We’re into our third day without power at Chateau Steelypips, and as a result, the household has temporarily been relocated to a hotel near SUNY Albany. National Grid says probably Tuesday, but they really don’t know when they’ll get our electricity back.
This is, of course, deeply annoying, but it feels sort of churlish to complain too much, given how much worse it could be. After all, the only physical damage thus far has been the destruction of our back yard gate by a falling limb. That’s not even worth a homeowner’s insurance claim.
We’re also luck to be in a position where we can afford to relocate to a hotel. The cost of the room is irritating, but not debilitating– it’s not a completely trivial amount of money, but it’s not putting us in any real jeopardy. Meanwhile, almost 300 people spent last night in Red Cross shelters. And two people died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
So, it could be a whole lot worse, and in fact it is a whole lot worse for a lot of other people in our area. If the worst part of this ice storm is having to deal with the wireless connection on my tablet in the hotel, we’ve really got nothing to complain about.
(The wireless thing is pretty damn annoying, though…)
You may be annoyed, but the physicist within still manages to come through:
“it’s not a completely trivial amount of money” (emphasis added)
Here’s to a speedy fix!
That’s kinda how Ike felt — came put absurdly lucky, compared to the people who lost power for 1-3 weeks, or live on the island.
Glad you all are ok.
I was wondering how you are doing. Do you have a gas furnace you can run manually? (The new ones don’t run without electricity.) I sure hope it is not so cold that your pipes might freeze. That would make for a real mess.
The furnace is new enough that it won’t run without electricity, which is why we’re in a hotel. Saturday night was bitter cold, but I left the taps running a little so the pipes didn’t freeze. It’s over 40 F today, so no worries about the pipes now.
Of course, the increased temperatures mean melting ice, which means water coming into the basement, and the sump pump doesn’t run without electricity, either. Which means I get to spend a bunch of time bailing the sump out. I moved 88 gallons of water from the sump to the sink yesterday, and I expect today’s total to be higher, if the power doesn’t come back.
Global Warming demands a degree of political awarness whose enthusiasm rises above the thoughtcrime of empirical observation. “Orthodoxy means not thinking – not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” George Orwell, 1984>/I>. Winter starts 21 December.
That is a great attitude, Chad. I am still trying to reach friends living outside of Boston, even their landlines have been down for three days. Glad you’re safe and not in any immediate need!
Here I am in sunny Southern California. But there was frost on my windshield early one morning in the past week, and one of the monster storms that clobbered the Northeast has swept down the West Coast and hit here late last night/early this morning, dumping (I’d estimate) 3 inches of rain in these foothills near JPL. Close behind it is the next of the series, whwich is estimated to drop the snow line to 2,000 feet — which is downhill from me. So I’m about to leave the high school and get an errand or two run before the rain/sleet/snow whatever hits.
I’ve had significant snow or hail on my garden lawns no more than 3 times in the past 20 years. Rare enough that I photograph it.
But I do extend my sympathy Eastwards. I don’t miss your ice storms; you don’t want my brushfires, mudlides, and earthquakes.
Various combinations of (gale-force winds and rain) or (absurdly high and protacted “heat storm”) have half a dozen times in these 2 decades deprived us of electrical power for 2 or more days, twice for 3 days, once for 4 days.
When the 50-year brush fire sewpt through our neighborhood, I had my wife and son evacuate out of danger to 3 or 4 days of motel, with tax records, family papers and photos, hard-drives, diskettes, and other irreplaceables. I stayed behind, deputized by the Fire Marshall, as I was Town Councilman for the neighborhood.
The Rodney King riots were another matter — totally anthropogenic, and deadlier than any of these storms.
Good luck, out there towards absolute zero…
Wow! This sounds very strenuous. Good luck!
It seems like you’ve gotten by so far however, with the right mix of pragmatism and curiosity!
NS
I’m glad you counted the number of gallons. Now you can measure the elevation change to the sink and write a homework problem on the energy needed to pump your sump … converted into pennies of electricity, and donuts or beer for good measure.
Cost of electicity (whatever), having electricity (priceless).