Day 1864

It was one of those days. Shortly after we woke up this morning, the power went out. The power grid is so bad in our part of town that a feather can knock the power out. It rained last night, but there was no real reason for a power outage. Usually, it's an ice storm or severe winds that knock the power out, but this time it was just a very rainy night. Without power, there is no hot coffee in the morning, no fried eggs for breakfast, no television, no furnace, no lights, and no e-mail. Miraculously, we still have hot water though, since the water heater is fueled by natural gas.

As soon as the rain let up a bit, we took the dogs on a walk. Even though it was quite cold outside, walking was better than waiting for the power to come back on in a dark and drafty house. Janet and I didn't see lights in any of the other houses, so it looked like the power was out in the entire neighborhood. When a power outage is widespread, we're usually the last to get electricity back. They restore areas near schools and hospitals first, and eventually get around to the people who aren't near anything special, like us.

Since I can't function without coffee in the morning, I drove to a nearby restaurant to get take-out. Eventually, the power was restored, but a big chunk of the day was wasted. Every time something like this happens, I wonder why we don't pay more attention to improving our power grid. Politicians are always talking about creating jobs and about the growing threat of cyber-terrorism. They could create tens of thousands of well paying jobs by making a commitment to refurbishing the country's power distribution network. Put all the lines underground. There is just no reason for the power system to be so fragile, especially in a world where you are dead in the water without electricity.

It was hard to get Dot out of bed to go to her therapy session today. I understood completely. I didn't feel like doing my stretching exercises either. We both persevered though, driving to the vet in the cold rain for her weekly conditioning session. Dot did well in the underwater treadmill, as she usually does, but as soon as we got home again she curled up on a warm blanket and went to sleep. On days like this I wish we had a fireplace. Today would have been a perfect day for sitting in front of a warm fire.

I'm so forgetful lately. I left my phone at the vet this afternoon and had to turn around on our way home to go back to retrieve it. I probably never would have remembered the phone if a warning light hadn't come on in the car, telling me that the phone was no longer paired with the Bluetooth connection. It's sad when my car has a better memory than I do. I almost forgot to take the trash out to the curb this evening too, but Dot always remembers when it's trash day.

I hope tomorrow seems like Friday. I usually look forward to Fridays, but all the days have seemed exactly the same this week. It's disorienting. Maybe a tasty meal at my favorite restaurant will get the compass pointed in the right direction again.

Raider is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 1755

Yay! We've got power again. The repair crew arrived in the neighborhood while Janet and I were returning from our Sunday morning walk with Dot and Dash. The five large trucks and twelve man repair crew were greeted like a liberating army. Some neighbors offered the men coffee and others brought donuts. Everybody said a sincere thank you to the crew for not forgetting about us. After we saw the big trucks, we all knew we would have power by the end of the day.

I had no idea how long it would actually take to get power restored, so I drove up the street to pick up a take-out breakfast and some coffee. By the time I returned with the food, the lights were on again and our ordeal was over. You realize very quickly in situations like these that modern society is completely dependent on electricity. Things go downhill very quickly without power. People get grumpy. Store shelves quickly empty of essential items like batteries and food that does not require refrigeration. Knowledge workers are dead in the water without the computers, servers and phone systems they depend on. I'm still wondering what happened on Saturday's new Dr. Who episode. I can't tell you how many people I saw using their cars to recharge their cell phones during the outage. Most people would readily burn several gallons of gas while their car was idling in the driveway than risk their phone going dead. Without our phones, we are lost.

I remember reading once that during the cold war, Russia hardened most of its power grid by burying the electric cables underground. For some reason the United States didn't bother to do the same and now we are paying the price. Our entire power grid is an aging, very insecure, mess. If electric cars like the Tesla ever become popular, there will probably be brownouts every night as the population recharges their cars for the next day. I hope someone in Washington realizes the importance of improving the power grid. ISIS doesn't need to go around chopping off people's heads. All they need to bring the country to its knees is turn off the electricity for a month.

Having power again inspired Janet and I to try to get a grip on the mess that was engulfing the house. We cleaned the refrigerator and started over with fresh food. I bought some new bath towels to replace the old dingy ones that were an embarrassment to take to the laundromat yesterday. I got out the big step ladder and finally summoned the energy to get the big heavy flight case for my synthesizer off a high shelf so I could pack it up and take it to the storage warehouse. The Beta-SP video equipment went to the storage warehouse as well. As important as this stuff was to my business at one time, I know it will never be used again.

I've still got a ton of work to catch up on, but it looks like Monday will just be another normal work day. If you were expecting something from me last Friday, I'm still working on it. I work pretty fast, so with any luck, the backlog will be gone by Wednesday. It's definitely back to oatmeal tomorrow. I think I've gained five pounds by eating out every single day since last Thursday. I really hope that we don't have a repeat of this mess later this Winter. I don't think the nice, dog friendly hotel where we sought refuge during a power outage last Winter will be an option any longer. Dog friendly hotels are usually very clear that if your dog destroys anything, you pay for it. I don't think they would welcome an old dog who has a tendency to pee on the bed.

Lightning is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day