I made it 43 hours and then got really pissed off
19 VIPs have spoken »
Alrighty, I’ve been trying to put a positive spin on being without power from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening but it sucked donkey. Currently things are very groovy with three sides of thankful.
But you know I have to bitch and moan. I will try to be grateful, however, so I shall bitch and repent in this post. I am so very thankful I can declare that in the past tense. It suckED.
It all started on Thursday afternoon. Earlier that day I was working out at the Y while reading the closed captions on CNN. Rob Marciano was pointing to maps of the US which showed angry yellow and red blobs sliding in an easterly direction from the middle of the country up through Detroit. “This is
like
camping in
our own fucking
house.” –Mr.
C, July 18th, 2010.
If this story were a movie, that scene would have been the foreshadowing. I saw it and paid it no mind.
Around 3 pm the lights flickered, dimmed and then died, but the skies were sunny with temps in the 90s. The power came back about an hour and a half later. Score!
At 6 pm the sky turned a weird shade of greenish-gray and it started to rain. And then it rained really hard and the wind kicked up. We all gathered ’round the sliding glass doors in the back of the house and watched the show. And very soon the branches on the trees began to sway and we worried about downed wires in the backyard.
Turns out the focus should have been in our front yard.
And then trees started to fall
About 20 minutes into the storm tree branches started falling. In the front of our house. At that time I glanced out the front window and then gave Mr. C a high five for parking in the driveway. Usually he parks in the street under the huge oak tree in front of our house. In the past, we’ve had a branch break off and dent the car since it was in the street.
So I was pleased and smugly thought, ‘In your face torrential rain storm.’ Then we lost power again.
Within half an hour the rain began to peter out to a drizzle and then we heard sirens, lots and lots of sirens. And we saw a few firetrucks whiz past our house. That’s when I saw the thick, ten-foot branch that was sitting on the front lawn propped on the windshield of the car.
That would be the car that was sitting safely in the driveway instead of the street. And now there is a softball size break in the window with a web of cracks emanating up through the driver’s side window toward the roof of the car. Effing torrential rain storm. I told myself that it could have been much worse; that branch could have fallen on the roof of the house.
But that was the end of the rain and falling trees. Plus a lot our neighbors had fallen trees in the front of their yards, so were weren’t alone. Score! On Friday morning Mr. C took the Mystery Mobile to work which meant we had no car since it was difficult to see out of the window. According to my 10-year-old we were trapped. And the the power went out again around 3 pm. Now my kids lamented the fact that we were trapped AND we had no TV (!) AND no computer.
I told them it was an opportunity to be thankful that we normally live with all of those luxuries. We all agreed that it was truly a blessing that we had running water. But by Friday night it was getting old. I was still feeling groovy, though. I actually enjoyed the fact that we had no TV and no computer.
We were getting back to basics, jack, plus the Y was open and fully functional.
But I was still feeling groovy
On Saturday morning I got my workout in and I took my first-ever shower at the Y; all systems go. We had lunch at Burger King, the kids played in the Play-land and then we went to a pool party where there was air conditioning, sunny skies, floating chairs and cake and ice cream. Score!
And we figured the power would be back when we got home at 6 pm. No dice; we had dinner at Taco Bell. By Saturday night all of the cool air left over from the air conditioning was gone. The second floor was really hot and we slept fitfully even though all of the windows were open. The kids were up on Sunday morning as soon as the sun rose.
That morning we had breakfast at McDonalds while Mr. C and I lamented the fact that we had to throw away all of the food in both refrigerators, we spent a lot of money eating greasy fast food and we had to clean those fridges inside and out. Sweep the Leg it was like my own version of “Hoarders.”
The upside is that I felt a huge amount of satisfaction as the floor under the fridge was returned to a pristine condition and the inside of the fridge began to sparkle and shine. It really does look like a brand new fridge. Score!
By Sunday afternoon we knew we couldn’t stomach more fast food so we bought ice, lunch meat, bread and milk and filled up the cooler. The temperature in the house was at 85 degrees and we were all on edge. Mr. C finally exclaimed, “This is like camping in our own fucking house!”
The Cardiogirl family is not a campin’ family. Hate. It.
The closest we’ve ever come to camping is staying at a hotel while visiting friends who were actually camping at a bona fide camp site. We made s’mores before we left for our hotel that evening and I was pissed that I smelled like a campfire.
However this is when I lost it
It’s important to note that throughout these days the power came back intermittently for varying amounts of time. At times it was on for three minutes, 15 minutes, 26 minutes and one time it actually lasted 50 minutes. We were furious when it went out that time.
When the power was off it was actually holding on 40-volts/watts. The only thing that worked were overhead lights and they were very dim. I don’t know what that means to have power at 40-volts/watts but Mr. C, our neighbor and Consumers Energy all agreed that leaving computers and large appliances plugged in while there is only low voltage in the house equals bad, bad juju. So we kept unplugging and plugging stuff hoping that the power was on. Every time the power appeared to come back on.
That is when I was ready to pick up my torch and riot.
When the power finally came back on Sunday night we waited 45 minutes before we plugged everything in and reset the clocks. Just to be sure.
But we’re up and running today and I was able to make coffee here at home. Sweet!
Tags: Things on which I have an opinion, Things that are jacked up, Things that get on my very last nerve, Things that require my sarcasm
That’s some pretty impressive gratitude right there. :)
We keep a set of LED garden lights charging in the garden for emergencies such as this. They’re not fabulously bright – you couldn’t read a book by them, for example – but they do enable you to get up the stairs to pee in the dark without falling down the toilet. Also, we have a little camping gas stove that we could use for cooking and such.
It sucks that the tree hit your car, though. :(
I did think of you throughout the weekend, Solomon. I knew you’d be able to find something good out of this if you were in this situation. If I’d been thinking, I could have used my cell phone in lantern mode. But I didn’t even think of that.
We do have a new windshield now, so that’s one thing off the list. Woo-hoo!
I’m with Solomon, very impressive gratitude there. :) I don’t think I could have handled it that well because heat and I do not get along well. I would have been a sweaty mess with no AC or fan. There’s a pretty good chance that I would have found somewhere else to stay until the power came back on even if I had to rent a hotel room…lol
I watched several episodes of Hoarders yesterday. It is nuts. At least watching it yesterday inspired me to clean my kitchen and organize some stuff that was starting to get out of control. :)
I did think it would suck if we didn’t have AC. Ever in the house. I’m such a princess; I know I couldn’t live without AC. Even a fan wouldn’t do it for me — ceiling or otherwise.
That show seriously motivates me. Love. It!
you know what i love? you were counting your blessings and then “by Friday night it was getting old.” that’s reality, jack!
not that we aren’t grateful for what we have, but get real, we enjoy our amenities and just expect them to be there.
whoa, whoa, whoa, gingah. i want to know which levitating device was used that allowed you to take a shower at the Y? or were you lowered down in mission impossible style, as you hung suspended in midair, under the shower head. ‘splain lucy!
and i thought peter was an apostle.
(laughs) I am a realist.
Yeah, desperate times and all. Prior to that I couldn’t handle the thought of my bare feet on the shower floor. It’s still gross when I really consider it, but I was too sweaty for the mission impossible style.
I had to suspend my disbelief. Ugh, I should bring Purell hand sanitizer with me to rub down my feet when I get back to my locker. I have seen other people wear shower shoes, but I cannot handle flip flops even for a 20-foot trek. Plus Katie tells me they’re hard to walk in when they’re wet.
I did workout yesterday and then took a shower there before I left. I have to say it was a refreshing change to drive home in dry clothes after a workout. I might be able to get used to this routine.
What about water shoes?? They look like little booties, the ones that kids wear in the pool or on the beach. I have a black pair because I couldn’t handle the beaches in WA — they’re not barefoot-friendly, and Kurt abhors being barefoot at the pool. They’re usually like $8 at Walmart.
Those shoes are absolutely hideous, but I wore them growing up. They get the job done.
I was staying in dorms once for a few weeks and forgot shower shoes. I wore my Birkenstock type sandals. They were blue, and so were my feet.
I am so amused. Y’all know how Yankees make fun of Southerners when we don’t know what to do about snow? You don’t know how to handle storms. Southerners may not have snow plows, but plenty of people with chain saws.
My power/water was out for five days once during a blizzard. That sucked because it got dark at 5:30, no transportation, and some neighbors didn’t have heat, so we had a houseful of people with no power. (i.e. can’t flush the toilets without melting a crapton of snow. Shoo.) But everybody brought their food that was going to go bad anyway, so we ate pretty well.
And btw, be careful with the green sky. If everything turns green, and then everything goes still, get in the basement. It’s about to go Wizard of Oz.
I was late to a final once because I was on the bus when a tornado was sighted so we all had to go sit in the student center until it passed. Extra 30 min of studying. Thanks, Mother Nature.
And btw, be careful with the green sky. If everything turns green, and then everything goes still, get in the basement. It’s about to go Wizard of Oz.
LOL. loved that. will have to remember. right now we have dark gray clouds.
@ Liz When the power and water go out for so long do people still have to go to work or are the offices/stores closed because they don’t have power either?
Mr. C did say if everything got still we had to hightail it into the basement immediately. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
@V It is a strange color to see in the sky. Nothing good comes from a gray-green sky, apparently.
Well, I can’t personally account for what stayed open and what didn’t. I didn’t have water because we didn’t have power and we had a well. No electricity = no pump = no water to the house. If you were on city water, you had water, because it was only like 30 degrees out.
Everything definitely shut down for a two days. I think my mom had to use vacation for the other 3, because things in town had been cleared up. I was out of school for TWO weeks. Suh-weet!
So sorry for all your troubles. It does suck donkey to lose all the food in the fridge, to have to eat fast food until you want to vomit the stuff, and to have a tree branch crash through the car window when you thought you had avoided the risky location (we were back in DeKalb once for a visit and watched a TREE-mendous storm from the back window – all of a sudden our friend Andy shouted, “Oh no, Wendy.” I had parked in their driveway and we looked out the front window to see a massive limb covering the van. Miraculously, the limb was resting on the vehicle and hadn’t so much as scratched the vehicle).
Love that you told your children it was a chance to recognize all the blessings we enjoy and take for granted. I let my kids watch a funny video with me of Louis CK, from a FB link; here it is, for your enjoyment. Then, we clicked on another and I had to shut that dude up quick because his mouth was just flying with words we try not to say in our neck of the woods.
Congrats on the restored power and sanity.
I’ve seen that Louis CK clip before and it is extremely funny. He’s really funny since he seems to talk mostly about kids and he expresses a lot of the things I think.
Like you said, though, I’d never let my kids see that.
Oh, my dear CG. What a nightmare. I’m not as tolerant as you are and I don’t even have kids to keep entertained for 43 hours in the heat. I tip my hat to all of you. I would have gotten in my car, and handed any number of credit cards to the clerk at the Holiday Inn down the street from me, assuming they had power. And then I wouldn’t have come home until I got tired of room service, which would be very close to never.
Sorry about the car. I hope to God that’s covered under insurance and they don’t turn around and say “Sorry, jack. That’s an act of God and it ain’t covered.
OMG. I still can’t believe the weekend you had. You are my hero.
Unfortunately our insurance deductible is $1,000 which is awesome for our monthly rates but not awesome when filing a claim. We were able to get a small discount from the windshield place since our insurance company recommended them.
I did wonder about the whole act-of-God thing. No one mentioned that, though, I guess since it wasn’t covered anyway because of the high deductible. Grr.
Having survived a hurricane and the aftermath of over a week without power, phones and for some reason sewer failures, I feel your pain. I also remember laughing with neighbors while we all tried grill everything before it could spoil and how wonderful the coffee we drove around for hours to find tasted. All about the bright side…
Sweep the Leg, VetTech. I did think about that — no water, power or phones — and I decided I was extremely thankful that we don’t live anywhere near the hurricanes. Ain’t no chance I could have put a good spin on that.
At one point my husband did scream, “Makin’ lemonade!”
I hate hurricanes. Hate them.
I am amazed that you maintained so much gratitude, I would have been bitching and moaning the whole time, making it miserable for everyone else. We had that storm too but didn’t lose power (I’ve jinxed it for the next time). However, the house is still 85 degrees and the 20 year old a/c isn’t doing anything to alleviate it. I’ve hit that point where complaining about summer is just like complaining about winter. I hope your power stays on.
I would have been thankful for one part of the whole mess and that would have been getting a clean fridge out it. I don’t bother unless I’m moving or I have to throw everything away.
My oldest kid took care of the. Non. Stop. Bitching. And. Moan. ING! I was ready to strangle her by Friday night. She was my motivation, actually. I was trying to model behavior for her.
Naturally it didn’t work, but I kept trying and then bitched up a storm quietly inside my head. I can actually scream pretty loud inside my head.
Hola Survivor,
So you are way better than me. I think at the point when all the food had to be removed from both refrigerators I would have probably officially lost it. I don’t work well when there is no power and it’s hot. When it’s cold I can always just cover up in a blanket but when it’s 105 degrees with 60% humidity I am going ape shit on the first person to look at me wrong. I’m just being honest here.
Mr. C actually bagged up and threw away the food. I didn’t even look while he did that — too depressing. Also, I had gone big grocery shopping the day before the storm. $188 bucks.
But we had a lot of carbs in the house — all of the dry food sitting in the cabinets was fine but it still felt like we were going to starve since the fridge was empty.
I did say to Mr. C on Saturday afternoon — I know why riots start in the summer.
Lady, you are a rock of fortitude. I had to go without power for a day and a half, but at least it was the wintertime. I didn’t lose the stuff in my fridge because it was 45º in my house. And I could always put more clothes on instead of sweating my behind off. In fact, I slept in my footed pajamas (yes, I am an adult who owns a pair — though I don’t know where they are at the moment) with a sweatshirt and sweatpants layered underneath. Or over. Or something. It was super cold in my house. And the kicker??? The four houses that fed off the transformer outside my house were the only ones without power. So I could see my next door neighbor in her warm house, cooking warm food, enjoying power and light and everything. Me, not so much. That seriously sucked.
I couldn’t even imagine being without a/c in this kind of heat. Ugh. I am so glad it’s all back on for you. But what a cool storm!! We got a nifty storm yesterday, complete with super bright lightning and thunder cracking practically overhead. It was awwwwesome.
I actually said, during that time, at least it’s not winter. We’d be freezing. Although we’d have food, right?
It was fun to watch, I have to say. Even though it jacked up our car I was still mesmerized by the wind and the rain. Funny, there was no thunder of lightning; isnt’ that weird?
[...] there. How you doin’ chica? Remember the last time we tangled? I rolled right over and cried uncle immediately. You are the Master of All Elements and I bow down [...]
[...] Remember that rain storm in July that jacked up most of our electronic devices, our windshield, all of the food in both refrigerators, etc.? Everything else is fine, but the internet connection is. Still. Jacked. Up! (Tufts of her hair fall to the floor.) [...]
[...] Remember that effing storm back in July? The one that: [...]
[...] And Ma Nature has been cooperating nicely by providing 90° days on a regular basis. She’s also thrown in more than a few 100+° days. It’s nice to be able to win a stare down with her. You may recall that I was her bitch last summer. [...]