*waves* I live!
I'm very cold and worn out, but I live. We lost power about half an hour after my last post and it hasn't been back since. We're about at the 72 hour mark right now. Unfortunately, they're saying that our neighborhood may not see power for several more days at this point. DOH. Not to mention the fact that it's dropping below freezing at night. I can see my breath inside the house. Last I saw, the temperature inside the house was at about 50 degrees and falling - that was 10 hours ago, I'm sure it's dropped further by now.
Luckily, my friends are the best, and a good friend and her family who had power offered a room and teh internets to me. Oh, man, it feels SO good to be warm again. I've felt like I've been glued to the fireplace for the last three days, while wearing three layers of pants and three sweatshirts and still shivering cold. I've read The Princess Bride, the first Harry Potter book, and a good chunk of the Walt Disney biography. I spent ten minutes today bouncing around my living room happily and squeeing over a pair of northern flickers that were out digging through a wood pile. (Got photos, too!) I've actually slept about 14 hours a day (work had no power, and was closed until today) because I have four blankets on my bed right now, and once I get in there, it's cozy and I refuse to get up. :P
Unfortunately, the store was back open today so I had to get off my lazy duff and go into work. I stopped for gas because I was running low, and joined the long line. Whatever, a few minutes wasn't bad compared to the horror stories I heard. Unfortunately, I joined the line behind a complete fucktard who wasn't paying attention to his driving... and ended up BACKING INTO MY CAR despite my frantic blaring of the horn. What transpired next, I won't repeat here in detail, but suffice it to say that I unleashed my pent-up aggression on him (damn, it felt good) and had a guy six inches taller and at least 50 lbs heavier than me ducking and scrambling away from me in terror. (the people at work later found this incredibly hilarious, and the punching jokes came nonstop all night ;)) My hood is rather bent up, but I think mechanically the car's okay. I'll still take it in and have it looked at, though, just to be sure. *cough* But my back hurt all afternoon at work... *whistles not-so-innocently*
Work wasn't bad. It was warm, and most people there were in the same situation, so everyone kinda commiserated together. Half our employees hung around even when they weren't working, just because it was a warm place to be. I tried to go to the grocery store next door to buy dinner, but failed miserably. Needless to say, the place had already been picked clean. All I could really find to buy for dinner was a bottle of Coke (the last bottle of normal Coke they had!), a bag of Goldfish, a Power Bar, and a bag of gummi candy. But dammit, it was food.
This is definitely the biggest storm I can remember, and many others are saying the same thing. We've never gone more than four days without power (Day-After-Christmas snowstorm in the mid-90s), and it looks like we may surpass that one this time. There's so many trees down that many major surface streets are still totally impassable. More than a million people lost power at some point, and a few hundred thousand people are still in the dark now, three days later. The power companies are saying the damage is so extensive, it's taking them ages to fix everything. I'd believe it - I passed one work crew on my way into work. When I left 8 hours later, they were still working on the same spot. We've been through many power outages before, though, so at least we're more or less prepared.
Unfortunately, there was one casualty in the family - my parakeet, Ellie, didn't make it. She was already fairly old, and the stress of the storm and the floor stuff the days before and being in a new place (she was at a friend's) and the bitter cold finally took their toll. :( Latte's doing okay so far, although I noticed today that she's shivering, and she refuses to sleep by the fire because she likes her chair in the other room too much. I wrapped a blanket around her before I left for work, so hopefully that kept her warm for awhile.
I've really enjoyed the Christmas cards I've been getting for the last few days, though! *huggles her flist* I'm still working on trying to get mine out - unfortunately, they're gonna be a bit delayed!
ETA: my favorite storm photo so far, 'cause this just about sums it up:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/AB
And what my hometown looks like right now, with all the smoke from everyone's fireplaces:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/AB
I'm very cold and worn out, but I live. We lost power about half an hour after my last post and it hasn't been back since. We're about at the 72 hour mark right now. Unfortunately, they're saying that our neighborhood may not see power for several more days at this point. DOH. Not to mention the fact that it's dropping below freezing at night. I can see my breath inside the house. Last I saw, the temperature inside the house was at about 50 degrees and falling - that was 10 hours ago, I'm sure it's dropped further by now.
Luckily, my friends are the best, and a good friend and her family who had power offered a room and teh internets to me. Oh, man, it feels SO good to be warm again. I've felt like I've been glued to the fireplace for the last three days, while wearing three layers of pants and three sweatshirts and still shivering cold. I've read The Princess Bride, the first Harry Potter book, and a good chunk of the Walt Disney biography. I spent ten minutes today bouncing around my living room happily and squeeing over a pair of northern flickers that were out digging through a wood pile. (Got photos, too!) I've actually slept about 14 hours a day (work had no power, and was closed until today) because I have four blankets on my bed right now, and once I get in there, it's cozy and I refuse to get up. :P
Unfortunately, the store was back open today so I had to get off my lazy duff and go into work. I stopped for gas because I was running low, and joined the long line. Whatever, a few minutes wasn't bad compared to the horror stories I heard. Unfortunately, I joined the line behind a complete fucktard who wasn't paying attention to his driving... and ended up BACKING INTO MY CAR despite my frantic blaring of the horn. What transpired next, I won't repeat here in detail, but suffice it to say that I unleashed my pent-up aggression on him (damn, it felt good) and had a guy six inches taller and at least 50 lbs heavier than me ducking and scrambling away from me in terror. (the people at work later found this incredibly hilarious, and the punching jokes came nonstop all night ;)) My hood is rather bent up, but I think mechanically the car's okay. I'll still take it in and have it looked at, though, just to be sure. *cough* But my back hurt all afternoon at work... *whistles not-so-innocently*
Work wasn't bad. It was warm, and most people there were in the same situation, so everyone kinda commiserated together. Half our employees hung around even when they weren't working, just because it was a warm place to be. I tried to go to the grocery store next door to buy dinner, but failed miserably. Needless to say, the place had already been picked clean. All I could really find to buy for dinner was a bottle of Coke (the last bottle of normal Coke they had!), a bag of Goldfish, a Power Bar, and a bag of gummi candy. But dammit, it was food.
This is definitely the biggest storm I can remember, and many others are saying the same thing. We've never gone more than four days without power (Day-After-Christmas snowstorm in the mid-90s), and it looks like we may surpass that one this time. There's so many trees down that many major surface streets are still totally impassable. More than a million people lost power at some point, and a few hundred thousand people are still in the dark now, three days later. The power companies are saying the damage is so extensive, it's taking them ages to fix everything. I'd believe it - I passed one work crew on my way into work. When I left 8 hours later, they were still working on the same spot. We've been through many power outages before, though, so at least we're more or less prepared.
Unfortunately, there was one casualty in the family - my parakeet, Ellie, didn't make it. She was already fairly old, and the stress of the storm and the floor stuff the days before and being in a new place (she was at a friend's) and the bitter cold finally took their toll. :( Latte's doing okay so far, although I noticed today that she's shivering, and she refuses to sleep by the fire because she likes her chair in the other room too much. I wrapped a blanket around her before I left for work, so hopefully that kept her warm for awhile.
I've really enjoyed the Christmas cards I've been getting for the last few days, though! *huggles her flist* I'm still working on trying to get mine out - unfortunately, they're gonna be a bit delayed!
ETA: my favorite storm photo so far, 'cause this just about sums it up:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/AB
And what my hometown looks like right now, with all the smoke from everyone's fireplaces:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/AB
Current Mood: 
cold
cold30 wishes | rub the lamp
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