Too weak for the pit: a rant.
It is now 7 pm, plus a bit, pacific standard time. My humble abode has been without power for 47 hours.
My peaceful little chunk of Oregon suffered a relatively mild windstorm Sunday night. Apparently, mother nature’s blow job caused approximately half the county to go dark. Not sure what happened, the power company says a tree fell on the lines somewhere. My guess? A big gust of wind caused someone somewhere to startle and spill his beer on some piece of delicate electronic equipment, throwing a good chunk of the state into the dark.
The first night it was fine - the kids were just going to bed, so the only difference really is I didn’t have my cpap machine. My wife went to work early, where she used the shower at work. Good for her, but I’m stuck here fixing tree damaqge to my yard.
Last night it snowed, first freeze of the season. Still no power.
Today, still no power, and now no water. I’m on a well and have made damn sure not to turn on a faucet or flush the toilet. I set up the Coleman stove on the counter (I call it Urban Camping), went to fill a pot with water so we can make some soup and tea, and… no water. Fuck. Where in god’s name did the water go? Please, please don’t let there be a frozen pipe somewhere.
Got home from picking up my boys from school, it was 36 fucking degrees In. The. House.
Power company calls, likely won’t get “the lines” fixed until tomorrow. Yesterday, they were putting updates every few hours on their website. Today, nothing. Assholes. More snow is predicted for tonight. Great. Now begins our third night in the cold. I can’t afford a hotel room to keep my children warm.
Right now I’m sitting in my bedroom, buried in blankets, shivering. I’m looking across the river, where the power lines come from. They have power - I can see two yard lights, the ones I see every night. WTF? WHY IS MY POWER NOT ON YET?!
The stuff in my freezer has thawed. How is that possible?! It’s actually colder inside my fucking house than it normally is in my refrigerator.
I have been sleeping without my cpap, so my brain simply is not functioning right. I’m cold and my phone is dying.
I don’t think I’ll be giving my power company a Christmas card this year.