The Friday Five

Last week was a wild weather week with Hurricane Irene making a run through the Bahamas and then up the Eastern Seaboard.By the time it reached Massachusetts (Sunday 28. August 2011) , it had been downgraded to a tropical storm. Thank God. Damage from the tropical storm was bad enough. Lots of rain and wind in my area. The usual over-flow of the interior drain all over the basement floor (just the area where the washer and dryer used to live.)  We were keeping up with the seepage, and then as I was emptying the yellow shop vac, the lights went out.  We were prepared. Himself cranked up the generator and plugged in the large sump pump. Plugged in the other shop vac, and we waited for the lights to come on. Usually when we lose electricity, it's not for more than an hour or two. The lights went out at 11 am on Sunday. Came back on at 1:30p Sunday afternoon. Whew! Or so I thought and then at 2:30p the lights went out. At least the rain had let up and no more water seeping in the basement, but  five things I struggle to deal with when the electricity goes out.

1. I live in a rural area. We own our well, and we have a septic system. The well is 440 feet deep. When the electricity goes out, the pump doesn't work. No well pump. No water flowing into the house. No water to flush the toilet! I had buckets of water standing by to use. As I tweeted, "Damnit, Jim. I'm a Little Princess, not a pioneer woman!"

2. At least this storm wasn't during the winter, and we didn't have to worry about no heat. We didn't have to worry about pipes bursting. But no furnace means

3. no hot water. No hot water to wash dishes. (No big deal, I had paper cups, paper plates, and plastic utensils on hand) but no hot water means

4. No shower. Because we had the generator, we brought the microwave downstairs, plugged it in, and we were able to heat a bowl of hot water to bathe in. It got the job done, but wasn't very satisfying.

5. Since the electricity was off for 3 days, we lost some food that was in the fridge. At least we didn't lose the food in the freezer. I had called my friend, Red, to see how she was faring. She has a generator, too, but hers is hooked up to run her fridge, 2 outlets in the kitchen, the furnace, the well, and the freezer in the garage. Red had an empty shelf in the garage freezer so Monday, we packed the freezer stuff up in a cooler and went to Red's. She also told us to bring our containers over. We could fill them with pool water to use for flushing.

We were luckier than most. Red is a godsend. The girlies and Himself were home. We had a generator and could plugs things into it: a microwave to heat water for tea and to heat up leftovers. We could charge the phone and the iPad. (priorities). Calls to National Grid and following them on Twitter kept us up to date. Company reports stated that some people wouldn't be getting their power turned on until the end of this week. We were luckier than most. The electricity came back on at 11am on Tuesday. Red's electricity came on at 2:30 Tuesday afternoon. Some people still don't have electricity.

When the lights go out, what do you miss most?