Happy Valentines day, I guess?
Okay, so fist off, let me say that I am neutral on Valentine's Day in general. Celebrate it, don't celebrate it, I quite honestly don't care. My Valentine's tradition in the past has been to get together with my best friend and celebrate our friend-love for each other. We lived together for 3 1/2 years and are still best friends, I feel like we've earned some kind of love status. And all the discounts on fine foods an wine? Yes, please!
But this year is a bit different. Because for the first time in my life, I have a significant other to celebrate. Yeah, that Alex guy? I haven't scared him off yet. He might just be a keeper, guys. Although we have one teeny tiny little obstacle to our adorable Valentine's day mushy couple plans. Namely the 1331 miles between our residences. He's working on finding a job in the area, but that's another story entirely. So, we planned a lovely long-distance date. We would get dressed as if we were going out, order each other some dinner, have some adult beverages handy, and stream a movie. Why yes, yes we are adorable. And here's what makes it even worse. We met at Katsucon 2020. The first day of that convention. What day was that? February 14th, 2020. Did I mention that I live in a romantic comedy movie?
A long distance table for two. The phone tripod for our video chat, the laptop for a movie, and the proper table setting for dinner.
And much like a romantic comedy, we had some unexpected obstacles. The first one being the WORST SNOWSTORM DALLAS HAS SEEN IN YEARS. One advantage of being long distance is that our plans didn't involve me leaving my apartment anyway. However, remember how I said we were ordering dinner for each other? My first choice in our agreed upon food category (Italian) was closed. As was the second. And the third. And.....okay I stopped counting, but we went through a bunch of possibilities before I found a place that was delivering while there was about 2 in. snow on the ground and more coming down every minute. The first 45 minutes of our date was just us trying to order our food. And of course I was able to order with no problem and get his food delivered because there was less snow in Virginia than Texas. This is a weird year, okay? And then, in a bitter irony, my food arrived first because the delivery driver was late getting to the restaurant. But we just talked and I sipped my wine, that wasn't a problem.
The second obstacle was the streaming services. My computer is....special. It tends to not want to do things at the most inconvenient times. And today it decided to randomly buffer for no reason during the movie. We had to pause and re-sync frequently, but we just went with it. We are adaptable!
-----------------------------------
Okay, now that the mushiness of Valentine's day is over, time for the STORY that has been the last two days. I work in a medical laboratory, so we cannot do our work remotely and we don't shut down for Predisent's Day. So, I had planned to go into work as usual, despite the snow.
I woke up to a chilly apartment, and when I flipped the switch in the bathroom, nothing happened. The power was out. I discovered that I was in a "rolling blackout" that was supposed to last 15-45 minutes. The temperature indicated that the power hadn't been out or long, so I went about my morning, thinking it would come on soon. Right before I left for work, I noticed the the power had been out for over an hour. I was grateful to go to work and hopefully have some hot coffee.
However, because the roads were so bad, most people couldn't get in to work on Monday. And by most people, I mean I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO MADE IT. I learned to drive in Nebraska, I am one of the closest distance-wise, and I don't have to go on any major roads to get to work, so I walked in to an empty lab.
Talk about post-apocalyptic. The lab was very dimly lit and I could faintly see the blinking lights of machines on backup batteries and the faint beeping of machines on their last dregs of power. Yup, the lab had lost power as well. I let my boss know and she told me the head of the lab was on his way to make sure everything was okay. So there I was, pacing through the deserted, post-apocalyptic lab to try and keep warm, lamenting my lack of a hot beverage.
The head of the lab got in and discovered that the backup generator wasn't functioning. There are three levels of power in this lab. The main power, the backup generator, and these huge batteries that provide bare bones power for a while. We were on that third one. So the head of the lab was trying to jump the generator literally using his car. It wasn't working, so he left to go get longer cables and sent me home.
While I was pacing the medical wasteland, I had gotten a text from my friend who also lives in the same complex notifying me that the power had mercifully returned. So I went back to my nice warm apartment to make some lunch (and finally get my coffee), gather my laptop, and go over to her apartment and hang out for the day. No sooner had we gotten settled and happy in her apartment, the power went out again. I went over to y apartment to grab a power bank to keep my phone alive and some books and we just read under a pile of blankets and listened to music. Not much else you can do at that point.
When it started getting too dark to read, I packed up my stuff and went back to the jumbo fridge that is my apartment. Although to my complex's credit, the temperature was never below about 58 even after 7 hours of no power, so they must have some decent insulation. I went to my tool drawer and pulled out some things I thought I would never use: the flashlights my dad gives me every Christmas. I have four of them of varying shapes and intensities, so I used the biggest to light my room, and carried one of the smaller ones with my as I lit a couple of candles for some more general light (we don't talk about the weird combination of scents that ensued). I shone the light around my kitchen and looked for something that I could cobble into a passable supper without any heating elements required. I know candlelight dinners are supposed to be romantic, but I don't think this is what most people have in mind
Ah yes, the finest tuna sandwich with carrot sticks and grapes. Truly gourmet.
Thankfully, my power bank supplied my phone with more than enough energy to call my mon and chat with her for a while. And as luck would have it, as I was just about to call her, the power came back! I thought that the worst was over and I would go to sleep in a nice warm apartment tonight. Alas, it was not to be. While I was talking, my apartment went pitch black once again. At least there had been time for the place to get warm and my fridge to get cold and my power bank to suck up some more juice for the night ahead. After I finished with my mom, I listened to an audioook for a while (also doesn't take much battery power), read by flashlight, and got ready for bed. I piled on a few extra blankets and went to bed in a sweatshirt leggings, sweatpants, and thick socks. I even did some quick jumping jacks to try and generate some of my own heat before diving under the covers. And you know what? I actually slept quite well.
I was awakened at roughly 3:15am by a light turning on in the next room. We had been blessed with our next ration of power! I turned off the light and went back to sleep, hoping to wake up in an hour to kick off this mountain of blankets.
The next thing I knew, my alarm was going off and I could feel the chill on my face. No power. And there had been none for a while, if the 59 degree temperature was any gauge. I knew that if the lab was open, it would be a mess and my help would be desperately needed, so I extracted myself from the pile of blankets and prepared for another day of vain hope.
When I got to the lab, there were a handful of people there doing anything that didn't require machines. The backup generator was now functioning, but the computer system was most definitely down. And big, complex systems likethis aren't like booting up your laptop. It's a 3-4 hour process. And on top of all of that, the courier services that bring our specimens were not running due to the awful roads. All that to say, there was nothing that I could do. I waited around for a bit to see if anthing cropped up, but there was nothing. The power was still out at my apartment and had been for nearly nine hours. I hadn't showered in nearly two days, and I was once again jonesing for a hot beverage and meal. I made plans with some friends in my complex to flee to anoher friend's apartment where they had power.
I slam into my house, ready to pack the car and get someplace warm. no sooner had I done that, then the power company decided to bless us with our next ration of power. I cancelled the plans to flee (the awful roads made me reluctant to leave unless I had to), and took a shower the pleasures of which....are not family friendly. I was blessed with three glorious hours of power, during which I actually started writing this blog post . Then, the power gods decided that our time was up and the power went down again. I am. so. done. But I made a nest of blankets by the window and decided to read until my next ration of power. My cat curled up on top of me and I was actually quite comfortable. I read probably 100 pages before the sun went down too far and I was forced to once again crack out the flashlights. I was contemplating another no-cook dinner and setting up a phone conversation with my brother when the power once again returned around 6:15. I immediately started boiling water for some tea and heated up a proper dinner. This power might be my last for the evening, so I made the most of it. Until it wend back down roun 7:30.
One activity that I discovered takes up very little battery power and is a very productive use of time is calling and talking to friends and family while pacing back and forth in my apartment. The movement helped me keep warm, and the interaction was helping me keep sane. Plus, I hadn't talked to my brother in a while, so it was good to catch up. As I was getting ready for bed, by witch I mean layering everything up and getting ready to not move for a while, we got one final burst of power for the day, which showed me what lights needed to be turned off.
After being woken up twice by the sound of power coming on at 3:15 and 5:45, I woke up once again to my alarm. I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I turned the handle...nothing. I have no power, and now I have no water. Okay, if my work is functional, I can raid the vending machines for enough water to hydrate myself and my cat and at least have access to a bathroom. I asked my boss if the lab would be able to function and she said that they honestly would not be able to know and I should just be on standby. I took that to mean "probably not" and texted my friends with power. They also still had water, so it was time to take refuge in the 21st century. I can handle these bursts of power is if means I can at least prepare and make it through, but no functioning toilets is where I draw the LINE. I packed up my friends and we prepared to brave the cold and awful roads.
Now, I'm a good ol' Nebraska girl who leaned to drive on grvel in all kinds of weather conditions. Since moving to Texas, I have also had to drive in some pretty nasty conditions to and from my parents' house. So as long as all of these Texas drivers who never see snow can keep their cars socially distanced from mine, we're fine. We made it with only a few close calls with the slick roads.
and AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, when we all get set up in their place, their internet goes out. Of course. At least we all got a hot shower and have access to heat and functional plumbing. Whatever, this is the best we can do for now.
I am typing this on a notepad document so that I can upload it when I once again have internet access. This has been an adventure, and it continues to be one. But I have to remind myself to be grateful. People lived for thousands of years without good climate control and indoor plumbing. Heck, internet outages are still common. I am so grateful for the fact that I could call my family three states away to keep me company in the dark, and I had freinds that were keeping tabs on me while I keep tabs on them. None of us would be left in the cold, no matter how cold it got. They opened their homes and shared their resources, and I shared what I had as well. Together, we are going to get through this awful storm (Is it a series of storms at this point? Is there a name for that?), and I couldn't ask for better people to help ride it out with me. Stay warm, my readers!
No comments:
Post a Comment