(from Saturday night, off-line)
A thunderstorm knocked out our power on Thursday night. I was telling Christiane a story about my old Buick backfiring. At the precise moment I clapped my hands and said “bang!” the power went out. Two more thunderstorms have come through, each delaying repairs and causing even more outages. Our house was knocked out with just 7 others on our block. So when they triage repairs, the City puts us last. As of Saturday night we are still without power at our house. But try telling that to a 3-year-old.
Three-year-old: Mommy, I want to watch Scooby Doo.
Mommy: We can’t, there isn’t any electricity.
3: Can I watch Dinotopia?
M: No we don’t have electricity.
3: Can I watch Incredibles?
M: Sigh.
Questions involving electricity happen about twice a minute, all day.
If I can’t stop flipping light switches as I walk in and out of rooms, I can’t expect 3-year-old to get it either.
Christiane has been cooking for a month to fill the freezer with food to have after the baby is born. On Friday our neighbor generously allowed us to snake an extension cord from her house. With it we are able to keep our refrigerator running and a lamp in the kitchen. The refrigerator is an obvious number one priority, the air conditioner is the second. Then cell phone chargers. (Then coffee maker.) I did have a few extra thoughts for the people who live in Baghdad.
Today we went to the Violet Crown Festival. I think we stayed as long a humanly possible hoping to increase the chances of coming home to an electrified house. No Luck. The City says it will be tomorrow before we are back on the grid. I even pulled the “my wife is 8 months pregnant, and on bed rest” card to no avail. They say tomorrow afternoon. Looks like another hot, humid night with the windows open.