The Lake

Word of the Day

Hydroholic - A person who is addicted to water. This person must drink at least two litres (approx. eight cups) of water a day, and, in order to match their mood, choose bottled water based on flavor and mineral content.

Woodtick Count - 17

Fade to Black

We've lost power countless times in the last couple of days. Just short glitches that were enough so that all the clocks in the house had to be reset. Oops! I just remembered that I've got to reset the clock on the answering machine. I hate resetting the clock on the answering machine. Maybe I'll wait a couple more days to make sure that the glitches are gone. So, anyway, HTP and I had already reset clocks five times this weekend and then last night, no warning (no storms, wind, no heavy usage of AC or other indicators), our power goes out for long enough that our generator started up and got a good workout. I decided to call my folks but got a busy signal. I decided to call my sister but got a busy signal. At this point, I figured they were on the phone with each other asking each other whether or not they had power or not but apparently this wasn't the case because it wasn't long before my folks called me to ask if I had power. They didn't...have power. I called the power company and was put on hold for fifteen minutes. However, before the fifteen minutes were up, I got disconnected by our security company. Our alarm box started squealing to let us know that the power was out and at the same time the phone went dead. So, I had to call the power company again. Ten minute wait.

You know, when you call the power company to report an outage, the person on the other end of the phone has no idea who you are and where you're located...even when you tell them. *sigh* They couldn't find a record of my location because they don't have our phone number on record...or our address. This is because we do all our bill paying online and the only snail mail address the electric company has for us is in Arizona...oh...and AZ phone number too. I finally ended up having to use my folks' phone number to get any kind of response from these people and then what she said didn't make much sense. HTP thinks she was looking at an outage in Wisconsin but probably for the Chippewa Falls area. A tree down on 69th Street? There is no 69th Street anywhere near our little town. I gave up, having decided that it was time for bed anyway so why worry too much. HTP decided to call the power company again while I was taking Gypsy for our nightly perimeter walk. This is when he discovered that the power company for here at The Lake only had our Arizona information on file. This is also when he discovered that we wouldn't get our electricity back until the wee hours of the morning. They always tell you that it'll take hours to get your electricity back. I think it's so that you don't call them back to yell at them every ten seconds until they finally get things working. Regardless, they normally fudge/tell you that things are lots bleaker than they are and that you won't see electricity again until your next birthday.

In the meantime, I'd grabbed a flashlight so I could take Gypsy outside. I discovered that Gypsy is totally weirded out by flashlights. Gypsy is totally weirded out by a lot of things but apparently the beam of light projected on her by a flashlight was rather a disconcerting event for her. I suppose she felt a bit on stage with her own personal spotlight while she was expected to do her business. Hey! A little privacy here! Too bad. I wasn't going to go out into a pitch black night without a flashlight. It gets really dark outside at night here in rural America when your nearest neighbors are miles away and the skies are a bit overcast and the electricity is out. Heck! It gets pretty dark inside the house...at least the parts of the house that aren't a part of the generator system. My bedroom, for example. Oh well...brushing one's teeth in by flashlight isn't such a bad thing, because at least we had water, thanks to the generator. Besides...the electricity went back on just as I was finishing up with that last nightly ritual.

Have you ever noticed that after the lights go back on...after a power outage...that there are lots more lights on then you remember leaving or turning on before the outage? Good grief! I'm glad I wasn't in bed yet or I'd have been scared to death at all the illumination. So anyway, before going to bed, I had to turn off all the lights.

Of course, none of this electrical outage excitement effected #1 Son. He decided to return to The Big City yesterday afternoon. He decreed that he was just fine and it was time to go "home" to his apartment. Work on Monday.

It's just as well. It's raining here today at The Lake. A bit drippy and dreary. But...We Have the Power. (Oblique reference/quote from an old cartoon...He-Man... that #1 Son used to watch on TV when he was a little boy.)

Murphyism of the Day

Adler's Rule

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

There are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.

- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)