Our projected power restoration of 9-11pm tonight has been canceled. The real tease was that around 3pm, we got an automated "Congratulations! Your power has been restored!" phone call. But...it hadn't. So we called the "Oh, PSYCH, we didn't mean YOU" number given and found out that they fixed what they thought was the problem, but only restored about 300 of the 1200 houses out of power (it obviously is not just Grizzly Flats since there aren't even 1200 PEOPLE up here, much less houses). So that left them back at square one and they just don't have a clue when it's going to be on.
Poor Eric has not slept since this all began and is just ragged. I took the boys and went out for (more) provisions today and we're still hunkered down. The very kind neighbors are still letting us have some of their generator power, so I pop on a couple of times a day to check email and update. I didn't even got to finish a full shift of work today.
So yeah, some day, there will be power again.
I couldn't bear myself any longer today and went balls to the wall and washed my hair in the icy water coming out of the tub faucet. I feel SO much better and after the intense, bone-jarring shock that lasts maybe 30 seconds or so, your head goes numb and it just doesn't matter any more. Afterward, head feels much better. Head, pits and ladybits are all that get attention these days.
So yeah, that's what's up.
...but it can buy electricity, unless you live in Grizzly Flats where there is none. Our power went out at noon on Friday and it has been like the freakin apocalypse or something. Phones followed and were out for a day. It's incredible how much stuff requires electricity, especially in an all electric house (Grizz does not have natural gas lines run up here). Aside from the heat, which would be just ever so nice, there are things like showers (when it's 30 degrees outside, you really don't want to shower in what comes out of the water lines unheated) and refrigeration (you can throw your food into the snow and hope the bears don't eat it) and video games that keep your kids from wanting your attention for oh, 5 minutes or so and computers on which you (meaning *I*) make a living and cooking food that can get completely warm and doesn't have to be heated on a wood stove. There's being able to see in your house after 3pm or so. It definitely makes for long, complicated days. You'd think things would simplify when all of the frills are stripped away, but really, it just gets more complicated.
Age has been a big factor in my ability to cope successfully with the challenge of having no power. For one thing, my eyes get all wonky in the evening and I can't read by one of those little battery powered book lights and I can't seem to get enough candles in one spot to create a good reading light. The jumping around of the light on my book page gives me eye strain. I can embroider, meaning I have the ability to do so, but not the equipment at the moment. There is not a battery to be had in Placerville (our nearest town), so the only time I heard music since Friday was when I was in the car going to and from Alvin and the Chipmunks on Saturday. The kids were going bonkers, so we braved the storm and took them to the movie, blowing a significant amount of much needed cash to do so. I was lovely and honestly, the movie was quiet good. Definitely up there with Spy Kids and Night at the Museum and Toy Story for kid movies that don't make me want to kill myself. On the way back, we were in major blizzard conditions and the chains Eric brought with us did not fit the Jeep, as it turned out, so it was slow, careful and tense going for a while there. It took 4-5 tries in 4-wheel drive to make it up the driveway.
Now, we only have a couple of feet of snow in the yard and either rain or light snow scheduled for the rest of the week. Last night, the people behind us said we could run an extension cord to their generator and use some of the power if we'd provide some of the gasoline to run it. Fortunately, Eric had about 5 gallons on hand and will go get more today. It was glorious to watch TV for a little bit and I even made it through 4 hours of transcribing (a complete shift for me). It shut on and off a couple of times, but it was manageable.
We have a wood stove that does not heat the whole house by any means, but keeps the family room warm enough. We can cook on the top of it to heat water for little bird baths and tepid coffee. I am grateful I had a non-electric can opener. The first thing I plan to do when power is restored is to fry chicken, diet be damned. By some miracle, my fish (of the tropical variety) are still alive for the meantime. We have their heater and air pump on the generator and they are swimming slowly, but still swimming and not floating. It got mighty cold in their tank.
The boys do not have school today, but Delena left out since the high school is in town and those guys have plenty of power. It will be good for her to get out of here for a while. (I'd sure love to!)
There has been a lot of togetherness lately, which is a challenge for an old Mom. My kids are very loving and affectionate, but very independent, which allows me plenty of alone time on a normal basis. This whole thing of all of us being in one room and them looking for ways to be entertained is not easy. (I tried to think of a good, positive word. You can only use forms of "challenging" so many times. "Not easy" is all I've got right now) We've played board games until they have become "bored" games and today I guess I'm teaching them rummy. Eric and I brave the arctic tundra to sleep in our own room under tons of covers, as does Delena, although I expect she will sleep in the family room tonight since she got REALLY cold last night. The fire goes out if left unattended for longer than 3-4 hours, so mornings are chilly, to say the least. We have not yet evaluated losses of refrigerator food and wages lost before we got some generator power. It's not unusual for us to lose power up here, but the longest in 12 years has only been a day or so, so we were lulled into a false sense of security. We will definitely be purchasing a generator when the larders are a little more full after he is getting paid for work again. Right now, we are running on my salary alone and that's fairly piddly. At least the electric bill will be cheaper this month.
The entire town (get this) has "an appointment" for PG&E to come look at our down wires tonight between 9-11pm. Whether or not they can fix the problem then remains to be seen. We are all very hopeful as we'd love showers. If we had the money, we'd rent a hotel room in town just to take showers. That would be lovely. Tonight is our focus. If they can fix the problem tonight, then tomorrow will be business as usual with a stronger sense of appreciation for modern conveniences.
Onward and upward!
wholly impressed
"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us."
Upton had been asked why one-fifth of Americans are unable to locate the United States on a map and later apologized for her answer not making a lot of sense.
Third was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's October comment at Columbia University in New York, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."
Shock jock Don Imus comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team: "That's some nappy-headed hos there," was fourth.
Imus created a national outcry and lost his job at CBS radio in April, but returned to the airwaves in December with Citadel Broadcasting.
Other phrases on the list:
5. "I don't recall." -- Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' repeated response to questioning at a congressional hearing about the firing of U.S. attorneys.
6. "There's only three things he (Republican presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11." -- Sen. Joseph Biden, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate.
7. "I'm not going to get into a name-calling match with somebody (Vice President Dick Cheney) who has a 9 percent approval rating." -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat.
8. "(I have) a wide stance when going to the bathroom." -- Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's explanation of why his foot touched that of an undercover policeman in a men's room.
9. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." -- Biden describing rival Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
10. "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." -- Former President Jimmy Carter in an interview in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper.
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raybrandle for posting this or I might not have ever known such a wonderful beast as this exists:I think I might need to go buy a magazine:
http://www.people.com/people/package/vid
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