Tuesday, April 05, 2005
"Welcome to springtime in Ontario"
The power went out Saturday night a little after 10 o'clock. We got it back 2 o'clock Monday afternoon.
It wasn't too bad the first night without heat. We snuggled down in our beds expecting the power to be working in the morning. The lights flicked a few times during the night, but that was it. I called the Hydro One blackout line, but all the automated system would tell me was that a power outage had been reported in our area. All you could hear in our neighbourhood was the sound of generators running.
When we went to bed, the grass was just covered with snow. When we woke up, there was an additional three inches of the white snow. It was packy and it just kept coming. Both my daughter and husband went to work. I went to church only because I got a ride from one of the other choir members (the old pickup is at the wrong end of the bog we call a driveway). The roads were terrible. I couldn't understand why church hadn't been cancelled, but there were quite a few brave souls there considering the conditions.
When I got home, my son was melting snow so he could flush the toilet. This was taking forever. My husband reminded him that there was water in the rain barrels when he got home. The day dragged on. My daughter and I read in the living room. My son and his father played crokinole (sp?) in the bedroom. I made three different dinners because there was nothing else to do. Thank God for propane. I read until it got dark. Thank God for the time change. Then my husband, myself and my son sat in the livingroom listening to the radio by candlelight and talking. I brought him a crank radio (you wind it up) from Radio Shack a couple of Christmases ago just for this kind of occasion. My daughter went to bed early like she usually does and I feel asleep on the couch. It was pretty cool in the house that night but warm enough in bed.
I checked the blackout status line first thing in the morning. The power would be restored by noon. The basement was starting to get wet. Noon came and went with no power. I couldn't get any answers from Hydro One. This is where I got the title line from-the Hydro call centre. They said call back in 30 minutes. Still no answers. We decided to go get a generator. The local feed mill would rent us one for $40/day. We no sooner got home with it when the power came back on.
The first thing we fired up was the computer. My daughter had a final essay due that day that was worth 40% of her mark. Then the furnace to keep my husband happy. My chest freezer which is at least 30 years old was stubborn at first but finally turned over. There were no appliance casualties despite the repeated flickering.
My daughter finished her essay, and we rushed it down to city before the university closed. As we were driving out, I noticed that the check engine light had come on (again!) in my van.
D.
It wasn't too bad the first night without heat. We snuggled down in our beds expecting the power to be working in the morning. The lights flicked a few times during the night, but that was it. I called the Hydro One blackout line, but all the automated system would tell me was that a power outage had been reported in our area. All you could hear in our neighbourhood was the sound of generators running.
When we went to bed, the grass was just covered with snow. When we woke up, there was an additional three inches of the white snow. It was packy and it just kept coming. Both my daughter and husband went to work. I went to church only because I got a ride from one of the other choir members (the old pickup is at the wrong end of the bog we call a driveway). The roads were terrible. I couldn't understand why church hadn't been cancelled, but there were quite a few brave souls there considering the conditions.
When I got home, my son was melting snow so he could flush the toilet. This was taking forever. My husband reminded him that there was water in the rain barrels when he got home. The day dragged on. My daughter and I read in the living room. My son and his father played crokinole (sp?) in the bedroom. I made three different dinners because there was nothing else to do. Thank God for propane. I read until it got dark. Thank God for the time change. Then my husband, myself and my son sat in the livingroom listening to the radio by candlelight and talking. I brought him a crank radio (you wind it up) from Radio Shack a couple of Christmases ago just for this kind of occasion. My daughter went to bed early like she usually does and I feel asleep on the couch. It was pretty cool in the house that night but warm enough in bed.
I checked the blackout status line first thing in the morning. The power would be restored by noon. The basement was starting to get wet. Noon came and went with no power. I couldn't get any answers from Hydro One. This is where I got the title line from-the Hydro call centre. They said call back in 30 minutes. Still no answers. We decided to go get a generator. The local feed mill would rent us one for $40/day. We no sooner got home with it when the power came back on.
The first thing we fired up was the computer. My daughter had a final essay due that day that was worth 40% of her mark. Then the furnace to keep my husband happy. My chest freezer which is at least 30 years old was stubborn at first but finally turned over. There were no appliance casualties despite the repeated flickering.
My daughter finished her essay, and we rushed it down to city before the university closed. As we were driving out, I noticed that the check engine light had come on (again!) in my van.
D.
