Wednesday, September 29, 2004
84 Hours and Counting
It has been a very l-o-n-g 84 hours since we lost power — for anyone having trouble with the math, that is three and a half days. It is long enough that the gasoline in our two 6-gallon cans is drained. If I plan on running the generator through the night tonight, I must get more gas.It is 90 degrees outside this afternoon — it must be 110 in the house. Our two little fans do little more than move around the hot air. As I was straightening up, I wondered how people ever got along without air conditioning — especially the women in those long dresses with lots of petticoats. I'm in shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and barefoot and I am sweating profusely. Still, I realize I am one of the lucky ones — we still have a roof over our heads and jobs with steady income... many don't.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
We're Getting Power!
I had to run an errand early this morning. Just as I was approaching our subdivision, I noticed four electric bucket trucks with our power company's logo along the side the road near the entrance. Could it be that we would soon have power? I was elated and was doing a little song and dance routine as I entered the house — "We're getting power! We're getting power!" I sang. The only one home to see it this spectacle was the dog. He seemed to catch the excitement and joined in my celebration with tail-wagging enthusiasm. I decided we would walk to the end of the block to watch the linemen work. He never passes up the opportunity for a walk and we made it to the corner in record time. I couldn't believe my eyes. The trucks were gone! We walked a little further to make sure they hadn't moved farther down the street. Nope. There were no trucks. It was a slow and quiet walk home.It was a particularly hot day today — even hotter than yesterday — and I find myself getting grouchy. I feel like my life is spinning out of control. I want my usual productive and orderly existence back, but instead my days are ruled by what I conceive as hardships and inconveniences. I can't run my computer for more than a few minutes because it is too hot and hard on the equipment. Cooking requires carrying utensils and ingredients outside where I've set up a gas camping stove. And, the laundry... well, it has piled up into smelly mountains that are beginning to permeate the house. I decide that it is time to go to the Laundromat.
I haven't been to a Laundromat in probably 20 years. I've been fortunate enough to have a washer and dryer in my house — a convenience to be sure and to some a luxury. I have only one laundry basket and probably seven loads of laundry, so I break out the tall kitchen trash bags, sorting and stuffing (and sweating). I load them and the laundry detergent in the car when I realize I don't even have any idea how much this will cost me. I grab a $20 bill and head, flashlight in hand, to the back bedroom. This is the youngest daughter's bedroom. She's 16 and you take your life in your hands when you enter her room. Her teenage faults aside, she is the saver in the family and I know I'll find change — lots of it. I exchange the $20 bill for 20 one dollar bills and borrow five dollars in quarters.
After two u-turns, I find the Laundromat and go in to check it out. I have lucked out, because it is fairly clean and not too busy. I begin what seems to be endless trips back and forth from the car to a bank of washers. The first thing I notice is that these washers are half the size of mine, and it will take more loads than I anticipated. The second thing is that they all take quarters only. As I carefully feed my dollars at a time, I wonder how I could not have remembered that? Finally, I have what I hope is enough to feed the $1.50 top loaders or the $2.50 front loaders. While everyone else there seems to be enjoying the television or calmly reading a book, I am a perpetual motion machine... running from washer to dryers to the folding table until my eight loads are either hanging on the multiple hangers I remembered to bring or neatly folded into my one over-stuffed laundry basket. I have to admit that what normally takes all day in one washer and dryer is accomplished in just two hours.
I'm proud of myself and still gloating when I pull back into the subdivision. There are the power trucks again... and wouldn't you know it... I HAVE POWER!
