We had a weather forecast of freezing rain or ice storm on Monday--Tuesday (10/26-27/2020). Last week they said it would come.
And it did.
Today is Wednesday (10/28/2020). Outside is freezing rain. I see a lot of frozen and downed trees. I'm writing this blog in my office at my worksite. My home has no power, no AC, and no internet/phone. Good thing gas and water are still on. But I'd rather show up in my worksite (where power, AC, internet are available) than in my home.
Yesterday I was moving some downed tree limbs from our driveway with my neighbor. They were large ones with 4-5 inches diameter. My forearms sore.
This is early for winter. Trees still had many leaves and were not ready for freezing weather yet. When tree limbs and branches got frozen and come down, they come down with electrical cables, causing power outage. Wide range of my city is out of power. I'm sure electrical company people are working hard. I am hoping the power is back on soon.
Without power and AC. the room gets cold (about 40F/4C this morning). Three things I found most useful were; (1) selk bag (or equivalent, human-shaped sleeping bag), (2) Yutampo (a traditional Japanese winter heater, a plastic or metal water tank you add hot water in), and (3) LED lantern and flashlight for camping. Right. It's basically camping indoors.
Also, my cat was a good heat source as well.
This kind of power outages occur like once a year around here. It should be over soon in a few days, depending on the electrical company's work. It is a change in the pace of everyday life. Indeed, last night there came some thoughts that I usually do not think of. Such occasions can be rather precious.
PS
We sent the grant application (due 10/27 Tue) a few days early on 10/22 Thu. Glad we did. No need to panic over this disruption by weather. Also glad we sent out a manuscript on 10/23 Fri.
