2022 Life Logs, Day 30: Power is Back On
Date: Sunday, January 30, 2022
Weather: Cold, Sunny Day; High Temp 20, Low Temp 9 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Hallelujah! My power is back on. I am so grateful to all of the power company (Eversource) workers that work so hard to get the power back on. I am also grateful that Eversource constantly sent me texts, letting me the status of work in my area. This being my first official blizzard experience in many years caught me a bit underprepared. Winter Storm Kenan taught me a few lessons.
1. One little battery-powered lantern is not enough light at night when there is a power outage.
2. Have a reliable back-up heating system and make sure you have plenty of fuel for days of an outage.
3. Don’t wait until the last minute to buy supplies and expect your local hardware store to have everything you need.
4. Be mentally prepared for multiple days of an outage.
5. Think ahead about the safety of pets that are temperature sensitive.
6. Come up with a way to charge my computer.
You also need to have plenty of food, but I know that. I thought my little lantern and headlamp would be enough light and it was for enough to get by. But I could see that more than a night or two like that would be depressing. I have a small Mr. Heater propane heater which works great for my small place, but I only got enough fuel for one day. That was enough this time, but it could have been much longer. I won’t be so cheap next time. I was convinced that if we did have a power outage, it would be for a short period of time. Best to prepare for multiple days and be delighted when it is only one. I totally forgot to think about my tropical fish. One night at 50 degrees was too much for them. I lost both of my glass fish that I have had since I first got my aquarium. They were super hardy, but obviously cold sensitive. I also lost one of my four neon tetras. I feel so sad that I didn’t think ahead. I don’t know if there is a battery-powered heater for aquariums, but there must be something like that out there. I used my computer all day yesterday because I was writing. It ran out of battery power by bedtime last night. I know I used to charge my computer in my car, but that was long ago, and I couldn’t find the right connectors. I will be better prepared in the future.
Heather and Jed are still dealing with their furnace and circuit breaker issues, but they were able to get professional help and are hopeful parts and repairs can be made soon. In the meantime, they are heating their house with space heaters just enough to keep things and themselves from freezing. They came over this afternoon to help clear the entrance to my driveway for which I am very grateful.
While they were digging things out, like my car, they discovered that I had a completely flat front tire on the passenger side. How that happened I have no idea, but Jed put on the spare and will take the tire to be (hopefully) repaired tomorrow.
After shoveling, Sam and Jonah went inside but Ollie stayed out to play in the now—climbing snow mountains, making a snow lounge chair, and finally burying himself in the snow. All this while wearing his very cute ski mask.
Finally, just as the sun went down, they were making great progress when the truck evidently overheated. Another truck came and did one swath but couldn’t really do more with the other truck in the driveway. But they got enough done that my neighbor Shirley could come home from Peter and Karen (Shirley’s niece) Baranowski’s. With the storm coming, she went to stay with them on Friday evening and yesterday through the storm. Like all of us, she was anxious to get home to her own bed.
I heard late in the day that the Woodins got their power restored. I know I’ll sleep better tonight knowing we are all safe and warm tonight. Like Heather and Jed, they have issues that need to be dealt with, but having power gets them one step closer.
