I do double duty on a lot of things and it's my late night on the desk), so I'm sure my co-workers loathe me right now.
This morning when I finally got out of bed and was trying to drink some ice-cold water in my ice-cold house, I was looking out the window at the damage in the back yard again, when I saw a utility truck drive fast up our street. I thought, Oh my god, rescue is at hand! and then he kept driving past my neighborhood, and I actually started to cry. I can't even tell you how hard it is to be this cold, not much worth eating, only the gas water heater to provide some warmth on occasion, and know that your area is always last on the list for the city. So I went to turn the shower on, and heard a sound, and... the power was on! Frabjous day! Frabjous joy!
I trundled off to my writing group at Uptown Espresso, and the place had a line going out the door. Everyone's so desperate for something hot to drink. The street lights are functioning again, which makes driving a little less hellish. And the trees have been pulled off most of the roads around here now. No one else from group was there so I came home and reset clocks, etc. It's now almost 69 in the house. It feels like Hawaii. We got a slight dusting of snowy rain, too, in my area. That's how cold it was.
My poor neighbor's tree crashed into their car. My other neighbor lost a tree a couple years ago against my fence, which finally broke apart in the wind Thur night. My new gate was blown off the hinges. He fixed it, though, and is going to fix my fence. yay. I have a bad headache from the lamp oil. But I had two fully charged laptops so I could watch a movie for a little while last night, which was great, because I was so effing bored when it got dark. It took both of them, too, to watch all of V for Vendetta, but I only got a couple scenes into my next Carnivale S2 disc before the second one quit. I've had to throw out most of my fridge and freezer contents. That's a lot of money thrown away, a lot. Ouch.
The mayor said this was a once in two-hundred-year event. I sure as hell hope so.
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no subject
Date: 2006-12-16 08:57 pm (UTC)Losing electricity in winter is hell on earth. Only, the freezing kind.
For me, the only thing that chases away "smell headaches" is fresh air, which you're probably not that interested in right now. Hope you'll feel better soon!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-16 09:05 pm (UTC)::warming hugs::
no subject
Date: 2006-12-16 09:46 pm (UTC)We were lucky here and only lost power for a few hours. I'm so glad to hear that yours is back on!
no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 03:21 am (UTC)The mayor said this was a once in two-hundred-year event.
I'd buy this a lot more if I hadn't covered the inaugural day storm and heard much the same thing—and that was before global warming and climate change showed up in every mainstream weather story.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-20 12:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 05:56 am (UTC)OMG so glad you have heat today! Poor thing. Down here in Portland the outages were spotty. There are some still without power but we never lost ours. Wind storm was quite intense.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 06:31 pm (UTC)I got your book this morning!!! I am so excited I could plotz.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-17 12:47 pm (UTC)I hate that headache--I remember it well from the Inaugural Day storm--I lived with my husband in Port Orchard, and we lost power for five days. The kerosene heater smell nearly killed me, but it was the only thing keeping us warm. We had a fireplace, but the house was so big and drafty that it barely heated the living room.
I'm glad you're OK, and I hope you're feeling warm and toasty now.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-12-19 07:25 pm (UTC)I get that headache with most of those things, too. Diesel nearly kills me.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-18 03:55 am (UTC)Looks like you got electricity back at about the same time we did, sometime Saturday morning. We didn't get cable and internet back up until about an hour ago, though. (Pause a moment here while I kiss my computer monitor one more time).
Will post more in my journal. Glad you made it through!
Virginia