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Published On: Jan 07, 2008 11:13 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Jan 07, 2008 11:13 AM
Without Power
So how did we spend our two days without
electricity?
If you haven't heard already we had a major storm
system pass through Northern California. I had actually been listening intently
to weather reports before the storm. I knew that it was coming and that it was
going to be REALLY windy. If I was not scheduled to teach last Friday, Jan. 4th,
I would have simply stayed at home. But when you are scheduled to teach there
are no "Ifs, ands, or buts"--you teach and you have to be there. I have even
taught classes while I had a fever or even one that I taught after I was in a
major auto wreak. Just call me a
trooper!
I made sure that my daughter and I got up a little earlier than normal on Friday. I knew that the storm was coming in and I was expecting traffic delays on my 50 minute commute (25 minutes to daycare and then another 25 minutes to my office). While we were driving to her daycare we saw a big rig that had fallen on its side in front of UC Davis. Highway 80 was starting to back up. I felt my little 'Toyota Prius' being buffeted by the winds. But I was very careful when I drove, I was sometimes driving 35 mph on the freeway and held the wheel stiffly as I drove. Then I dropped my daughter off at daycare and got my first taste of how the weather affected us. As I got out of the car I was buffeted by winds and rain. Even though I had a waterproof jacket with hood on, my pants were instantly wet and the hood keep on blowing off. So my forehead became drenched. But I knew that i had to teach no matter what, so I dropped off my daughter at daycare, wished her warmth and left to work. The only scary part about driving to work was when my car was pushed around the Yolo Causeway bridge. I almost lost control of my little car as the winds shimmied it left and right (though I was trying to head straight!).
I can tell you that I was honestly hoping that the power would be out at my work and that class would be cancelled. And the power had actually gone out at 8AM, but by the time I arrived at 8:30AM, the power was back on. I was given a large flashlight and told what to do just in case the power went off. The power did go off around 10:00AM. I told my students not to panic and I grabbed the light and helped to guide them outside of the class. I said that we were on a 15 minute break a little early.
By 11AM power had no returned, so everyone went to lunch. As I left I got a call from my daughter's daycare. I had to pick her up because the power was out. Apparently they do not allow kids to stay in daycare while there is no electricity. So I drove back to Davis in the pouring rain to pick up my daughter and to unfortunately leave my class. By the time I had actually arrived in Davis my class had started again with another instructor. What a mess! So I took my daughter home and we changed out of our rainsoaked clothes and found that our house also had no power. I then discovered that we had a broken window (a tree had broken the outer window pane--luckily the inner window pane was still there)! Then I wandered outside in the soaking rain and buffeting wind to chop some offending tree limbs down in order to prevent anymore of the tree from breaking our window.
My husband was also home soon since his entire building was without power and everyone was told to go home. We made a nice fire and bundled up. We were really lucky that I had bought a 1/2 cord of wood before the rainy season started. Some new homes no longer have wood burning fire places! And it was the only thing that kept us warm.
My daughter was hilarious. She kept on asking what she could do since there were no computer games or videos to watch. I had to remind her that Laura Ingalls Wilder from 'Little House on the Prairie' (the books we had been reading) had never had electricity and did just fine. Laurana soon started reading, playing with her dolls and drawing. Though she was almost bouncing off the walls (albeit bouncing off my sofas) for most of the day.
In some ways we were lucky. We had a gas heated water (which apparently was still working with a pilot light). So even though our central heating didn't work, we could still have a hot bath. We lit candles and got all of our flashlights ready. We even made breakfast on the stove with our gas burners. My daughter was also intrigued to see me boil water for tea. I had always used out hot water dispenser. She had never seen anyone boiling water on the stove before (at least for drinking).
Friday night was chilly. There was no fireplace in our bedroom, so we put on warm flannels and huddled together for warmth. It's amazing how much heat bodies can produce when they are huddled together. I found in the middle of the night that I wanted to roll over or stretch, but since the sheets were too cold away from the warm zone that had already been created--I never turned over. By the morning we relished sunlight, but I didn't want to get out of bed. Things were too cold in our home. I was starting to have a new appreciation for people who had lived before central heating. How cold must it have been for people with only a woodburning stove for heat and snow covering the ground outside of their home?
We did spend time outside of our home in an attempt to warm up. We went out to eat 2 times and went shopping in West Sacramento, where the power was on. Luckily for us the power was back on Saturday night and I was so thankful to turn on the heater and my electric blankets. Nothing is better than 'cozing' up to a warm bed. <SIGH> What bliss!
I made sure that my daughter and I got up a little earlier than normal on Friday. I knew that the storm was coming in and I was expecting traffic delays on my 50 minute commute (25 minutes to daycare and then another 25 minutes to my office). While we were driving to her daycare we saw a big rig that had fallen on its side in front of UC Davis. Highway 80 was starting to back up. I felt my little 'Toyota Prius' being buffeted by the winds. But I was very careful when I drove, I was sometimes driving 35 mph on the freeway and held the wheel stiffly as I drove. Then I dropped my daughter off at daycare and got my first taste of how the weather affected us. As I got out of the car I was buffeted by winds and rain. Even though I had a waterproof jacket with hood on, my pants were instantly wet and the hood keep on blowing off. So my forehead became drenched. But I knew that i had to teach no matter what, so I dropped off my daughter at daycare, wished her warmth and left to work. The only scary part about driving to work was when my car was pushed around the Yolo Causeway bridge. I almost lost control of my little car as the winds shimmied it left and right (though I was trying to head straight!).
I can tell you that I was honestly hoping that the power would be out at my work and that class would be cancelled. And the power had actually gone out at 8AM, but by the time I arrived at 8:30AM, the power was back on. I was given a large flashlight and told what to do just in case the power went off. The power did go off around 10:00AM. I told my students not to panic and I grabbed the light and helped to guide them outside of the class. I said that we were on a 15 minute break a little early.
By 11AM power had no returned, so everyone went to lunch. As I left I got a call from my daughter's daycare. I had to pick her up because the power was out. Apparently they do not allow kids to stay in daycare while there is no electricity. So I drove back to Davis in the pouring rain to pick up my daughter and to unfortunately leave my class. By the time I had actually arrived in Davis my class had started again with another instructor. What a mess! So I took my daughter home and we changed out of our rainsoaked clothes and found that our house also had no power. I then discovered that we had a broken window (a tree had broken the outer window pane--luckily the inner window pane was still there)! Then I wandered outside in the soaking rain and buffeting wind to chop some offending tree limbs down in order to prevent anymore of the tree from breaking our window.
My husband was also home soon since his entire building was without power and everyone was told to go home. We made a nice fire and bundled up. We were really lucky that I had bought a 1/2 cord of wood before the rainy season started. Some new homes no longer have wood burning fire places! And it was the only thing that kept us warm.
My daughter was hilarious. She kept on asking what she could do since there were no computer games or videos to watch. I had to remind her that Laura Ingalls Wilder from 'Little House on the Prairie' (the books we had been reading) had never had electricity and did just fine. Laurana soon started reading, playing with her dolls and drawing. Though she was almost bouncing off the walls (albeit bouncing off my sofas) for most of the day.
In some ways we were lucky. We had a gas heated water (which apparently was still working with a pilot light). So even though our central heating didn't work, we could still have a hot bath. We lit candles and got all of our flashlights ready. We even made breakfast on the stove with our gas burners. My daughter was also intrigued to see me boil water for tea. I had always used out hot water dispenser. She had never seen anyone boiling water on the stove before (at least for drinking).
Friday night was chilly. There was no fireplace in our bedroom, so we put on warm flannels and huddled together for warmth. It's amazing how much heat bodies can produce when they are huddled together. I found in the middle of the night that I wanted to roll over or stretch, but since the sheets were too cold away from the warm zone that had already been created--I never turned over. By the morning we relished sunlight, but I didn't want to get out of bed. Things were too cold in our home. I was starting to have a new appreciation for people who had lived before central heating. How cold must it have been for people with only a woodburning stove for heat and snow covering the ground outside of their home?
We did spend time outside of our home in an attempt to warm up. We went out to eat 2 times and went shopping in West Sacramento, where the power was on. Luckily for us the power was back on Saturday night and I was so thankful to turn on the heater and my electric blankets. Nothing is better than 'cozing' up to a warm bed. <SIGH> What bliss!
Posted: Mon - January 7, 2008 at 10:56 AM