Such A Bi-Polar Weekend

And when I say bi-polar, I mean I was in a volcanic emotional state and physically freezing my ass off!

My little neighborhood was the black hole of my town.

The power on our street went off at 5am on Friday and I didn't get it back on until this morning at 7am - just in time for me to wait 30 minutes for the hot water heater to heat me up some water so I could use my own shower before going off to work.

I was laying in bed on Friday waiting for my alarm to go off, snuggling with the kitties, and listening to the furnace run when POW BLAST. Furnace stopped immediately and the kitties went scurrying for cover. I peered myopically outside and saw a large pine tree branch in the street and three little branches dangling from the top wire. The snow plow went by. I got back in bed and snuggled for two more hours and officially woke up at 7am, washed my hair/face/parts in the kitchen sink, got dressed, and checked my driveway. I wasn't going anywhere even tho I pre-prepped for the storm by keeping my garage open. My lilac bushes were bent over and fused to my driveway. I thumbed a ride with my dad and had him drop me off at the library where a co-worker was stationed coz she had no power or heat too. We spent midmorning to late afternoon working and giggling (quietly coz it was a library). Then she dropped me off home and I wacked the lilacs so enough ice came off of them to spring back up a bit. I had a lantern and some pre-cooked food and was all set for the evening. The temp outside was in the teens.

I mistakenly assumed the power would be on at some point Saturday. WRONG! By late Saturday afternoon the house was 42*. SuperDad came over and did some HandyMan Magic and hooked my furnace up to the generator and got my house warmed up to 69* for the night as it was again supposed to be in the teens.

I woke up Sunday thinking I'd have power. WRONG AGAIN! SuperDad came over again with the generator to warm my staying steady at 43* house up again. While he went to drive my mom to her art quilt show, he left the generator at my house running. I was monitoring it and starting everytime it hiccupped even tho Dad said that was normal. I was scooping poop (that happens regardless of ice-storm or no ice-storm) when I heard a loud banging on my door. It was my neighbor who fronts the main street and had power for the entire storm. He offered to let me plug my furnace into his garage and draw on his power. I accepted and he ran a very long cord over to my house and once SuperDad came back, we disconnected the generator and plugged my furnace into the neighbor's power. It was so nice not to have to worry about pipes freezing. And the cats, you'd have thought they were frostbitten by all the posing and posturing and laying and fighting over the hot air vents. I went to bed in a much more positive mood.

The phone rang. I was sleeping, it was dark, and I had no idea of the time. I ran for the phone and it was the power company apologizing for calling so late to check to see if I had power. I said "no" in a just woke and 'you've pissed me off again" tone of voice. She didn't seem to mind and said she'd let the crews know my neighborhood was still without power. I checked my clock when I got into bed and found it was 2am. That explained her apology. But then I was up stewing for 2 hours before I finally dozed off.

I "woke up" Monday thinking I'd have power. WRONG YET AGAIN! I was busy calling the power company yet again, packing my shower bag yet again, calling my other-side neighbor to let her know no power yet again, and feeding the cats when all of a sudden the cats scattered and I looked to see what made them freak out. Outside my window was the power truck. Finally! He got out this pole that magically became taller than a house, jiggled off the three branches, drove back to the beginning of the street, cherry pickered himself up some, removed something from the top of the power pole using the Magic Pole, brought it down to himself, put something back on the Magic Pole, levered it up to wherever he took the doohickey off, shoved and clicked it into place, and POWER. It was that simple. THAT SIMPLE. So simple my entire neighborhood had to suffer 4 mornings and three days of no power.

Living in the middle of town has perks, my ass cheek. Living in a neighborhood of local rich college professors has perks, my other ass cheek.

Golden side of the coin: My parents, their shower, their generator, their putting up with my absolute ever-lovin' crap all weekend, my power-sharing neighbor (who is getting a free meal at a nice restaurant on me), and my friends for letting me vent over and over and over.

Never again will I underestimate the power of a shower. I cannot function at all without one. And me being a just wakened grizzly bear is not my idea (nor my family's) idea of fun.