Still no grid power; we’re some of the 175,000+ people in the area who lost power during Saturday’s major storm. About 165k of us have yet to get it back. No standard internet, of course, and cell data is hard to come by as well (some day I will have enough data access for blog photos but that day is not today… or yesterday… or maybe tomorrow?). Trees, light posts and power lines came down here, there and everywhere. We lost several major transmission towers and lines as well, which is complicating the recovery process.
And yet, life without (much) power continues.
On the down side:
- Opening the fridge and/or freezers has become a process in advanced risk assessment.
- It’s Monday, and my internet-based, data-intensive day job is calling (not literally, because, you know, no power, but you get the picture). We’ll see what I can do here from the Land of Olde Time.
- Mr Man is very tired of grinding coffee in a mortar and pestle. He is currently measuring the progress of civilization in terms of how long it takes to do simple (yet obviously critical) tasks like this one.
- I reallllllllly wish I’d downloaded the next Murderbot book before all this happened. Note to self: stop putting things off, just in case. Also, keep your batteries charged and your backups up to date.
- No estimated time for return to normality except that this will be “a multi-day process.” We’ve decided to remain optimistic, because why not.
On the plus side:
- The city and power company folks are working very hard. Go them.
- We’ve been talking about replacing that fence anyway, and its current level of horizontality is a persuasive argument on the side of yes.
- A generous neighbor has a generator we’ve been able to use here and there, and hope to keep our food storage safe* and battery packs charged.
- We still have hot water, a BBQ, fireplace and our lives. Feeling very fortunate in that regard.
* To my brother with expertise in this area, I remember your warnings about spikes in food-borne illness after disasters. We’re being careful!
J.R. Johnson 
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