Bummer.
So, I shaved in the bathroom that has natural light, then got a flourescent lantern to take a shower in the other one. Not as cushy as my normal routine, but workable. I dried off and got dressed with what I'd normally wear to hunt pheasants¹ - long johns, jeans, boots - since I didn't expect we'd have many people in the office anyway. As I was finishing getting dressed, I got a text from the office to hold off coming in - waiting for a decision from HQ regarding the opening.
Then the power returned, so I finished dressing with the bathroom heater on, and noticed the spots I'd missed shaving. Another text - the office would remain closed.
Before the power loss, the TV reporters had repeatedly informed viewers that due to emergency demand, they should expect rolling blackouts, so I wasn't surprised when it happened. When the power returned, about 40 minutes later, I listened as whining TV viewers called the station and said that the outages were "unacceptable" (from a mother because she couldn't warm 5 baby bottles) and "ridickalus" (from a woman who said she always paid her bill on time). A common theme was that they had called Oncor and "they haven't done anything!"
Well, excuuuuuse meeeee! I'm sure that since you called WFAA-TV, ERCOT and Oncor will immediately attend to your narcissistic requests, you whiny little jackwagons!
As I write this, I'm comfortably dressed as noted above, with a flannel shirt. My thermostat is set to 64° (I suppose if I were a true Limbaugh conservative, it'd be set at 78° just to show those damn liberals they're not the boss of me²), and most electrical appliances are off. The den is warm, but the 'atomic' clock above my computer monitor (on a perimeter wall), shows 59.4°. Nonetheless, I've got a hot cup of coffee, so I'm good-to-go.
If these people are so concerned about the power, then maybe they should trot down to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy themselves generators (and hire electricians to install them), for just such instances. As for me, if it goes out again, I'm warmly dressed, and if it stays out for an extended time, I'll burrow into my sleeping bag and throw some comforters over it. I've got a propane stove I can use on the back porch if I need to cook something.
One wonders how long our Republic has left when everyone has become a dependent.
Even a nanny, or Super Nanny at least, would give those idiots a good scolding.
¹ About a dozen years ago, we were stranded by a snowstorm in NW Kansas after a weekend pheasant hunt. Our camping trailer was parked in a service bay of the local feed co-op, so we weren't without lodging, but the continuing snow and outside temperature of -10° kept us from taking off from the local airport (we didn't want to meet the same fate as Charles Hardin Holley et al). After a couple of days hanging around the local convenience store/fast food place, the temperature rose to a balmy 0°, and the precip stopped. Unfortunately, the ignitor on the engine pre-heat pack wouldn't spark - so we walked to the local hardware store and got a BBQ ignitor kit, wired it up, and started the pre-heat pack. Since the airplane's engine had AeroShell synthetic, after about 20 minutes of pre-heat, it fired up in about 3 turns. Adapt, improvise, overcome.
² Being a libertarian-conservative doesn't mean that one has to abdicate one's societal responsibilities. And besides, I have to pay for that gas/electricity.
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8 comments:
You. Are. The. Bomb. =) What a great post....the liberals aren't "the boss of" you!! lol
We're not the victims of power blackouts...yet. When people insist upon saying "ridickalus," [sic] I cringe. Every single time. And yes, poor babies...if our country were at war upon its own soil, who would be responsible for changing their diapers??
Pfft. =)
I don't like being cold. If this keeps up I'm going to have to seek to a warmer climate or put some meat on my bones for natural insulation.
In a way I agree with you, but I guess I am skeptical and suspicious about why we're having these power grid problems. There are rumors, unfounded, that the reason for these waves of blackouts is because of heavier usage by those visitors in Dallas, and that those visitors aren't enjoying the same degree of cold that some of us have experienced. I feel that bringing the super bowl to this area doesn't help the low to average income groups at all, but only helps the rich get richer.
If that is, indeed, the reason for the outages then I agree with the person who says they pay their bill on time and expect the service they pay for to be as regular as their payment. Those fat cats in Dallas aren't doing me a bit of good here in Weatherford. But hey, according to many commenters on that "other" blog, my problems directly stem from the choices I made and I, too, could have been a Dallas fat cat had I only chosen the right path in life.
Did I mention I don't like being cold?
Who's the hot-for-teacher chick in the purple and what does she have to do with this?
Dude, that's the SuperNanny from the ABC TV show.
She goes to dysfunctional household and teaches parents to instill discipline with the kids - all in an hour.
Whew! I was glad to read that was the SuperNanny. I was beginning to worry that was the latest picture of you. Cabin fever can make you do crazy things, you know.
Ha!
Well, if I were gonna dress up like a chick, I'd want to look like the polka-dot bikini gal from LL's blog yesterday.
Then, I could entertain myself for weeks! ☺
Neoconservatives have managed to superficially defy the politics of the 90's with a bunch of Fox News watchers or listeners -- dancing on the grave of paleoconservatism with political correctness and Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich and postmodernism.
What everyone should have been screaming about was wholesale power going from $6 per kwh to $3000 per kwh during the rolling blackouts. The law went into effect the day before the blackouts.
Thank you Phil King!
Has nobody heard of ENRON?
Anyone?
Bueller?
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