T minus three hours: The Iceman Cometh, Part II

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

...actually, it was more frightful inside than outside, once we figured out the power was off.

Merry Christmas Eve Morning, by the way. Isn't this a beautiful photo? Well, besides the problem the ice causes. I love the way the neighbor's light shines off the icy trees. Fire on ice!

We probably wouldn't have known the power was out until later in the morning had Lucy not been licking. It's a horribly annoying habit she has and it wakes up the wife....so, Lucy's licking led to the wife getting out of bed to whack her....which led to the wife spying Freckles in the corner shaking like a leaf. I considered Freckles behavior and knew that something had happened--she's a smart cookie who "talks" to us via her neurotic behaviors. It dawned on me: when our power goes out, all the little smoke detectors give off a quick "beep" sound and I am here to tell you Freckles is terrified of that little beep sound. When the wife mentioned something was wrong with Freckles and I opened an eye to peek about, I realized that indeed something was wrong: it was too dark and too quiet.

I got my sorry ass out of bed and took a gander--not a light to be seen. We had no power.

Boy, talk about relying on power. Can't use the land line phone, cuz there's no power. Can't use the computer, cuz there's no power for the modem/router. Can't watch the Weather Channel cuz there's no power. Can't use the cell phone too much because I didn't re-charge it before going to bed. Can't go anyway, cuz there's no power to open the garage door. Can't make coffee, so no point in getting out of bed. Can't turn the heat up because......

Can't turn the heat up....or on. That got my attention. We keep the house cold at night, which is all fine and dandy for sleeping, but when the power goes out and there is nothing to re-heat the house in the morning, well that's a different story. It was 59 degrees in the house when I got up at 4 A.M. That sounded a lot colder when I thought about how there was no heat to come back on and warm things up.

Then, I realize it's pouring out....which is never a good thing with no electricity to pump that sump pump. I tried not to fret, because there was nothing to be done about that. I contemplated a trip to Wally World to buy a generator and a car charger plug thingy for my cell phone, but who am I kidding? I know nothing about generators and I'd have to get a non-electric one and....I let that idea go. The cell phone car charger thingy could wait.

The wife began fretting about the food in the frig, but I have to say that was of little concern to me; after all, it's easy to stick the food outside or in the garage when it's winter.

I had the wife get her cell phone and Com Ed's phone number. I gave a quick call, just to make sure they knew we were sitting in the dark, wide awake, freezing. Then, we did something we almost never, ever do: we put the dogs in bed with us. They are like little heaters. I know we will pay for this later, as Lucy only takes one time to learn a bad behavior, but little heaters are very nice company when the power is out.

Suffice it to say, two hours later we heard the faintest of beeps and then....then, the sweet sound of the heater kicking in. Praise the baby Jesus and the Com Ed crew! We weren't going to freeze on Christmas Eve, after all. I quickly plugged in my cell phone, fired up the computer and started the coffee. (I also ate chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, which always makes everything that much better.)

It could have been so much worse. I am worried about the poor white birch in the front yard--only time will tell if it will make it or not. (Last time, it was the river birch that lost a huge limb and portion of the trunk.) The Mold Mobile is a giant ice cube. Can't wait for that to melt, cuz it will all pour into the car, making more mold for us to inhale. Yum!

Duty to warn: I am going to kiss the next Com Ed person I see. What a lousy night to be out. What a wonderful job well done. Wipe that ice off your face and pucker up!

Now, we are off to the Cheddarlands. Yes, we are going to set forth, bravely armed with gifts and survival supplies. (Would be robbers, stay away: Cheeseball Neighbor and Brown dog are on the prowl--they got us covered.) It will be slow going but it should be relatively okay. I'm sure there will be many fun stories to be shared.

I hope you are doing okay, that your power is on and that your computer is working. After all, I'd hate for your crops to rot on Book de la Face's farm just because you couldn't harvest them due to a lack of power.

Merry Christmas Eve. I hear Santa is in New Zealand at this moment. Happy Birthday, baby Jesus; Thank you Com ed. Ho ho ho!
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