Adventure without Leaving Home

The great ice storm of 2007 has come and gone, and Kansas City got off fairly easily. Instead of the big freeze that they predicted, the temperature hovered just a couple degrees above 32. It's probably the only time school's been cancelled for rain. So the streets were fine, but it was cold enough to coat trees and power lines with a quarter inch of ice. One of our trees decided to fall apart, mutilating the gate to our fence in the process; it's still intact enough to keep the dogs from wandering, thankfully, so we can fix it later.

More personally significant is that fact that we woke up to darkness yesterday. I flipped the light switch to the bathroom and nothing happened. I looked around and determined our power was out. So I dug out the flashlight and a candle and got ready for work in the dimness. I tried, but couldn't really read my morning paper.

We're in the habit of not calling the power company when our lights go out, figuring somone else will so why bother them needlessly. After getting to work, however, the wife (who was at home with no school) called to say the neighbors across the street had power so we'd better call. I looked up the number and got their automated system. They asked for my account number, which I didn't have at work, so I waited to be transferred to a real person. The recorded voice told me all operators were busy, try this other number, and hung up on me. I tried the other number and got their automated system. They asked for my account number, which I didn't have at work, so I waited to be transferred to a real person. The recorded voice told me all operators were busy, try the first number, and hung up on me. Then I found a way to ask for help on their web page.

I returned home from work to a candle-lit house. It was 62 degrees. Not wanting to spend the night sitting around uncomfortably twiddling our thumbs, we went to the community center. After taking turns with the laptop, we worked out and showered, then returned home to a dinner of canned tuna and chips. We're hoping if we don't open the fridge or freezer they'll stay cold until the power is back. On the way to the gym we drove around and checked the extent of the outage. Just a few blocks. We figure we're probably not real high on the power company's priority list. It was 59 degrees when we went to bed.

It was 55 degrees when we woke up and again got ready for work in near darkness. I brought my newspaper and breakfast to work a half hour early and sat in the staff lounge for a while. I brought my phone charger to work with me. I'll be eating lunch out. I know it's entirely possible to live happily without power, but it's amazing how unprepared we are these days. I hope we don't have to deal with this too much longer.