We've spent the last 24 hours powerless. Like, without power. Literally. Our house did not have electricity.
Right at the intersection of our and our neighbors powerlines, 2 massive trees stood looming, just waiting for the perfect storm to knock them over and create mayhem. Our neighbor, being proactive an responsible, set about having them removed this last week, as they are on his property. Yesterday, as two guys went to work on the trees around lunchtime, an unexpected rotten portion of tree broke away and fell into the powerlines, affecting a transformer and ripping the line clear off the side of our house. The tree guys were great about calling the power company and having an electrician over quickly. The whole issue was repaired and resolved by 6pm. Unfortunately, due to STUPID FRICKIN IDIOTIC BUREAUCRACY NONSENSE, the electricity could not be turned back on until this afternoon, a full 20 hours later. The electrician who completed the repair was required to file a request for an inspection with the city code and permits department and they in turn had to dispatch an inspector to examine the electricians work and report to the power company that was acceptably safe. To further complicate matters, the electrician's secretary had issues because they had recorded that the repair had been done at our neighbors' address (since they were the ones who called them out and paid for the repair) and they couldn't just take our word for it that the truck had been parked in our driveway and the electrician had been working on our house because "they could lose their license". Gah, what morons. I can't wait to see how many centuries it takes to restore power after a hurricane!
This whole event DID make me think more about our emergency preparedness. My main concerns now in the event of a hurricane- surviving without air conditioning and not going crazy from boredom. Aside from doing zumba in the morning, I was at home all day Monday until we went out to dinner and then headed over to a friends house to sleep and when I woke up today, I felt like I needed to go ANYWHERE and do ANYTHING to not be cooped up the hot house! We went to the beach and then walked around the mall until Micah texted me that the power was restored.
The problems we faced outside of hotness and boredom would not be so devastating in a hurricane because hurricanes don't come suddenly, you have time to get things in order. You can put a last big load of dishes through the dishwasher.You can eat down the contents of your fridge so that you don't end up with wasted, spoiled food. You can shop for pantry-stable snacks that you and your family like.
Right at the intersection of our and our neighbors powerlines, 2 massive trees stood looming, just waiting for the perfect storm to knock them over and create mayhem. Our neighbor, being proactive an responsible, set about having them removed this last week, as they are on his property. Yesterday, as two guys went to work on the trees around lunchtime, an unexpected rotten portion of tree broke away and fell into the powerlines, affecting a transformer and ripping the line clear off the side of our house. The tree guys were great about calling the power company and having an electrician over quickly. The whole issue was repaired and resolved by 6pm. Unfortunately, due to STUPID FRICKIN IDIOTIC BUREAUCRACY NONSENSE, the electricity could not be turned back on until this afternoon, a full 20 hours later. The electrician who completed the repair was required to file a request for an inspection with the city code and permits department and they in turn had to dispatch an inspector to examine the electricians work and report to the power company that was acceptably safe. To further complicate matters, the electrician's secretary had issues because they had recorded that the repair had been done at our neighbors' address (since they were the ones who called them out and paid for the repair) and they couldn't just take our word for it that the truck had been parked in our driveway and the electrician had been working on our house because "they could lose their license". Gah, what morons. I can't wait to see how many centuries it takes to restore power after a hurricane!
This whole event DID make me think more about our emergency preparedness. My main concerns now in the event of a hurricane- surviving without air conditioning and not going crazy from boredom. Aside from doing zumba in the morning, I was at home all day Monday until we went out to dinner and then headed over to a friends house to sleep and when I woke up today, I felt like I needed to go ANYWHERE and do ANYTHING to not be cooped up the hot house! We went to the beach and then walked around the mall until Micah texted me that the power was restored.
The problems we faced outside of hotness and boredom would not be so devastating in a hurricane because hurricanes don't come suddenly, you have time to get things in order. You can put a last big load of dishes through the dishwasher.You can eat down the contents of your fridge so that you don't end up with wasted, spoiled food. You can shop for pantry-stable snacks that you and your family like.
One thing we might consider investing in: a manual can opener. I know a good trick to open cans without one, but I was too embarrassed to go out and do this on the front porch with the tree guys, 2 guys from the power company and an electrician all right there in my yard.
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