My power is back on - finally!

[BeatleBoot]

I guess I'm risking anonymity by letting you all know this, but my power came on finally this morning (so I'm in the Northeast somewhere).

I woke up yesterday morning to a neighbor screaming: "Turn the F'ing Lights Back On!!!" at about 6am. Pronounced frustration, no?

It sucked big time - more than I could describe.

I hadn't gotten to the bank yet when it happened. No money. No banks open. No stores to buy anything from. Gas stations all closed. (I was on a quarter tank). 90 degrees and 100% humidity and no air conditioning, no gas, had to boil water on the bbq! No food in the house either. We rationed 3 cans of soup and some baked beans.

No street lights at night. It felt like the Twilight Zone, man.

What a friggin' mess.

Anyways, I am drinking my first cup of coffee since Thursday and it tastes wonderful! Got to go out and see if gas stations are opened yet and if stores have any produce on their shelves.

Peace to all.

[NJCher]

1. man that sounds horrible

Wish I'd have known--I'd have "adopted" you out here in Jersey!


Cher

[BeatleBoot]

3. Thanks for that!

A true Dem!

Sorry for bitching so, but I had to get it off my chest.

[SiobhanClancy]

2. Good....

don't you think that going through a situation like that makes you appreciate the little conveniences of life a bit more?(like making a cup of coffee)I lived in the Keys for years and after a hurricane we would be without power or services for awhile. After Andrew,(which didn't even directly hit our area)we were without power for over a week,as well as phone service. It definitely puts things in perspective.

[BeatleBoot]

4. No shit!

This in no way was anything like surviving a hurricane (I couldn't even imagine), but it stunk anyways.

[Walt Starr]

5. Those Homeland Security recommendations about food and water

were FEMA recommendations for disaster preparedness.

My wife and I keep a weeks worth of camping food (freeze dried meals, just add water) and twenty gallons of bottled water in our basement. This is just good sense because in a disaster (tornado, etc.), food and water are your most precious commodities.

[HootieMcBoob]

6. Welcome back to the 21st Century

The lights came back up in our neighborhood here in Brooklyn yesterday at about 3:30pm, almost 24 hours after they went out.

We have a gas stove though and had no problem with water. Our airconditioner's been broken all summer so that wasn't a biggie. The only thing was that we didn't have much cash. We were worried about running out and started getting food that would keep and rationing what we had, in case it lasted longer than they were telling us it would. The only thing we lost in the fridge was some ice cream and chicken.

Overall, I'd say it was kinda fun to tell you the truth. We walked all around and there were lots of people out on the sidewalks grilling and drinking beer. I know it sucked for a lot of people but I kinda like it when the rat race is put on hold. We live here so didn't have to get anywhere. I was home already and my girlfriend had literally just got back from jury duty about 5 minutes before the power went.

It was like they stopped the treadmill for 24 hours.

[SoCalDem]

13. Sad to tell you this, but that's the way life USED to be

neighbors out in the yards talking to each other, block parties...just kicking back and hanging out :(.. Now everyone is in such a hurry to GET somewhere:(

It's nice when the rat race slops :)

[madfloridian]

7. Sorry for you. Tell CNN to stop making it sound like you guys accept it.

They have been doing this ever since the outage started....talking about how "good" all of you have been and how "peaceful" and one even said "accepting.

Maria something this morning was the worst. She sounded almost ecstatic to have gone through this ordeal.

I find it insulting to you guys who have suffered through it, I find it insulting to my intelligence.

They are trying to manipulate, and I hope to God it does not work. They even try to put words in people's mouths when interviewing them. One guy having slept on the sidewalk all night was trying to express displeasure, and they kept rewording for him.

On Edit: I guess you know the nation's sympathy has been with you. We all know we could be next.

[Not a robought]

8. I agree with that 100%

CNN made it sound like a fun camp out and isn't it odd that we didn't all kill each other in the dark, aren't we incredible, now it's all over.

The reality is that it's still chaos. There are many neighborhoods throughout the northeast and Ontario who still don't have power since it went out, some don't have water or public transportation, Toronto's subway and streetcar system is out and getting gasoline can be random.

[VermontDem2004]

12. They were making it out to be some kind of crisis

when in reality, men and women went 18,000 years (started from year 1) without electricity. I know life without electricity these days are not good, but people can manage.

[sandnsea]

14. Did you not read that person's thread?

They had no food. It is so frustrating to me that so many people think everybody has the money to store up pantries full of food for a rainy day. And not everybody has friendly neighbors to rely on either. That's what the Democratic party is supposed to understand. Sure most people did okay, but it's really insulting to dismiss the fact that we live in a world where we rely on electricity and water at the faucet to live everyday. People here are pretty much taking it in stride that they had to clean out their refrigerators and I'm glad about that. But I guarantee you there are mothers and fathers all over the northeast crying because they just lost the bulk of their month's food and they don't have the money to replace it. This is going to hurt people but I bet we don't hear a word about it because it's just those poor people who bring everything on themselves anyway.

[TahitiNut]

9. Our power came back last night after midnight.

After 32 hours in 90 degree temps and 90% humidity the power finally came back on last night at about 1am here in Royal Oak, Michigan. (I sure do miss Silicon Valley!) My ISP (WOW) reestablished connectivity this morning at about 10am. Now we'll need to clean out the refrigerator (kept closed the entire time) and replace the foods that spoiled. It'll probably take a couple of days for things to get back to 'normal.'

[newyawker99]

10. Mine came back on at 6:30pm ET yesterday after being off for

27 hours. No fans, no electricity. I had to throw out food because my refrigerator completely defrosted.

I am glad you finally got your power turned on again B B.

[VermontDem2004]

11. Power or not power

Today is 115 degrees in Mesa.