Just rambling thoughts about anything that happens to be on my mind and that usually isn't much!
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Saturday, December 1, 2007

Energy Dependent

This morning I got up at my usual 3 AM.  I knew it was going to be a good day.  I walked to the kitchen and started my coffee perking (or dripping or what ever they do these days), then walked to the man lair.  I started my computer and listened to the hum of the hard drive as Windows Vista began to load. 
 
I could hear the rain dripping off the roof as the first winter storm of the season blew outside.  "HA HA" I think to myself, no outside work today!  A whole day in the man lair!  The perfect Saturday!
 
Poof!  The lights went out!  It was so dark it was like being in a cave!  I sat for maybe a minute before the lights came back on.  It's this way every year ... the first storm will always find all the weak links in the rural electrical grid. 
 
I knew that I would need to restart the coffee and reset the clocks, so I set about that task; microwave, stove, TV, video tape player and finally the coffee maker (I didn't realize that we had so many clocks!)
 
I walked back to the man lair and hit the power button on the computer.  Whir.  Blink blink. 
 
Poof!  Out they went again!  So I sat patiently for maybe 5 minutes .. nothing.  Well I finally decided to go find a flashlight.  Now finding a flashlight in the dark is like looking for your glasses when you need them to see anyway!
 
I groped all around the man lair and could find nothing.  Working my way to the door (and stubbing my toe a few times) I proceeded to find the kitchen.  There on the cabinet I was able to find one without first slicing my hand open on a sharp object.
 
Now I had light!  I shined the light on the coffee pot to see if there had been enough time for at least ONE cup.  No such luck.  So now what was I going to do to pass the time while I waited patiently for the electricity to come back on?  No computer.  No TV.  I couldn't even read a book by this flash light.  (Coal oil lanterns would have put out MUCH more light!) 
 
I located my PDA.  Since it ran on batteries, I decided to catch up on my notes from work the past week.   After finishing that (and still no electricity) I played the few games that are installed there till finally the batteries ran down.  I looked at my watch 5:05.
 
With no electricity for nearly 2 hours .... which of course means no heat ... it's beginning to get a little chilly.  OK I think to myself, the Stockman's cafe is on another utility company so they should have heat AND coffee by now.  I locate my wranglers and head into the garage.  I hit the button to raise the garage door. 
 
Sheesh, I think to myself ... but being the resourceful fellow that I am, I remember the pickup was left parked outside.  So I head out the front door.  Since the Warden is still sleeping I lock the front door behind me.  I reach into my pocket for the keys when it hits me ... they are hanging on the key rings by the door into the garage.
 
With the front door locked, I walk around the house to the back door, rain dripping off the brim of my hat.  Walking through the house I retrieve the pickup keys then return through the rain to the pickup.  I drive the 5 miles to the Stockman's cafe and see the welcome lights of the coffee shop.
 
Not many are there at this time of the morning, but as I walk in, Mr. Holt starts pouring me a big hot cup of coffee.  Just as he sits the cup down in front of me ... POOF the lights go out!
 
So much for a perfect Saturday!
Dennis

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remind me not to invite you over on a rainy day!

Shane

Anonymous said...

Our rain, up here in Chicagoland, is white today. They are predicting electrical outages this evening as freezing rain accumulates on wires and tree limbs.

Trisha

Anonymous said...

We had a terrible storm here that paralyzed us for several days. We took our 3 kids and headed off to a hotel. It was like living in the "dark ages". We couldn't call anyone because all the cell phone lines were busy with everyone else calling to whine and cry to their relatives. And the land lines didn't work because they were all cordless. We didn't have traffic lights so it took an hour to drive 2 miles to Home Depot. My husband almost got into a wrestling match with another man over the last container of battery acid for the sump pump. At the end of it all we will have a new basement since the water did finally win. And I discovered how VERY dependent we are on technology. When I was little we would fire up the wood stove and eat out of the deep freezer for days. Susie (Trisha's warden)