Not quite prepared for this week-long winter storm!

Well, I did KINDA prepare... I did fill up water bottles and a couple of jugs on Monday, and I did do grocery shopping early Sunday (among my usual stuff, I specifically got multiple cans of beans and, most importantly, cigarettes). But LIGHT-wise, I was woefully UNprepared!

Last Thursday, I saw on the news that power outages were expected, so I gathered up what flashlights I had in the house... Very pitiful. Two were samples had been given out at trade shows or something (given to me by mom and a co-worker years ago). The third was a small flashlight I'd bought myself years ago but that no longer worked, even after changing batteries. I jerry-rigged it with tape to keep the circuits (or whatever they're called) rubbing against each other, but I still had to constantly press the "on" button to keep the weak light going.

 

So Thursday I immediately went and ordered a camping flashlight/lantern and plenty of batteries from Amazon. Supposed to have arrived this past Monday or Tuesday. Still not here (Wednesday). Delivery delayed because of weather! :)

Once the storm hit Sunday evening, I had power up until Monday at 6pm. Then it went out completely (along with no gas for cooking and no Internet) for the next 24 hours. (Whatever happened to the alleged planned "rolling outages" for about 1 to 2 hours?!) I basically spent the dark hours of that time lying bundled up on the couch, reading my new Sylvia Plath book "Red Comet" using the tiny flashlights, with 4 or 5 candles to lend a bit of glow to the living room (and help me see in the bathroom!). (The cats were a little freaked out by the weird shadows everywhere!)

Food-wise: I tried not to open the fridge/freezer doors too many times to conserve the cool temps inside. By Tuesday afternoon, though, I was about to load all the perishables up in a plastic bin and set them outside to keep them cold, but fortunately electricity came back on Tuesday about 5pm. (And it's still on Wednesday at 10pm, as I write this, thank goodness, though news reports say power could still go out again between now and the upcoming storm coming late tonight.)

On Tuesday around 2pm, my apartment complex turned off all of the water----it still is not back on. Luckily, I'd filled up lots of bottles and jugs the weekend before, so I still have plenty of drinking water for me and pets. But, frankly, I'm starting to smell! I need a hot shower!! (Or at least the ability to wash my now-gritty hands. I have managed to brush my teeth.)

For toilet flushing, I didn't fill up the bathtub early, like the news recommended, but when the water was still able to at least drip out of the faucets, I did fill up a couple of popcorn bowls with water and I still have them sitting there in the tub. I also, upon local news recommendation, scooped up some snow/ice in another big bowl and am waiting for it to melt and help out. Luckily, I have two toilets, and there were the two "free" flushes after the water first went out! :) Thanks also to the one guy on the local news who told me where exactly I was supposed to pour this extra water! (I didn't know if it was directly in the toilet, or in the tank---turns out, either one should work.)

The bad news today (Wednesday) was that my central heating stopped working. The air was still blowing, but blowing cold. My apt complex gave me a very tiny space heater. During the 24 hours with no power at all, the apartment was down to about 53 degrees. Right now, with the space heater, it's at 59. (I'm lucky, though, compared to some people I've seen on the news whose indoor temps have gone down to about 40!)

 

 

So...it's been interesting! Despite currently having no heat and water, I'm very grateful for at least electricity for light and so I can watch TV. Oh, and, after not drinking all week, today I bundled up with my old NYC red rain boots and made a mile-long trek to the nearest gas station on Burnet Road that had power and sold beer. (My usual corner store across the street is still shut down.) A minor Triumph of the Will: "Dammit, I WILL find beer!" (The 10-year-old rain boots proved tread-worthy but CRACKED with age---I got home with wet socks. And now I've ordered new red rain boots for next time.)

This all has also served as somewhat of a palate cleanser. Lying in the cold and dark reading Plath by flashlight/candlelight was peaceful. Not having obnoxious kids running around right outside my window was peaceful. (The ubiquitous kids, while non-existent on Sunday and Monday because of the super-cold, made their annoying reappearance outside my window on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons when the cold was not quite so extreme. Not for long, but long enough to remind me what type of "frolicking" was in store in the spring and summer, when the daylight hours extend to nearly 9pm. I need to GET AWAY FROM HERE.)