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Post by 3piggles on Oct 31, 2017 13:52:08 GMT
I'm back. We had a major storm come through Sunday night, with torrential rains and gale force winds. We lost electricity, Internet and cable around 2 a.m. Monday morning, and got it back around 1 a.m. this morning. So no communications. We still have debris all over the yard in tree branches and pine cones that were blown down by the wind. The whole town was out of power, and something like 300K people in all without power. Our daughter was without power, and said it was being reported by the electric company that it could be a few days before they were all back up and running. A coworker of hubby's said they would told it could be a week, in their city, before everyone had electricity again. We have a built-in generator, as do many of us in this neighborhood, which automatically starts if the power stops. When I woke up around 2:30 yesterday morning, I could hear all of the generators running, and knew we had lost power. When I woke up this morning about 6:45, it was so quiet, I knew the power was back I don't know about lights in this town, but where we used to live, there were tours of the houses that did a lot with Christmas lights. We just like to get out after dark, and driver around looking at the lights on the houses. Our cities and towns don't do lights any longer, as Christmas is a religious holiday, and towns are run on tax money, which can't be spent on anything religious. A lot of organizations do lights, though, especially churches. Some also raised the money to pay for the lights in the downtown areas, so the cost didn't come from tax money. Nothing religious, just really pretty lights and wreaths. Last year we took our daughter and family on the lights tour at the auto racing track near here. It was well worth the entry fee, and had a lot of pull off areas for taking pictures. I think it was $25/vehicle, and we had 5 people in ours, so only $5/person. Not bad at all. I do love the lights
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Post by Bean on Nov 1, 2017 8:58:46 GMT
Oh crikey, that sounds dramatic. Glad your power is back on now (hurray for your generator), and hope the tidying up isn't too much work. Has your daughter got her power back yet?
The track lights sound fun, and well worth that price if you have a full car!
Oh I've just realised it's November - I wonder if Shades has already sorted the new thread?!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 1, 2017 9:50:52 GMT
It is lovely seeing everyone's lights on at Christmas time Piggles love, all the trees and windows lit up. I remember when I was a child looking forward to seeing one of particular beauty in a neighbour's window. Yes, November 1st today Bean sweetie, guess what is getting nearer LOL!
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Nov 1, 2017 9:53:57 GMT
Oh I didn't think you'd celebrate Thanksgiving, Jo, but you have some lovely American friends so I totally understand you wanting to join in - good for you!
You didn't mean something else did you?!
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 1, 2017 10:04:12 GMT
Sorry Bean hunni, I am a bit confused. I was talking about Christmas lights?
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by Bean on Nov 1, 2017 10:16:36 GMT
Sorry Jo, I was just joking with you saying guess what time was getting closer, and pretending I thought you meant Thanksgiving instead of 'you know what'!
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 1, 2017 19:55:07 GMT
No, my daughter doesn't have her power back on, yet. One of hubby's coworkers lives in one of the larger cities, and they've been told it could be a week before they get power restored. Meanwhile, gas sales are skyrocketing, as most portable generators run on gasoline. Considering how often we lose power around here, I'm really surprised everyone with a single family house doesn't have some sort of generator.
I'm caught up on the laundry, which between my back problems and the power outage, I was really behind on doing. We have a generator, and it will run the washer and dryer, but the higher the load we put on it, the more propane it uses, so I kept the load to a minimum.
We had quite a few TV shows recorded, and we could still watch them, even though the cable was out, so we weren't totally without anything to watch. It was actually a good chance to get some shows off the recorder.
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Post by Bean on Nov 2, 2017 9:15:23 GMT
Sounds like you're well set up to cope with the outages. We'd be lost as it happens so rarely here that hardly anyone thinks to be prepared. We had a gas fire fitted in our living room, as although our central heating is gas too, the boiler won't work without electricity. We don't use the fire much, but part of my thinking for having it was that if we did have an extended power cut in winter, we'd have at least one source of heat in the house.
I hope your daughter gets her power back on soon.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 2, 2017 9:20:06 GMT
Sorry Bean love, I see it now, I am such a dozy dope LOL! I am glad your power is back on Piggles sweetie, we always tend to have quite a bit recorded too but we are lucky in that our power rarely goes off. The rural areas tend to have problems and I would still rather live in one of those than here, it would be worth it. Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 2, 2017 20:33:58 GMT
I checked the electric companys listings of power outages, and only 5% of the customers in my daughters town have power restored. That really surprises me, because much of the town is either commercial or large subdivisions of houses, so major electric trunks to get lots of people's power restored.
She has at least one gas grill, and it's not raining, at least not now, so if she wants, she can cook on the gas grill. I'm not sure she will, as it means going out of her way in a way she doesn't want, as opposed to getting take out.
She also posted on Facebook that a chain of fitness places, Planet Fitness, was opening their showers to anyone who didn't have power, so people could take showers. I thought that was really nice of them.
Back in the early 90s, we lost power for several days because of a hurricane, and I cooked everything on the gas grill on the porch. I made brownies, roasts, coffee, you name it. It's a burner. It's an oven. It just takes some watching to keep the temperature constant when roasting or baking, and to not overcook things. We actually ate pretty well. It was the hot showers and baths I missed!
We had a generator back then, too. It ran for about the first 8 hours, broke a part, and was totally useless. First time we'd needed it, and it was useless. I had filled the bathtub with water, which I heated on the gas grill, so we could take sponge baths in the sink, or wash our hair. We went to my parents in Massachusetts one time to shower and really get clean!
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Post by Bean on Nov 3, 2017 9:25:16 GMT
That's great that some businesses are reaching out to help people. When we were having our bathroom done, we were without a bath or shower for a couple of weeks, and although we were lucky as we could still wash and had friends' houses we could visit to take showers, it's really not the same as being able to do it at home! I shower each morning - it's part of my waking up routine. I felt half asleep every day without that! That must have been grim when your generator broke too - I bet it's a funny story to look back on but not so much fun at the time!
I'm glad your daughter has the grill so she can cook - if she decides to get takeout instead, that's her call! That must mean quite a few local businesses have their power, and it'll be a good boost for them.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 3, 2017 9:38:35 GMT
It is the showers I would have missed too Piggles love, I have t have at least two a day. Thank goodness for the gas grill, it sounds as if you did really well with to hunni. We are supposed to be having our bathroom done Bean sweetie but they wait until a few need doing and then start the work. We also will be without hot showers for a while when they eventually get around to doing it.
Hugs Jo xx
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 3, 2017 17:39:01 GMT
My concern for you, Jo, is that council-hired help won't work very fast, or even very well, so you could be without your amenities for a while. That's not good for you. If we had a bathroom redo, we could still use the other bathroom, but you only have the one Yes, having the generator croak when we needed it the most was a real pain in the backside, especially since it took about 8 weeks to get it fixed. The repair shop was overwhelmed with broken generators to fix, because of the extent and duration of the power outages. The generator we have now is designed to run for days without failing, and it's connected to the installer, so if there is a problem, it will show on the display at the installer, and they can get out here to fix it before it becomes a major problem. At our age, and my health, we need that. Back in the early 90s, not so much. Daughter got her power restored yesterday afternoon, so they're back in business.
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Post by jolovespiggies on Nov 4, 2017 9:22:21 GMT
Piggles hunni, thank you so much for your concern but we will just have to manage. They were pretty quick when they did our kitchen so hopefully the same will be said fo the bathroom. I am glad your daughter has her power back on.
Hugs JO xx
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