There was one Horrifying Moment

            Even before Jenna’s two friends and most of their family had perished in a fire (see here and here) I have been paranoid of open flames and space heaters and such. During the power outage we had candles. 

            At first, Roland had placed a candle in one of the sinks so that we could have light in the bathroom.  Gradually it moved above the sink so that we could use the sink without putting out the flame.  He made sure there were no towels near or anything that could catch on fire.  So a few days later when I told Jenna to do the same thing, Roland went with her to make certain that the area of the bathroom she picked would be safe.  She started her candle in the sink also.  But her sink is evidently shallower than ours and the faucet was made out of plastic which I hadn’t even known was a thing.

            The smoke alarm in Jenna’s room had been whining since the power had gone out – like it needed fresh batteries.  I don’t know why hers went off and ours didn’t.  They had been installed at the very same time (see here) 

            The smoke alarm in the hall is electric – which I thought was weird – or rather it’s power source feeds off the electricity but is still able to work in power outages.  We learned that when the faucet caught on fire and the smoke alarm in the hall and the one in mine and Roland’s bedroom went off.  We chose not to call the fire department as we know they have been busy throughout the week.  Roland figured it was a problem we could deal with ourselves. 

            After the fire was out, he made certain that all the inside doors were closed and opened a window in the bathroom, the front outside door, and some other windows and handed each of us a towel to wave down the hall and toward the open door.  It seemed a bit amusing at first – I mean the very idea of a faucet catching on fire because of a candle.  Jenna kept apologizing, but I told her it wasn’t her fault.  This house is made out of cheap material. It’s a wonder that our roof didn’t cave in.

            I made comments about any passers-by who could be watching (not that there were, but just at the thought of it) that would question as to why we had the door open in the first place, and why we were all waving towels as though it were an exercise ritual or something.  The thought made us smile at first, but we quickly became exhausted.

            The alarm in mine and Roland’s room had stopped, but the one in the hall continued to whine – though the pitch seemed to be getting duller.  Roland said we had to continue to wave so that there wouldn’t be carbon monoxide in the air.  Only he could smell the remains of horrible odor – or at least I imagine it was horrible.  I couldn’t smell it when it happened let alone an hour later or even the next day.  How blessed I feel that Roland was able to get to the fire before it went out of control.

Ice Cream for Breakfast

            Before we had the generator hooked up, we decide to move everything from one freezer to the other.  The ice cream was extremely soft.

            “Jenna, would you like to have ice cream for breakfast?” 

“Like I’m going to say ‘No’” 

On Tuesday morning Jenna had ice cream for breakfast. I am such a great mom.

It Was on my Agenda

            Even though I knew I had two classes coming up, I had agreed to fill in for one of the aides during the last two weeks of February.  Technically, my two classes started on President’s Day which I had off.  Still, I struggled through that first week and did not make the best grades compared to the other ones I have been getting.

            It snowed on the last Sunday in February.  The next morning I had three messages on my phone:  “Buses will be delayed for two hours on Monday morning”  “Buses will be delayed for two hours on Monday morning”  and “School has been canceled for Monday."  I thought I'd take advantage of having the time off and get a better jump start on my classes than I had the week before.  I was able to listen to the live lecture and had completed one discussion post before taking what I thought would be a short break

            When I lived in Salt Lake City,  it was rare when anything closed due to snow - even with several feet on the ground.  I appreciated the many times UDOT worked around the clock trying to clear the main roads and eventually get to the side streets.  It is safer to have dry roads.

       Roads were still busy with cars regardless of the weather - some drivers had experience driving in the snow, but there were several behind the wheel who should have been taking public transportation which was my preferred method of transportation to use on those wicked snowy days.  UDOT had the equipment for dealing with the snow.

       The roads in Oregon are very different from the ones in Salt Lake.  Schools close when there are less than two inches on the ground.  Even though they call it a "snow day" it is really about the conditions of the road which are windy, only two lanes (one lane per direction) no guard rails and major drops - thus if a vehicle slides due to the ice or moisture, it may go off the road and over the edge - not a good thing for anybody but really not in favor with a busload of children.

            Aside from the roads and lack of equipment, this part of Oregon also has many wimpy plants that are also not conducive to even a light snow.  Anything more than two inches seems to be too heavy.  The plants take on a new shape if they don't topple over.  We had lost power in Utah due to trees or other items falling over power lines, but not like this. The snow in Oregon is a slushy snow.  Heavy wetness.  Nobody who lives here has ever recalled snowfall like what came down the last week of February.

            I had made plans.  Lots of plans.  There were clothes on the bed which I needed to put away.  I had only posted one discussion and would need to post for my other class.  Plus I needed to set up a Linkedin account as part of my grade. Right before the power went out, I had headed toward the closet where we keep the vacuum cleaner.  I never made it to the door. I had accomplished only one thing that was on my to-do list.  I still haven't put all the clothes away. How ironic, as that was the only chore I have had that hasn't required electric power.

            So what's the first thing we do when the power goes out?  Wait a few minutes to see if it will come back on.  Run out to the shed and make sure the lamps, batteries, propane, cords, and gasoline are where they are supposed to be. We thought we were prepared.  We had those things.  We have food storage, water, a snow shovel.

            Roland dragged out the generator as we didn't know how long we'd be without power and needed the outside light to hook up the generator before nightfall.  It wouldn't start, however.  We had to look for an alternate.

            Several years ago Roland had purchased a portable heater called Big Buddy.  We had it first in the Kearns house and moved it with us to West Valley and then out to Oregon.  We had never even used it before.  It was still in the box. 

           

            We had several batteries including D batteries.  In addition to what was in Roland's office, we kept exactly eight D batteries in a bag tied around our lantern as that is how many it took.  We hadn't stored any batteries with the Big Buddy.  Roland found enough to get it going but was short two which we borrowed from the lantern supply.

             

            On Tuesday morning Roland had suggested we drive to Eugene. He thought we could go to the library to hang and get warm.  We also needed to purchase some items.  As we passed Winston and Roseburg, there were signs of power – but not all of Roseburg.  Not all of Winston.

            Walmart was open in Roseburg.  We ended up picking up items there and at Costco.  It’s just as well that we didn’t go to Eugene.  We would not have arrived as I5 was closed from Cottage Grove to further up in Lane County.  It sounds like it was closed for quite a while.

            I took the opportunity to use the wifi on Roland's phone and looked up the phone numbers for my instructor's so that I could call the following day if our power was restored.  Even without the wifi, I believed I had a way of retrieving the numbers without wifi. I did have to call on Wednesday morning.

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Dash #498 Power Outages

            Share an experience that you have had with when the power went out

            For the most part power outages provide positive memories for me.  I know that might sound strange, but except for one time that I can recall, the experiences have been great.  I don’t even remember all of the details about the unpleasant power outage.  In my mind, it took place during the course of several hours, but in reality, it may have only been minutes.  I would guess that I was seven. 

            Mike’s parents were out of town, and my parents had agreed to watch him – I'm guessing for the weekend.  Mike and I were the same age and my brother Patrick was two years younger.  Mom said that she and dad had gone over to a neighbor’s house for an activity.  I don’t know if they were on a different powerline or if their power had gone out and mom and dad had returned.  Or if we were in bed when they returned.  I only remember the devastation.

            We had been left with a baby sitter.  I think we had already gone to bed when the thunderstorm started.  I think it must have woken us up as it was very loud.  We didn’t have power.  I remember following the sitter around as she had the source of light – I don’t know if she used a flashlight or candle.  Patrick cried the entire time.  Mike was very brave and I tried to be brave too that I might impress him – but the thunder was really loud and I did cry – but not as loud or as long as Patrick.  That is my most horrible memory.

            When the power went out every other time I can remember, mom and dad were home.  Dad would light candles or the lantern that we had for camping.  We would play games around the table.  Power outages meant spending time with family and feeling safe.

            One time when I was in high school I had gone to an early morning devotional.  The scheduled speaker was George Durrant.  I don’t recall if the power had gone out before he was introduced or if just after he approached the stand but I do think it went out before he started speaking.  I remember two specific things he said in reference to the power having gone out.  One was it was a shame because nobody would be able to see how handsome he was.  He also made a joke about needing some Israel-Lights.

            At school, many kids roamed the halls waiting for the announcement to let us go as there was no power.  I suppose the classrooms that had windows could have had discussions in the dark, but none of the inside classrooms had windows.  In fact, there was carpet on all of the walls.  Whose brilliant idea was that?

School was finally dismissed after a couple of hours. The power was restored just as soon as they said it.  Man, you should have seen how quickly the parking lot cleared.  Great day.  I think it was Valentine’s Day. Power outages meant missing school.

The power went off quite often when we were living in Kearns.  Most of the time it was annoying but nothing devastating.  The longest it had ever gone out was the Christmas when Jenna was four.  Now that was an awesome Christmas.  No electronics.  Jenna enjoyed shining the flashlight. 

Our power had returned a few hours before Bill’s and Kayla’s did.  They lived two or three streets over and we had invited them to come and stay the night so that they could keep warm.  They were packing up their belongings to head over when their power returned.  Sadly there were some living in Kearns who were without power for up to three weeks.  Power outages meant family support.

We held Church in the dark one week.  Just one meeting.  We met in the cultural hall as it provided the most source of light.  We all kept our coats on as it was cold.  I think there was only just one speaker. Power Outages provide concern.

We played games with our neighbor from across the street the first December we were living in Oregon.  We had a gas stove but she had only electricity to keep her warm. Roland had also gone out to get a generator which we shared with the neighbor’s next door.  We both used the power from the generator to keep our food cold in our fridges.  And Roland has used the generator to power up his computer for work. Power outages lead to new resources and inventions.

I started some assignments with the generator this week.  Roland got his computer running but was unable to retrieve the information he needed for work.  He made meals for us on a propane stove he had set up out back.   He boiled water and I did dishes. It was like camping.   We also played a lot of games.  Power outages lead to opportunities.  

Roland took great care of us.  He suffered the most as Jenna and I do better with cold weather than he does.  He was focused on us instead of the TV.  Jenna and I enjoyed his presence.

After four days and the fourth promise of power (as it had already turned on but back off again three times before), we were finally up and running.  Roland unhooked all the chords from the generator.  I helped him wind the chords and put them away.  He was very tired and certainly deserved the rest.  As soon as the TV went on Jenna said she wished the power would go out again.

I would rather lose power than running water

            I recall a time when we were living in West Valley and the water pipes in the neighborhood had burst.  There were at least five of them shooting geysers.  This problem took the water company well over 24 hours to repair.  I don’t recall what time I noticed the geysers sprouting in various locations.  It must have been during the summer months when the sun sets later as it was still light enough to drive but late enough that I would be getting ready for bed within a few hours.  I don’t imagine it was a great night for Granger-Hunter as they had set up crews at each geyser and worked throughout the night and into the next morning using artificial light to help them see.

            Roland had purchased a 50-gallon water tank several years before.  We had emptied it in Kearns so we could take it with us to West Valley.  We filled it back up – fortunately – and Roland took it as an opportunity to explain to Jenna the value of having it.  He showed her how to remove the water.  We did have drinking water in the refrigerator and used the water from the barrel to wash our hands and add to the tanks over the toilet bowls after we had flushed. We were still conservative using the logic: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow.  If it’s brown, flush it down.”  I don’t know how many gallons we ended up using.  Probably 5 – 10 as we were asleep for much of the time our water had been shut off.

            Even before that experience, I was sure that I would rather be without power than running water.  With our most recent experience the was frigid like river water as we had used up our hot water source – but still.  We could flush the toilets and I have been truly grateful for that.  Losing power can have its perks.  Losing running water does not.

            Jenna had placed a cup on the table that remained there during the power outage.  This is a picture of what the cup does when you feel it with a cold beverage - only it turned that color without actually having a beverage inside.

Our house was cold for the most part.  Our source of heat had started out in only one room.  Roland had managed to get heat in our room the last night we didn't have power - but even then, we had the window open wide enough for the cords to fit through.  It was warmer than it had been but still cold.  But I don't think so cold that the cup would have turned orange.

            Though it remained cold outside and Roland is not a big fan of the cold, I think we both agreed that we would rather deal with the power going out during the cold months than during the months of heat, sweat, and flies.  I do much better in the cold.  I keep better.  My left hand was so close to being healed and hadn't itched at all during the power outage.  Now that the power has returned, my hand feels raw again.

Word: Match

I can strike a match to light up a room

or start a fire to toast marshmallows

I can play different versions of match game

For example, I've tried to learn about which flag goes

with what country by matching one to the other

I can attempt to paint the shutters and trim

to match the rest of the house.

I can mix and match socks

I get tired of trying to match assignment problems

with the responding exercise found in the book

an electronic book I might add

I would like my clothes to match

Occasionally I would like to match the face to the voice

We've been through quite a few furniture pieces that didn't match.

you remember this scene from Frasier? 
We had worse cases than Martin's chair.

Some librarians and instructors will read books and set up an activity

The activity matches themes based upon the book

There is a lot of competition in the retail business. 

So many try to match another's price

I have never owned boots that have matched my coat.

Some people display their photos in all matching frames

Sometimes I get frustrated with web sites that never match

what I am searching for.

match pictures to real items

I love it when Jenna's enthusiasm mirrors my own.

Up And Running

I was supposed to work this week but 
the schools have been closed 
first due to the storm and then 
because we were part of 
many that were without power.  

During that time I've 
had so many thoughts 
going through my head 
and have jotted a bit 
on paper - some on my 
laptop but nothing concrete.  

I still have classes next week and 
the week after that.
I am grateful for the generator
that gave me enough power to
at least start my assignments 
Amazingly I have finished up and
can finish a few other things that
got neglected during our
power outage.

I realize that four days is
nothing compared to some others
who have experienced without for
much longer.  Roland's sister
for example, had gone two months
as she lives in Puerto Rico and 
Hurricane Maria was quite unkind.

I'd rather lose electric power than
running water - even if it was 
equivalent to river water.  
Okay to drink, but not 
to bathe in.

Thoughts, thoughts
so many thoughts
I hope my mind does not
forget what I wish to write