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OMG. Talk about the ice storm that stomped all over the city and left most of us as shivering and miserable wretches? Are we suddenly characters in a Dickens novel? Because that was a miserable experience. ::shudders::
So here I was, blithely going about my Saturday, not really doing anything (once again, road conditions kept me from going outside), but definitely much too lazy to wash my hair. As I was being picked up nearly an hour later past my customary time, I said to myself, “Self, don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to wash your hair in the morning.” Bwahaha. Joke was definitely on Self as the power got zapped before 11 p.m. Saturday night. So what else could I do but go to bed, setting the alarm for 6 a.m.
Surprisingly, I slept wonderfully, even without heat, as the outside temps weren't too bad. I even woke up five minutes before the alarm. But, when I was walking between the main room and into the kitchen and bathroom, I was wondering WHY my slippers were making gloppy sounds? Uh ... blondie, are those footprints IN THE CARPET? Wet footprints? Why, yes, they were. So ... not only NO heat or power (though thankfully the water heater is gas, so there was plenty of hot water, not that I was going to actually get in the shower with cold room temps), I also had a flooding problem that soaked not only into the rug but also all of the things I'd had on the floor. Like my autoharp, lying flat. SMH. And my CD collection, though that was protected by the case. But, then, there was also one of my ::coughs:: filing cabinets, aka my black lace purse with my documents and checkbook. Uh ... make that a very soggy checkbook. And my new purse (luckily, the soft leather is embossed, so there doesn't appear to be any damage). Plus, plus, plus. Gee, blondie, are you having a fun and relaxing Sunday morning yet?
Mar-- (the owner) came down to see how I'd survived the night. Ha! She and I managed to pry up the carpet from under the bed and computer and dragged it into the laundry room. Just as well as I didn't care for beige (though it does offer some insulating properties against cold rising from the slate floor).
Anyway, speaking of life savers, I was so thrilled that I had bought that lantern/flashlight. It made life bearable. My ride came and I had to be very careful just walking a few steps to the minivan. Well, it was delightfully warm in church, as the power outage hadn't affected them. But attendance was extremely sparse. Consequently, we zipped through the fastest service ever, being done before noon. Then I asked the guys at the Info Centre if they could plug my cellphone charger because – naturally – it had died Friday night. ::groans:: Well, I got a bit of a charge in less than 30 minutes because my driver was earlyish. ::sighs:: Do I really have to come home? I'd also asked church-John if he might take me shopping later but the poor man had brunch with visitors and then a Christmas party. So no hope of shopping. Mar-- was waiting for me when I got home. She'd sent me a few messages, hoping I could find somebody to stay with overnight because she was heading out herself to spend the night with a friend who did have power (but only had room for one guest). Well, even if I'd wanted to go elsewhere, I had no way of contacting anybody – what with a dead cellphone. And whoever it was would have to come pick me up, driving very slowly and patiently on streets with many fallen branches (some crushing cars), dangerously low-slung power lines and just a generally miserable day. Mar-- also suggested we go out to grab a hot meal as she'd had basically nothing and I'd just had cereal & milk and a glass of juice for brekkie. But, when she realized that nothing was open, she just set out to her friend's place. She was still worried about me, but I said I'd be fine. I tried to reassure her that I preferred to sleep in my own bed, yadda-yadda. So she left and I was allll alone.
Before we lost daylight, I changed my bed linens to my Christmas red flannels. Oh, do I create a cozy nest! I doubled the flat sleet (Queen size) and put a Double on top, plus my Irish tweed cape and finally my comforter. I wore my leggings and socks from church to bed, along with the heavy cotton shell, my black velour top and finally my soft, thick capelet. But, wait. That's not all in this fashion statement, lol. I wore an angora hat and wool gloves. Now I was definitely set for survival mode.
Surprisingly, I ate very little during the outage. Well, I managed a mayo/salmon salad with a chopped tomato. And I drank lots of liquids. I dozed on and off through the hours. Mar-- said she'd call me at 8. Well, guess what: I had no cellphone service or else it said “Emergency calls only”. So I texted her to say that I was okay. And then I slept some more.
I'd flicked on the bedside lamp just in case. When it came to life (as did the furnace!) at 12:40 a.m., I woke up instantly. But-but-but, it was a reprieve of ONLY one second. Then it was back to black. I pulled out “The Shack” and decided to try to read with my lit magnifier. Imagine my muted amusement as the narrator talks about his own predicament during an ice storm. After a chapter, I got some more sleep in. And, then, another chapter. By this time, it was past 4, so I flicked on the Christmas lights. As I lay in the dark, I could hear all sorts of weird sounds. Some seemed to be coming from across the street: the soft plop as if someone were firing a gun fitted with a silencer. The weirder ones were from upstairs, as if someone were walking through crunchy snow. And, other creaks and odd noises. Oh, yeah, lots of fun with the lights off.
I was delighted to wake up at 8:30 to bright lights on the fireplace and the sound of the furnace. Oh, joy! We had our power back. I texted Mar-- who said she'd be back home around 10. Although there are still many pockets without power (and the worst scenario is that it won't be restored until the WEEKEND) as well as the threat that areas with restored power could lose it again (No, please say it ain't so), I felt the worst was behind us. Yes, of course, I've got all my fingers and toes crossed!
So here I was, blithely going about my Saturday, not really doing anything (once again, road conditions kept me from going outside), but definitely much too lazy to wash my hair. As I was being picked up nearly an hour later past my customary time, I said to myself, “Self, don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to wash your hair in the morning.” Bwahaha. Joke was definitely on Self as the power got zapped before 11 p.m. Saturday night. So what else could I do but go to bed, setting the alarm for 6 a.m.
Surprisingly, I slept wonderfully, even without heat, as the outside temps weren't too bad. I even woke up five minutes before the alarm. But, when I was walking between the main room and into the kitchen and bathroom, I was wondering WHY my slippers were making gloppy sounds? Uh ... blondie, are those footprints IN THE CARPET? Wet footprints? Why, yes, they were. So ... not only NO heat or power (though thankfully the water heater is gas, so there was plenty of hot water, not that I was going to actually get in the shower with cold room temps), I also had a flooding problem that soaked not only into the rug but also all of the things I'd had on the floor. Like my autoharp, lying flat. SMH. And my CD collection, though that was protected by the case. But, then, there was also one of my ::coughs:: filing cabinets, aka my black lace purse with my documents and checkbook. Uh ... make that a very soggy checkbook. And my new purse (luckily, the soft leather is embossed, so there doesn't appear to be any damage). Plus, plus, plus. Gee, blondie, are you having a fun and relaxing Sunday morning yet?
Mar-- (the owner) came down to see how I'd survived the night. Ha! She and I managed to pry up the carpet from under the bed and computer and dragged it into the laundry room. Just as well as I didn't care for beige (though it does offer some insulating properties against cold rising from the slate floor).
Anyway, speaking of life savers, I was so thrilled that I had bought that lantern/flashlight. It made life bearable. My ride came and I had to be very careful just walking a few steps to the minivan. Well, it was delightfully warm in church, as the power outage hadn't affected them. But attendance was extremely sparse. Consequently, we zipped through the fastest service ever, being done before noon. Then I asked the guys at the Info Centre if they could plug my cellphone charger because – naturally – it had died Friday night. ::groans:: Well, I got a bit of a charge in less than 30 minutes because my driver was earlyish. ::sighs:: Do I really have to come home? I'd also asked church-John if he might take me shopping later but the poor man had brunch with visitors and then a Christmas party. So no hope of shopping. Mar-- was waiting for me when I got home. She'd sent me a few messages, hoping I could find somebody to stay with overnight because she was heading out herself to spend the night with a friend who did have power (but only had room for one guest). Well, even if I'd wanted to go elsewhere, I had no way of contacting anybody – what with a dead cellphone. And whoever it was would have to come pick me up, driving very slowly and patiently on streets with many fallen branches (some crushing cars), dangerously low-slung power lines and just a generally miserable day. Mar-- also suggested we go out to grab a hot meal as she'd had basically nothing and I'd just had cereal & milk and a glass of juice for brekkie. But, when she realized that nothing was open, she just set out to her friend's place. She was still worried about me, but I said I'd be fine. I tried to reassure her that I preferred to sleep in my own bed, yadda-yadda. So she left and I was allll alone.
Before we lost daylight, I changed my bed linens to my Christmas red flannels. Oh, do I create a cozy nest! I doubled the flat sleet (Queen size) and put a Double on top, plus my Irish tweed cape and finally my comforter. I wore my leggings and socks from church to bed, along with the heavy cotton shell, my black velour top and finally my soft, thick capelet. But, wait. That's not all in this fashion statement, lol. I wore an angora hat and wool gloves. Now I was definitely set for survival mode.
Surprisingly, I ate very little during the outage. Well, I managed a mayo/salmon salad with a chopped tomato. And I drank lots of liquids. I dozed on and off through the hours. Mar-- said she'd call me at 8. Well, guess what: I had no cellphone service or else it said “Emergency calls only”. So I texted her to say that I was okay. And then I slept some more.
I'd flicked on the bedside lamp just in case. When it came to life (as did the furnace!) at 12:40 a.m., I woke up instantly. But-but-but, it was a reprieve of ONLY one second. Then it was back to black. I pulled out “The Shack” and decided to try to read with my lit magnifier. Imagine my muted amusement as the narrator talks about his own predicament during an ice storm. After a chapter, I got some more sleep in. And, then, another chapter. By this time, it was past 4, so I flicked on the Christmas lights. As I lay in the dark, I could hear all sorts of weird sounds. Some seemed to be coming from across the street: the soft plop as if someone were firing a gun fitted with a silencer. The weirder ones were from upstairs, as if someone were walking through crunchy snow. And, other creaks and odd noises. Oh, yeah, lots of fun with the lights off.
I was delighted to wake up at 8:30 to bright lights on the fireplace and the sound of the furnace. Oh, joy! We had our power back. I texted Mar-- who said she'd be back home around 10. Although there are still many pockets without power (and the worst scenario is that it won't be restored until the WEEKEND) as well as the threat that areas with restored power could lose it again (No, please say it ain't so), I felt the worst was behind us. Yes, of course, I've got all my fingers and toes crossed!
