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Home > Day 6: Got POWER Back!

Day 6: Got POWER Back!

September 3rd, 2011 at 01:28 am

It's a beautiful day...



Because tonight at 7 pm I got my power back! (The treetops above are the view from my front door, and it was in this row of white pines where a weeping willow trunk struck and damaged a transformer on a pole along the road.

It was an interesting experience. Round about day 4 I settled into a routine of making daily trips to the middle school where they were giving out free bottled water and ice.

I poured the ice into the the 2 drawers inside my fridge as well as a small cooler. It really came in handy to keep sodas and drinks cool, along with a small number of single serve items that need refrigeration.

But I was eating very simply. Although I could go grocery shopping, my choices, without refrigeration, were quite limited to things I could consume in one sitting, and I certainly didn't want to incur bigger expenses by eating out.

So one night I had cold, canned soup for dinner. For lunch today I had peanut butter on bread. I ate a lot of salads using the cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden.

I lost a few eggs, butter spread and cheese, but that's about it. All my freezer food is at 2 locations now at a friend's and my mothers, and I'll retrieve it in the next few days.

While I have drinking water, my electric hot water heater was out, and so taking a cold shower was not something I attempted. I can't wait to take a shower, but now I have to wait a few hours (?) for the heater to warm the water up.

So the repair crew arrived on my street at 4 pm. I know because with my windows open, I'd been keeping an ear out for any loud trucks; each time I'd run to the window these past 6 days to see if it was a electric utility truck. This time it was.

Once power was restored, I could hear my well water pump, which feeds my outdoor faucets, refilling the tank, so I went outside to water two areas where I'd just planted grass seed right before Hurricane Irene. With no water since Sunday, the new grass was looking very dry.

So I yelled a few "thank-yous" to the crew working on the other side of the woods in front of my house. I talked to one of the guys; they came all the way from Colorado. Since they had to use their trucks of course, they drove and it took them 2.5 days just to get here!

I'm now also able to close my garage door. Although I live in a pretty safe town, it was a bit of a security issue to have to leave the door open, 24/7, including when I left the house. During the storm, I'd intentionally left the door open because it's wood and moisture has already found its way inside the panels and warped them. So it was stuck in the open position since my auto garage door opener uses electricity and while I should have been able to manually close the door, I couldn't.

I have a battery-powered short wave radio, so that was my entertainment at night once it got dark. There were a few local stations where the talk show hosts got together and had callers call in talking about storm-related stuff, although everyone here is focused on getting their power back. Some people still wont' get it for a few more days.

I was also getting daily Code Red Alerts from our town's selectmwoman, which was helpful in informing us where we could recharge cell phones, get a shower or pick up ice/water.

My job search was pretty much put on hold these past 6 days, so am anxious to get back to my usual routine, though it has been quite dead, in line with today's unemployment report which shows zero job growth for the month of August.

Here's some pix of tree damage in my yard:


I was very upset to discover my snowball hydrangea tree, in full bloom, had toppled over in the storm. It was right outside my sunroom, providing nice shade, and it's where I always hung my hummingbird feeder. Amazingly, I found the hummer feeder, undamaged and hung it up again from the fallen tree to make sure the hummers didn't go hungry.


Another view of the same tree.


Here are some large branches from a Tree of Paradise that fell rather close, about 15 feet away, from my sunroom.


Note the large tree limb that fell on my tool shed.

Here's another view:


Well, glad to be getting back to normal now.


9 Responses to “Day 6: Got POWER Back!”

  1. MonkeyMama Says:
    1315010503

    Hallelujah - power!!!

  2. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1315016908

    Yay!

  3. Thrifty Ray Says:
    1315020282

    Glad the power is back on and that the damage was fairly minimal. Enjoy that shower!!!

  4. My English Castle Says:
    1315021037

    Hooray! I'll bet you feel energized :-)

  5. Tightwad Kitty Says:
    1315032408

    Hooray! Enjoy that shower!!!

  6. creditcardfree Says:
    1315059845

    Yipee!!

  7. CB in the City Says:
    1315060276

    Wow! So lucky your house was spared!

    I'm longing for a shower, too, but I won't get one till Tuesday at the earliest!

    I once lost power for four days (ice storm) and made adaptions similar to yours. Looking back, it was kind of a fun time, like pioneer living, but I wouldn't have wanted it to go on any longer.

  8. claudia Says:
    1315060862

    Glad you're ok.

  9. Dido Says:
    1315145658

    Congrats on surviving that long without the power--must feel so good having things back to normal!

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