Powerless

Dark Night
The day after posting on Ebola in Dallas, we had the mother of all thunderstorms roll through the city and in the span of fifteen minutes, wipe out electricity for a good part of the metroplex.  From my office window, we watched several power lines snap due to falling tree limbs and patio furniture from the high rise apartment complex next door fly off balconies and cause some serious damage.  Luckily, there was no catastrophic damage to the office, particularly as, at one point, there were 10 of us in the room with our noses pressed against the glass.  However, when I went home that night...

... I was greeted by a pitch black parking garage and emergency lighting in the halls of my apartment complex.  The entire block was out and there was no estimate as to when we would be getting power back.  By the flickering flame of the one candle that I own*, I took the fastest shower known to man and read by the same weak light for half an hour before conceding and going to bed absurdly early, convinced that power would be restored in the morning.

Which it was not.

It's a good thing I do pretty much zero things to get ready for work in the morning except wash my face, brush my teeth and brush my hair because #fellasleeplikethis and #wokeuplikethis.  Luckily, everything was restored at around 3 pm on Friday afternoon whereas for some other Dallasites, they still don't have power and are not sure when they'll be getting it back.

Moral of the story?  Prepare for emergencies.  I now own a maglite with backup batteries (still no can opener though).  And make friends with your neighbors.  You never know when you need to run over and borrow a cup of electricity.


*Perfect start to a spooky October.  I almost gave myself nightmares that night, thinking of all the creepy crawly ghosties that would start stepping out of the shaky shadows.


Comments

  1. I'm sorry for the folks without power (been through that too often). Hopefully there were no injuries. I'm VERY glad the head-hunting hubby didn't pick that dark night to return. :)

    PS - Prepare for emergencies??? *sigh*

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  2. ha, we had something similar here on Friday. or maybe it was Saturday. half the island was flooded. the other half had no power because of trees on power lines. ours was only gone for two hours. and just when I made peace with the idea of going to bed absurdly early too, it came back... I do have a flashlight. but of course the batteries were dead :(

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  3. Been thinking about you, near virus and all that. You're right. Prepare for emergencies, but don't panic. That's the moral to both those stories, I think. It *cracks me up* that you had one lone candle (seriously, didn't we talk about this before????). That would not fly in my nor'easter/hurricane ridden land. We had streets flood on Saturday just because of... I don't even know.

    Proud of Dallas though, for not panicking. Hope that guy is okay. :(

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  4. Gosh! So good you got the power back right away! Seriously...I hope things get better over there.

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  5. Gah! So scary!! I must have missed all the news on Ebola and the storms down there, but I'm so happy you're okay! You need to stock up on candles, though, missy. Bath and Body Works is always having sales on them! xo

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  6. Oh my gosh! How terrible! Thank goodness power was restored. I hate the eeriness of a power outage the first few seconds when it happens. It literally feels like the world has stopped.

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  7. I'm glad you weren't powerless for too long! We don't have much of an emergency pack either, but we DO have 5 flashlights in the apartment, along with a stash of batteries. I can rest easy knowing we can read books through any electrical snafu :-)

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  8. it's like the apocalypse is starting in dallas! i could totally be a doomsday prepper. i mean i am too lazy for that sort of thing, but i do have a vintage suitcase (totally practical right?) filled with stuff like tylenol, bandages, flint, one of the windup radio/flashlight/charger things, some of those gross military bars - fisher even has a machete - you know in case after the apocalypse things get overgrown ;) since i was a kid i have dreamed of having a fallout shelter - i suppose i like drawn to a little macabre. xo

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  9. Oh wow, that is so spooky. Glad everything is okay. We did not have power for 5 days once in Ohio! I am not used to that because it never happened to me in Germany. It was pretty weird.

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  10. It´s annoying when such things happens, it´s been a long time ago here though *knock on wood*

    http://tinajoathome.com/

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  11. Oh my goodness. So sorry you're dealing with all that. At least now you're prepared for the next blackout! <3

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  12. I remember years ago when I lived in an partment , my neighbours and I had an impromptu garden party when the power was out for hours. It was pretty awesome and the first time I spent that much time getting to know them! That sounds like one hell of a thunderstorm. Yes - always good to be prepared for next time!

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  13. Your weather is totally nuts! It sucks that you (and others) were without power but I have to confess that I love hearing about your weather stories. Did you take any pictures from your office?

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  14. Yikes, you guys have some serious storms down there!! I have enough family around that when the power is out we just go to a house that does have some, no power isn't bad but the toilet situation isn't the greatest. I do tend to walk around at night with no lights on for no reason though...I'm not sure why it started but I've been doing it forever. Doesn't help with the "this would be a great situation for a horror movie" thoughts though.

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  15. Spooky indeed, like the start to a horror movie about a contagion.

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  16. That's a scary day right there. Eerie sight to watch from your office window.

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  17. oh my goodness! i'm late commenting but i'm glad you were safe throughout the thunderstorms and following blackout. these darn storms in the south scare the beep out of me!

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