Last night's freak thunderstorm knocked out our power -- again. When we lost power for 48 hours last September, it was a whole new experience. It created some good stories for each of us and even contained some elements of fun. Despite that, it was something that I'd prefer to experience just once in a lifetime. Today, with heat in the mid-90's, the last thing we needed was a full day without AC, power, and water. But, that's just what we got.
The storm hit at 10:45PM last night. It was pretty vicious. It all ended in about 30 minutes. For me, a storm that combines to both knock out power and wake me up means just one thing -- a sleepless night spent staring endlessly at the alarm clock, willing it to start flashing "12:00." Unfortunately, that never happened last night.
After laying there tossing, turning, and sweating, I finally got out of bed at 5:30AM. After a brief survey of the yard (which, surprisingly, didn't turn up too much damage), I decided to get a jump on everyone else and head to the food store for ice. Much to my surprise, everyone else had learned their lesson last September and, when I arrived, they were all there to greet me. There were only about two dozen bags of ice left when I arrived. I felt a little guilty grabbing six of them but that didn't stop me.
After throwing the bags into the trunk, it was off to Dunkin' Donuts for Kim's coffee. I think everyone I'd seen at the food store was there, too. I waited patiently in line and, when I finally got to the counter, decided to reward myself for my industriousness with a couple of glazed donuts. It wasn't until later, when I got home, that I realized I wouldn't have any running water to wash the sticky sugar off my hands.
The "sticky stuff on the hands" problem pretty much defined the day. Other highlights included:
- Despite the stench that I know was clinging to me, stubbornly refusing to change the shirt that I'd been wearing for the past three days. It was clean when I put it on Thursday at 6PM after showering so it seemed OK to wear it again when I got up Friday morning. This morning, knowing that I was just going to stink all day and couldn't get a shower, I decided to just go with it again. I don't think anyone really minded that much.
- Cleaning out the refrigerators and filling up a couple trash bags with food that we knew wouldn't keep. That seems simple, right? Not for me. I couldn't just let those bags sit in our baking hot garage, could I? The proper thing to do would have been to take them to the dump. But, there was no way I was going to join the rest of the world who I knew would be at the dump getting rid of storm debris. So, I wracked my brain, thinking of the closest dumpster to our house. After identifying it, I planned a trip and surreptitiously managed to get rid of the two bags without anyone noticing.
- Seeing my designated outdoor bathroom spot move from the woods, to the edge of the woods, to the corner of the house. I'm sorry, but it was just more than I could take to haul my stinky body off to the woods in the heat. On my third trip, I prayed that no one in the house was watching and just took five steps away from the basement door. My prayer was answerd but, over dinner, I couldn't deal with my guilty conscience and confessed.
- Conducting a long, almost fruitless hunt for gas for my car. You see, after dumping the trash bags, my fuel warning light started to blink. I decided to head into Clarksville for gas. Finding all three gas stations out of gas, I stubbornly decided to head further away from home into Columbia. Two more empty gas stations later, I was down to 22 miles on my gauge and was a good 18 miles from home. I knew that, if I drove home, I wouldn't be able to leave my garage. So, I kept on searching until, with the gauge reading 20 miles to go, I finally found a station that was open.
