Tag Archives: Power outage

Dad used to say you knew you were in power when you brought nothing to the board room. To this day I do not know why Queen Elizabeth II brings her purse throughout Buckingham Palace. I keep mine on a hook by the door, with the dog’s leashes.

Aside from the thief they caught a couple of weeks ago who was vandalizing our fellow residents, I don’t know why I would sit in our living room with my purse.

I’ll give the Queen some leeway here because she loves her Corgi’s but am certain their leashes are not on a hook by the front door. Nor her handbag of choice that day.

Dad said if you’re in charge you just show up, not with a briefcase or sheaf of papers or laptop.

My husband asked to accompany me to the grocery store yesterday to get out of the house after work. I let him drive my car. Inside the grocery he stared down at his new iPhone and walked down an aisle looking for Indonesian soy sauce, that I can only get on Amazon Prime.

I found what we needed and looked for him and there he was, 100 feet away staring at his phone, looking for Indonesian soy sauce. So much for going outdoors and helping the wife!

My husband has many technical books. He’s a physicist and self-taught software engineer. He used to bring a bunch of books to work and place at his desk. Now they’re all on the shelf. I do cooking recipes and he does numerical recipes. All he brings to the table is himself. No data-filled briefcase, no books or laptop or spreadsheets. It’s just him. Take him or leave him.

I am lucky to have been with him over 14 years, yes I chose the plus column. The physicist and the bleeding-heart non-profit consultant have been together with their dear dog for many years. He says I picked him up in a bar. It was lunch a week after 9/11 and we were all talking over burgers at TGI Friday’s.

We exchanged numbers and I threw his away. He called the next evening, opened his car door and took my hand, that was it. Years later he sold his car to a colleague. When we moved away we had a party and I asked the owner if I could say goodbye to our car. It had a baby seat in the back, definitely not ours. I looked through the window and thought of our life together beginning with him taking my hand and never letting go. I hope that spirit is still with the car…….

Please live your life. I denied mine, embraced it, then settled down after 40. A happy camper I am, would say Yoda. To the table, take trust, Dee

The “Wichita Linemen” (homage to Glen Campbell in the 1969 True Grit) were here this evening. It’s two degrees above zero right now and we’ve had no power for the past couple of hours. Usually I turn on the “fire” aka “heatilator” for 10-15 minutes to take the chill off and have the heat set at 68 degrees.

I’d just finished baking a partial ham, par-boiling and sauteeing some organic potatoes and zucchini when the power went out. We’ve three candles and tea light vessels, a bag of replacement tea lights, a lighter, Jim’s “miner’s lamp” for grilling and late-night walks with the dog and one more thing in our favor, the fireplace was ON.

There is no way to turn the fireplace on except by electricity. Once on, it’s gas. So the downstairs was warm. The power came back on about 15 minutes ago and I’m keeping the fire going for a while until I know it won’t go off again.

Let’s see, at five degrees I wouldn’t be overly concerned about keeping food fresh. I’d conserve cell phone batteries and make sure I could top them up in the car. Luckily we both have full tanks and cars in good repair. We’ve enough winter clothing to withstand nearly anything. It was so cold this morning that I wore ski pants to walk the dog. Then I wore silk long undies under my clothes most of the day, even inside.

I wouldn’t be so concerned about the dog, as she has so much undercoat that it sheds everywhere and she still has enough. The pipes would freeze, of course. That would put a damper on things.

So it’s good to know that the power company cared just a bit about the 2,200 of us who were without power for several hours this evening. Jim and I had a romantic candle-lit dinner and now I get to write this! It’s always an adventure living here. May you not be at two degrees and lose all your electricity. One thing, we did not panic and had a nice dinner. Cheers, Dee