power issues

Last night while Doug was at the market and I was working on the laptop the power went out. It was a little after 7pm, and we were on the fringes of a huge thunderstorm, according to the weather map on weather.com.

So, I didn't think anything of it. The power goes off all the time. Doug brought the food home and we quickly jammed essentials into the freezer and a few things into the fridge. The salad items could wait. The cheese could wait... butter hopefully wouldn't melt to liquid before the power returned.

We settled down to wait. Geoff asked a lot of questions about pioneers and settlers and their lifestyle... Doug started the grill so we could have dinner. It was about 7:30.

By 8:30 we still didn't have power. I was getting kind of stir crazy in the hot house and opted to go to Blockbuster to just drop off a movie that I hadn't viewed yet but knew it would be overdue momentarily. I quickly realized that two doors up they had power, and across the street they had power. But we didn't have any. I then wondered if the power drought was us popping a circuit breaker.

So I took a little ride through the neighborhood.

On my street, five or six houses were without power. Everyone else in town was juiced. Hmmm. That's interesting.

I then began to wonder about my neighbors, if they knew that the power was on elsewhere, and we were a little oasis of darkness in the midst of an electrified burgh. So I called the police dispatch to ask if there was an emergency number for the power company, I'd like to report our power out. The dispatcher told me that the repair guys were on the way. She asked how extensive it was. I told her and she said she'd make note. She said there were other clusters in the area that were out, on Gardner Street and Seven Star.

I came home and got the kids and took them out for ice cream. We'd been trying to convice Geoff that the pioneers lived by candle light and cooked on open flame too, and he should pretend he was a pioneer. But he wasn't having it. He was lamenting "Oh, there will never be technology again!" Doug and I try not to laugh in his face when he is like this but we couldn't resist. The drama of no power! I can't play video games! my life as I know it is over! It's like the damn Planet of the Apes!

Going out for ice cream cheered him up, and he wanted to know if pioneers went out for ice cream. As often as they played video games.

When we arrived home the electric guys were up on the pole working their magic. Within minutes the lights came on, then went off. Came on again, and as quickly went off. Each time a cheer and a moan from my kids. And then they came on and stayed on and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

I, especially, because Real World/Road Rules Inferno II was about to come on. And I really wanted to see Tonya stick it to the bitches on her team...

Oh, technology! Where would I be without you!

Anyway -- the power returned, life goes on. Neighbor girl told me that her parents threw out all their food from the fridge last night because of the power outage. I was stunned. The power was out for three hours. It wasn't the Great Blackout of 2005 or anything. We kept our fridge closed. I figured if the power was out in the morning that we'd have to chuck some things. But all the food?

Wow.