Paul's Comments

I have discovered what it is like to suffer a severe power loss. As a result of the massive blizzard that started Friday we had a power failure. It happened around 9am Saturday morning.

Well, what can you do? I had been watching some of the extended snow coverage and watching some of the details. As it turned out, by sheer luck I had just recharged my cell phone. So I want to call PEPCO and report the outage to be on the safe side that it was reported. Well, I don't have the automated number. Oh yeah, I have it in my other phone, the one I don't put any minutes on since my sister loaned me one of the spare ones they have. But that one was left on and never recharged. So I have to call 411 (at probably over $1 a call I hate having to pay for Directory Assistance calls, however I know from prior attempts that neither Free 411 nor toll free DA ever gives the correct number for PEPCO, I don't have a choice).

So I get their automated system and need either the phone number the account was set up under or the account number. I don't have either and because of the emergency the voice mail to record a message is full. So I call the landlord and I get the phone number and I call it in. Well, at least I discover that there already was a report so we were covered.

So what can I do? Can't go out, the walk isn't shoveled and we don't have a shovel anyway, plus all bus service is suspended. No electronic toys so can't use computer or watch TV. So I do what I often do on weekends: sleep.

There is a problem,. however; even with the place kept closed it's still getting colder. Eventually, in addition to the Snuggies and blankets I have on, I have to put on my new winter coat that I got for Christmas. So it's slightly uncomfortable due to the cold, but at least it's not dangerous yet.

So, anyway I get hungry. We are fortunate to have a gas stove, unfortunately the oven uses a computer to operate it, so without power the gas oven can't be used! But the range can be, if I can find matches, since the automatic starter uses power. Someone has matches.

Okay, what do I have that I can cook on the stove? Well, I have two cans of clam chowder that, fortunately, I'd been saving for emergency rations. And they're pull-top so I don't need the electric can opener. So I have one and that gets me through lunch. Back to sleep for a while.

By the time it gets dark I realize that this is the darkest dark I've ever seen in the place. Many times I leave my computer monitor on or the TV on because I have it for background noise, but occasionally I'll turn everything significant off. This means the TV, the cable box, my computer monitor and the lights. But at that, the cable modem indicator lights, my computer's power light on the front, the on-off light on the front of the converter box, and the surge suppression and power indicators on the wall socket are still on. Here, there's nothing but the light of the snow on the ground from outside reflecting the light of the moon; even the streetlights are out.

Later in the evening I get hungry again. I don't want to have to eat the other can of soup so I look what I have. I didn't buy much the other day because (1) I only had $20 and (2) I expected to go the next day to the credit union where my disability check is deposited. So I had only bought enough food for a couple of days. In the interim the huge snowstorm was announced so I couldn't go, I might have been stuck.

So, I have hot pockets. Oops, microwave or oven. A pizza; oven. Taquitos: oh, great, they can be pan-fried. But they're supposed to be thawed, first. Oh please; I know that if you leave a freezer closed the food will stay cold for many hours; thawing the food was what I did not want to happen! So what I did was to put some water on, boil it, then use the plastic bag to heat up the taquitos enough to make them not frozen. Seemed to work only I'm supposed to have oil or butter to cook them in. It's going to be too much trouble to find some as I'm working by flashlight, so I'll just wing it as best I can.

It works. They actually were pretty good, and slightly crispier than when microwaved, I may have to try it this way again. I turn the (non working) light on in the kitchen so I'll be able to see when the power comes back on.

In doing this, somehow I am reminded of a scene in the movie Hotel New Hampshire where the two kids of the owners decide to turn every light in the building on after a storm knocks out the power. The sheriff of the small town they are in stops by, and is in the parking lot, turns the knob on his radio to turn it on, when the power is restored at that moment and the entire building lights up like a Christmas tree. He's so shocked that he has a heart attack and dies!

So anyway, back in bed I try really hard to do something to keep me a bit warmer, and I end up with the condition where - this was going on all day - you sleep for a while - maybe a couple of hours - until either the cold disturbs you or you have to pee. So you never really get good, solid sleep.

I'm awakened again and I notice the outside, and I realize there's a streetlight on. Yes! I turn around and I can see through my glass door that the kitchen light is on. I go out and discover that it's exactly matching, the clock on the stove - which resets to 12:00 when power comes back on - now reads 12:45. As it turns out, that's exactly when power came back on. As an exercise for the reader, now figure out what time it is when I'm looking at this clock.

The heat is back on plus I turn my space heater on. It takes most of Sunday before it's back to being comfortably warm again.

So one of the things I'm putting on my list to pick up next time I go shopping is more canned goods so I have at least enough for a week.