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mutedtempestThe Midwest was overtaken by the Ice Lords this weekend. Half an inch of ice covered the ground, including the roads, so yeah. Not being a figure skater, I opted to stay inside and would have had a nice weekend...if it hadn't been for the power going kaput at about 7pm on Saturday night.
This was bad for many reasons, not the least of which being the heat stopped working, which meant that by morning I could lay in bed and see my breath. It didn't really bother me too much, since I have a body that seems well equipped for the cold. I didn't even feel chilly, but then again, I was in three sweatshirts and a hoodie where I'm usually in a t-shirt in the winter. Anyway, I was fine, but my great grandma was freezing her 94-year-old ass off downstairs. I kept going down and giving her blankets since I had plenty of them. She was freaking out, talking about freezing to death before the power came back on. I kept trying to reassure her that nothing that bad was going to happen, but I have to admit I was a little worried. In all my life I don't think I've seen the power go out for more than a few hours, and it was completely gone for more than a day.
This, of course, means that all the perishable food in my fridge began to smell like the blackest pits of Hell, and I spent most of the daylight hours yesterday trying to get rid of it all and clean the fridge. Then came the task of carrying the nastiness to the garage to put it in the garbage bin...yeah. I stepped outside and fell right on my ass. I tried to stand up and fell right back on my ass. This continued all the way to the garage, and eventually I just said "fuck it" and slid across the sidewalk on my ass, dragging the horrible-smelling garbage bags behind me. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, after I got over being pissed about it and realized how utterly ridiculous I must look to anyone who happened to be passing by. They were probably going on their ass too, though, unless they had those cool Yak things you put over your shoes. I totally need a pair of those.
Around 11pm last night, the lights flickered and then decided to stay on. Of course, throughout the night there were random periods of darkness when the power went out again, and according to news reports it'll be like that for most of the week, since a huge grid was knocked out due to the ice. I'm glad this site has an autosave feature, since it's gone out again twice since I've been typing.
I'm one of the lucky ones, and I'm really grateful for it. There are three counties close by that are in a state of emergency with no power whatsoever, and the power companies are saying it might be Wednesday before they can get things running again. That has to be hell for families with little kids, as well as the elderly. And everybody else too, since being cold is a real downer.
The whole thing made me think of how absolutely dependent we are on power and technology in today's world, and how we panic when the power goes out. I realize that as times change people have to adapt and change with them, and in a largely technological age people are going to be dependent on things run by electricity. That's all fine and dandy, until something like this weekend happens. I don't know that I really have a point to this, aside from the fact that it made me a little sad to realize how helpless we truly are when our technology fails us. It made me long for the way things were done even a century or so ago, when people knew how to take care of things themselves. Our self-sufficiency as a modern people has really declined in recent years, and as advanced as we see ourselves being, I think we're moving backwards in a sense.
I'd really like to try my hand at living completely self-sufficiently. When I was a kid, I read a book called The Far Side of the Mountain, in which the protagonist leaves his home and goes to live in the mountains for a few years. I really wonder if I'd be able to do that, but in my heart of hearts I have to admit that the thought of living an urban lifestyle for the rest of my life makes me a little sad. I guess growing up in the middle of a massive statewide cornfield will do that to ya, though.
This was bad for many reasons, not the least of which being the heat stopped working, which meant that by morning I could lay in bed and see my breath. It didn't really bother me too much, since I have a body that seems well equipped for the cold. I didn't even feel chilly, but then again, I was in three sweatshirts and a hoodie where I'm usually in a t-shirt in the winter. Anyway, I was fine, but my great grandma was freezing her 94-year-old ass off downstairs. I kept going down and giving her blankets since I had plenty of them. She was freaking out, talking about freezing to death before the power came back on. I kept trying to reassure her that nothing that bad was going to happen, but I have to admit I was a little worried. In all my life I don't think I've seen the power go out for more than a few hours, and it was completely gone for more than a day.
This, of course, means that all the perishable food in my fridge began to smell like the blackest pits of Hell, and I spent most of the daylight hours yesterday trying to get rid of it all and clean the fridge. Then came the task of carrying the nastiness to the garage to put it in the garbage bin...yeah. I stepped outside and fell right on my ass. I tried to stand up and fell right back on my ass. This continued all the way to the garage, and eventually I just said "fuck it" and slid across the sidewalk on my ass, dragging the horrible-smelling garbage bags behind me. It was the most fun I've had in a long time, after I got over being pissed about it and realized how utterly ridiculous I must look to anyone who happened to be passing by. They were probably going on their ass too, though, unless they had those cool Yak things you put over your shoes. I totally need a pair of those.
Around 11pm last night, the lights flickered and then decided to stay on. Of course, throughout the night there were random periods of darkness when the power went out again, and according to news reports it'll be like that for most of the week, since a huge grid was knocked out due to the ice. I'm glad this site has an autosave feature, since it's gone out again twice since I've been typing.
I'm one of the lucky ones, and I'm really grateful for it. There are three counties close by that are in a state of emergency with no power whatsoever, and the power companies are saying it might be Wednesday before they can get things running again. That has to be hell for families with little kids, as well as the elderly. And everybody else too, since being cold is a real downer.
The whole thing made me think of how absolutely dependent we are on power and technology in today's world, and how we panic when the power goes out. I realize that as times change people have to adapt and change with them, and in a largely technological age people are going to be dependent on things run by electricity. That's all fine and dandy, until something like this weekend happens. I don't know that I really have a point to this, aside from the fact that it made me a little sad to realize how helpless we truly are when our technology fails us. It made me long for the way things were done even a century or so ago, when people knew how to take care of things themselves. Our self-sufficiency as a modern people has really declined in recent years, and as advanced as we see ourselves being, I think we're moving backwards in a sense.
I'd really like to try my hand at living completely self-sufficiently. When I was a kid, I read a book called The Far Side of the Mountain, in which the protagonist leaves his home and goes to live in the mountains for a few years. I really wonder if I'd be able to do that, but in my heart of hearts I have to admit that the thought of living an urban lifestyle for the rest of my life makes me a little sad. I guess growing up in the middle of a massive statewide cornfield will do that to ya, though.
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self sufficiency
Date: 2007-02-26 08:28 pm (UTC)Of to France soon to live a mostly self sufficient lifestyle. http://www.breezybreak.com
Anyway the people in the area we are moving to often have a mix of utilities. Electric, gas bottles for cooking and space heaters and wood burning stoves. They do this because the electric tends to fail now and then.
Anyway get a wood stove or something for great gran.
Take care
Arnold
no subject
Date: 2007-02-27 05:35 pm (UTC)As for the falling on your ass...I hope nothing was hurt other than your bruised ego.