The Great Northwest Wind Storm Of '06, or: The Electricity Appreciation Thread

[Brad]

In one of John Lennon's songs, he sang the lyric "you don't know what you got until you lose it."

Well, about twenty minutes ago, after a 48-hour sabbatical, our power was restored to its full glory. During those two days, we came to realize how much we depend on electricity.

We were cold, we were cranky, we couldn't take warm showers, and we got sick and tired of the scent of Glade candles. We also learned that, while they're pretty to look at, gas fireplaces don't do a good job heating up a living room, let alone a tri-level house when it's 20 degrees out. We slept with mounds of blankets, and ate lots of fast food.

No music, no Internet, no TV, not a single luxury. It was like Robinson Caruso; it was as primitive as can be.

But it could have been worse. That was some awful wind. We were lucky that the tree fell on a powerline, not our roof, as was the case for many people.

There are a lot of people in this region still without power. Please keep them in your prayers, because it's a miserable experience. And it's way too cold to not have power.

But man, is it ever a wonderful experience once you see the lights come back on again.

I hope all my Washington/Oregon peeps are doing okay.

Other than the fact that my Enbrel shots (medication for my RA) were spoiled because they need to be refrigerated, I came out unscathed.

[ABlairican Pie]

Oh boy, this wind has really screwed up everything. Fortunately my power was out in my neighborhood for only about an hour or so on Thursday night, but it came on at 8:30 that night. Some parts of Auburn had light and electricity, while mine was pitch black on my block. People lit candles, I couldn't even see in to my house where my candles were, and I knew I didn't have any matches. I was more worried about the ice cream I had just bought melting in my freezer! :eek:

Too many places around the area still without power. Uprooted trees everywhere. Downtown Seattle seemed okay, from what I heard, but many places around, like on the East Side in Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and elsewhere were still in the dark.

[ABlairican Pie]

In one of John Lennon's songs, he sang the lyric "you don't know what you got until you lose it."

I thought it was Cinderella when they sang, "Don't know what you got until it's gone."

:lol:

[Penny Lane]

Our power often gets knocked out by summer storms. But we have a large generator that hooks into our electrical system and keeps everything going. What a lifesaver that is!:D:wave:

[Brad]

It was a zoo here in Spokane. Our power went out Thursday night at 10:45. A power line snapped behind the house next door to us. The line was down and sparks were coming out. The fire department had to be called! I heard about it second-hand the next day because, oddly enough, I slept through the whole thing (I'd had a lot of sleepless the previous few days due to being without my anti-anxiety medication until Thursday).

The odd thing was, people across the street from us never lost power, but our row of houses and the people behind us did.

At first check, Avista (the utilty company here) was telling us that our power would be restored by 3 am Friday morning. Then it became midnight Saturday morning. That became midnight Monday morning, then noon on Monday.

So we borrowed a really heavy duty generator from a family friend yesterday (so big that it had to be forklifted onto the back of the truck). We had it hooked up running, and were running some extension cords from the base, when we saw three Avista trucks driving down the block like the cavalry.

One stopped to see what we were doing, and I said to him, "I thought you guys weren't going to be by until Monday!"

"Ah, we just say that so you'll like us more when we do show up," he joked.

So long story short, it took them about eight hours to get the power restored to the 25 or so houses on my grid. It was actually disheartening, because they left at some point, and were gone for a few hours. What we later discerned, though, was that they had to get a new transformer (we saw them installing it).

Our power kicked on at about 11:40 and a splendid time was had by all. We didn't even mind braving the cold for another few minutes to turn off the generator and bring all the extension cords in.

Yay, electricity!

The reason why Spokane was such a "zoo" was because usually when we have widespread power outages (the last time this happened was an ice storm ten years ago, but on a much larger scale), Avista hires contractors from the west side of the state to help restore power. Well, guess what? They were kind of busy, themselves.

Glad you're okay, Greg.

Now it's on to the grocery store to replace all the stuff in the freezer and fridge that went bad.

[Brad Russ]

Almost everyone around us lost their electricity at some point yesterday, and the day before. Somehow we got lucky though, and never did. Our lights did flicker quite a bit, and it looked like a couple trees were gonna fall on our house, but thankfully, we came out of it pretty good!!

[Ireneparalegal]

I know what you mean. Our last big earthquake (the Northridge Earthquake) we had no power for over 30 hours. You start thinking, "What did they do in the pioneer days?" You play cards, you actually "talk" to the people in your house, we barbecued, we drank warm sodas, and we warmed up water on the barbecue to add to the fish aquarium so we could stabilize the temperature. We played board games and got to know the neighbors. :rofl:

[Brad]

Almost everyone around us lost their electricity at some point yesterday, and the day before. Somehow we got lucky though, and never did. Our lights did flicker quite a bit, and it looked like a couple trees were gonna fall on our house, but thankfully, we came out of it pretty good!!

Glad to hear. Believe it or not, I was actually thinking about you and wondering if you still had your power.

[Brad Russ]

Glad to hear. Believe it or not, I was actually thinking about you and wondering if you still had your power.

Awww, thanks so much for thinking of me Brad!! :) I know you're a guy, but hey, I'm secure with my masculinity, so here's a hug for your kindness. :D

:bighug:

I'm glad to hear that you and Greg are okay too!!!

[Brad]

Oh, no worries. I participate in my share of manhugs. They consist of the two men's butts being pointed outward, lest any genitalia touch, and the two men patting each other's backs while the hugging takes place (because, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "I'm hugging you, but I'm hitting you!").

;)

[Janice]

Yikes Brad, that's a horrible ordeal. I'm sure it was very difficult for you. I'm glad it's over. Last week, we lost electricity for two hours. I complained for the entire time. My husband told me that I'd be blast on a camping trip, lol.

Welcome back to civilization. :)

[Brad Russ]

Oh, no worries. I participate in my share of manhugs. They consist of the two men's butts being pointed outward, lest any genitalia touch, and the two men patting each other's backs while the hugging takes place (because, in the words of Jerry Seinfeld, "I'm hugging you, but I'm hitting you!").

;)

:rofl: :lol: :rotflmao:

I like Seinfeld's way of thinking. ;)