Around 200,000 customers are still without power four days after Thursday’s wind storm, but I’m not one of them. My power came up around 7PM tonight, and my cat is damn thankful.
Personally, I’d like to thank all the people who offered to put me up over the past few days, but I felt if I were to write credibly about the outage I couldn’t abandon my neighbors. Or my cat. I also want to thank the several people who offered to lend me a generator (except for the guy who insisted I run it in my basement.) And of course, I want to thank all the linemen who have been pulling long shifts to bring heat and light to the rest of us.
More later, but for now I desperately just want to climb into a warm bed and watch some TV.
UPDATE:
I woke up this morning to find my house at 52 degrees. I can’t tell you how nice it is to have things back to normal.
UPDATE, UPDATE:
I just took a long, hot, wasteful shower, and then threw out about $150 worth of food. I feel like an American again.
What’s on at this hour of the night except infomercials?
Skagit at 1
Try DishNetwork. I have 200 channels. Two DVR’s to record what I can’t get to at the actual broadcast time and on nights when I am not tired, like tonight, the menu is extensive.
I see Rob went to bed, er, passed out.
2 Rob went out to scavenge in dumpsters.
Goldy, I do hope you realize this is only Dec. 19, winter hasn’t even started yet, and there may be a half dozen more power outages between now and spring. Get a generator! It can’t heat the house, but it can heat water and food, run a few lights, and run a TV and computer (not necessarily all at the same time).
Congratulations on getting your power back. Hopefully the rest of the region has power soon.
Doesn’t your cat have a fur coat? If rabbits can tolerate being outside in sub-freezing temperatures, what’s wrong with a cat being in a 36 degree house? My cats were okay throughout all of this, even though my house only got down to 44 degrees. And they still wanted to go outside periodically, even though it was getting down to 25 at night!
Actually, it would help to get more cats. Each cat generates the heat equivalent of about 10 watts. And if you just have one cat, he/she is going to be lonely without feline companionship.
True about cats. And two cats might make a more intimidating presence in the face of that despotic dog of yours.
I wonder if it’s power problems that are keeping the righties worried over the Bush library?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....h-library/
Even some righties don’t want anything to do with Bush. And of course, the notion that Bush would have a library is full of irony since the fucking idiot doesn’t read.
We were fortunate. We got power back at 5:30 PM Friday. However, one fun fact that has emerged is that a lot of phone service is going down and will continue to go down.
I used to have very old, decrepit telco wiring in my neighborhood, circa 1942: paper insulation and 36 pair junctions. . . .When it rained I lost my dial tone. . . .
Fiive or six years ago they upgraded my service and now I get nearly 56 kbs on my dialup.
HOWEVER, I am told that they run fibre optic out to a junction box a mile or two from my home, where it is then tranlated to standard signals and on. Then fibre optic junction box only has backup battery power for twelve hours.
Qwest won’t touch the lines until after all the power line work is done. . . .
Does your house take a long time to heat up (better check the windows and insulation), or do you keep your temperature at 52 degrees? Poor cat!
Richard @11,
I turn my furnace off at night. On very cold nights I use an electric space heater in my bedroom. My house isn’t that well insulated, but it’s not huge, so it doesn’t take long to heat up… to my usual daytime Winter temperature of 60 degrees.
what a whiner: grow up and act like a man,,, unless of course you are finally proving you are void of any original thought and whining fulfills your word couNt requirements.
A master: Jenn of the Jungle
B>
Screw Politically Correct B.S.
BITCH SLAPPING LIBERALS SINCE 2001!!!
Mission statement:
“Once again, we see that “tolerant” liberals are the LEAST tolerant people around. Their statement can be reduced to “Your beliefs are fine, as long as they don’t include the belief that my beliefs are wrong. However, MY belief that YOU are wrong must not only be tolerated, but accepted and supported by all.” – Some guy named Dan
Hillary Clintoon: Idiot Savant
Seriously, just when she thinks we’re not buying her idiocy, she comes out with sweet little gems like these she knows the psycho liberal fem nazi’s will eat up.
“This morning on NBC’s “Today” show, Sen. Clinton was asked about her 2002 vote and offered a slightly evolved answer. “Obviously, if we knew then what we know now, there wouldn’t have been a vote,” she said in her usual refrain before adding, “and I certainly wouldn’t have voted that way.” -Read more stupid Clintoon blather here.
She obviously never listened to her own husband, though that’s not shocking. I for one am not going to drink her Kool-Aid….
If she won’t listen to herself:
“In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members … It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons.”
– Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002 (Math may not be my forte, but at the time of this quote, Bush had been in office a bit less than two years… that leaves two of the 4 years unaccounted for.)
Won’t she listen to Mr. Blowjob?
“If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction program.”
– President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998
Or her dear friend Nancy Pel-Ho-Si’:”Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process.”
– Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998 (Oooops, long before Bush.)
“Hussein has … chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies.”
– Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999
“Iraq’s search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power.”
– Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
“We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.”
– Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002(***Years Teddy, Bush at this point had only been in office for a little over a year, your use of plurals is interesting.
Keep trying to dig your way out, you morally bankrupt scum sucking bottom feeders. Your party faithful may buy your crap, but those of us with the ability to reason, and think independently, aren’t buying. Go sell your bullsh*t sandwiches elsewhere.
THANKS JENN,BUT A LIBERAL IS AN IDIOT WHETHER SHE’S A CARPET BAGGING SENATOR OR A WHINING ‘BLOGGER’… IT’S ALL ABOUT THE EXPEDIENCY OF THE MOMENT IN THE QUEST FOR POWER.
KIRO’s Dave Ross just listed the areas without power and when they should be able to expect power and that last group won’t get it until Saturday at the earliest. Wow!
Goldy, don’t forget about the rest of us (virtually across the #$$!@# street!) who are still in the dark. What an incompetent utility!
13 I for one am not going to drink her Kool-Aid….
Why not? You drink the neocon Kool-aid, and ours doesn’t kill you nearly as fast or painfully.
You have the power!
I am surprised at the amount of food people report throwing out. The modern refrigerator or freezer is a well-insulated box. It loses heat s-l-o-w-l-y. If it’s kept in a cold room (not too hard to arrange for most outage victims this time of year), it loses heat v-e-r-y slowly. Insulate it further with blankets, newspapers, etc., and it loses heat e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y slowly.
Since we knew the storm was coming, we had time to bank coldness in our fridges. Turn them down to colder settings, fill available space with thermal mass. (2-liter soda bottles full of water work great. Add a spoonful of sugar or salt “antifreeze” if you want to get fancy. Add and chill one bottle at a time.)
Finally, and most importantly, NEVER OPEN THE DOOR TO SEE IF IT’S STILL COLD IN THERE. Storm prep’s should include survival rations outside the fridge, starting a couple hours before the anticipated outage.
When power returns, remove any added thermal mass. Inspect and triage contents. Unless you have a total meltdown on your hands, most marginal contents can be thrown in the oven, microwave and/or stewpot for instant leftovers, interdicting the spoilage cycle.
80 years ago, a well-kept ice-box held food at recommended temperatures of 50-55F.
80 years before that, “room temperature” in a well-kept household was ~55F.
last summer, gas prices in this area were well above $3.00 per gallon. “Market forces” the oil industries siad. “We had to transition from winter grades to summer grades of gas”. Then finally started falling just a few weeks before the November election, shortly after studies were published which showed a close correlation between the price of gas and the fortunes of the incumbent party at the polls.
The day before the November elections, I filled up my tank with gas in Everett for about $2.23 per gallon. But if we are to follow the reasoning previously stated by the oil industry, wouldn’t prices remain high as they converted back to winter gasoline blends and home heating oil production?
Then there was the election. The day after the election, the price had jumped ten cents a gallon across the board, region-wide.
Today, five weeks after the election, I filled up my tank in Everett (at the same station) for $2.63 per gallon.
I’ve never been a big believer in conspiracy theories, but there is a pretty big stink surrounding these “coincidences”. Shortly after the new Democratic Congress convenes in January, a Congressional committee should issue subpoenas to oil industry executives, and this time make them testify under oath.
Forget the testimony and tax the hell out of ’em.
Goldy,
My offer included a LONG cord with instuctions to leave it out in the yard, with exhaust facing away from house. We need you (even moderate Republicans like myself) and one has to watch out for the city folks like you.
Every one of us needs to check on friends who are still in the dark. Take em some Starbucks coffee at the least!
I just called my house and my answering machine answered. That means either:
a) My cat has learned how to start the generator
or……..
b) I now have power.
I never thought I’d love the sound of that idiotic machine.