04.17.07
This weather sucks
Saturday was rain and fog. Sunday was fog and rain. Monday was 24+ hours of 30+ MPH winds. Monday night was…darkness. Somewhere, a spark happened and we & many of our neighbors ended up 17 hours without power. When Denise and I woke up Tuesday morning at 7, Allegheney Power was “investigating” the power loss situation.
So, Denise lightly washed up and dressed while I detached the garage door from the chain by pulling the dangling rope, then hefted the door up so she could go to work. Then I went and lightly washed…and ran out of water when it came time to brush my teeth (we have a well and small tank.) So I got dressed, unhitched the other garage door and moved the Blazer into the drive way. Since both garage doors were detached from the chain, I had to go back in the garage, lock the inside door, then go out the back door, then proceeded to hop in the Blazer and drive to Apple Mountain Garage and convenience store to buy some breath mints and a cup of coffee.
During the power loss, the propane fireplace worked though without the fan running, it didn’t seem to be too effective. Also got another few hour’s use out of our Mr. Heater, a portable heater than runs on those 1 lb. propane tanks and has that ceramic plate with hundreds of holes in it. It totally rocks.
While at work, Allegheney Power’s automated system called the house, which kicks to my cell phone because I switched off the surge protector to the cable modem and VoIP router before leaving for work (thinking to further protect my equipment in the event of a surge.) It asked me if power was restored to the house. The menu didn’t have a “How the hell should I know I’m at work” option so I just hung up. I figured if they wanted to know bad enough, they could drive by my place and check the meter.
This is the second power loss that lasted more than 6 hours since we moved here. I’m going to splurge and buy a whole-house generator. Lowe’s and Home Depot sell the exact same thing (though under a different name - go figure) for around $2,000. They run on propane, which is a bonus because we already have propane service. I’m no longer going to go to bed when it’s less than 50 degrees inside!
