Wednesday, January 28, 2009

I will not be posting a blog today

Sorry, everyone. I will not be posting a blog today. I'm just too, too worn out.

Got up this morning to a winter wonderland outside. Lovely snow, covered with ice, covered with more snow. Turned on the laptop, staggered to the kitchen in the semi-dark house and flicked on the coffeemaker. The power immediately went out. Not even a drop of hot coffee for moi. I ran to the sitting room and unplugged the laptop, because the power kept trying to come back on, then dropping out again. Got all computers turned off. Whew.

Fortunately we have a gas water heater, so I ran really hot water into a mug and dropped a tea bag into it, and some honey. Hm. Not quite the jolt I needed. Plus, while I was doing it, the dog was glaring at me, wondering why noise and warmth weren't emanating from his favorite floor register. He's very adamant about heat. For more on that, check out yesterday's Magdalenaville post, here.

With my tiny bedside flashlight I was able to find the lighter, and soon had lots of scented candles going. That smelled good, and looked pretty. Then the tiny flashlight died. So I got my really nifty flashlight-radio-siren thingie that runs by solar energy, or battery, or crank (dynamo). With that, I found the junk drawer and eventually located batteries for my tiny flashlight. (Note: Neither the battery nor the solar were functioning this morning. Lovely.) The dynamo flashlight and I went to the basement (crank-crank-crank) and put wood into the wood furnace. The basement, which is very similar to a cave, was quite toasty. But without electricity, the fan doesn't run, meaning not as much heat as usual was distributed to the house--or to the dog.

I thought I might listen to news of the rest of the snow-covered world via radio--on my really nifty flashlight-radio-siren thingie. But since it's kinda new, and since I didn't read the owner's manual, or even have a clue where that might be located, I just fiddled with knobs and buttons. Part of the time some of the radio buttons lit, a few times I accidentally turned on the siren and the red light flashed.

The dog, meanwhile, seemed to be hoping to be adopted by a sane person. Preferably one without a siren.

As I said, we have a gas water heater, and I realized if I was going to get a shower I'd better do it before the house cooled down more. So I had a lovely hot shower by candle light, and I smelled like tulips because that's the scent of the "bathroom candle." Just as I got all wrapped in my big terry robe, with a matching towel on my head, the power came on. I immediately raced to the kitchen and flicked on the coffee pot! Yay, I survived! I went around re-setting electric clocks, and ten minutes later I had half a pot of coffee and no electricity. Again. Arrgh!

What was there to do? I got dressed, dragged the ungrateful dog outside to do his business in/on the crunchy ice/snow. I shoveled a little ice/snow. And then--ick--I cleaned house. The sun was shining on the ice outside, and it was quite lovely. Great time to dust and clean floors. Yay. Not that I'd rather do anything else, like say, be warm, or use the computer.

Okay, I'll skip a lot of my trauma. Five hours and two minutes after the power went off, it was restored for the fourth time, which seems to be holding. I immediately cooked meals for today and tomorrow, just in case the electricity goes out again. About four hours later, the internet was up and running.

So, you can see, I'm too worn out. Can't possibly post a blog today.

Just wondering, though. Is there anyone out there who can talk to this dog about his attitude?!?

Magdalena Scott

6 comments:

Jan Scarbrough said...

Mags, I'm glad your power is back on. If anyone wants to see pictures of MY day in the winter storm, check out http://sisterwriters.blogspot.com/

Magdalena Scott said...

Thanks, Jan. Love your pictures! With all my drama--I mean, trauma--I didn't take any photos. Maybe tomorrow.

Don't look for any cute doggy-in-the-snow pictures, though. You-know-who hates to be photographed.

Tracy Preston - Romance Writer said...

"The dog, meanwhile, seemed to be hoping to be adopted by a sane person. Preferably one without a siren."

I'm laughing my butt off at that! I get that same look from my dog all the time. But I just shrug, cause he's a chihuahua and it's in his nature to be snarky.

Clever thinking with the radio, flashlight, solar, crank thingy. Waaaay more prepared than me! ;)

Toodles,
Tracy Preston

Magdalena Scott said...

Tracy, thanks for calling me "prepared." That makes me laugh, though.

JM Madden said...

Ha, that's hilarious! Bet you're gonna look for directions someday, huh?
I'm sure the dog would appreciate it.

Magdalena Scott said...

It WOULD be a good idea to look for the directions now, wouldn't it? Thanks, Jennifer...

I'm being very chatty and pleasant to the dog. He's still a bit standoffish, though.

We were so fortunate here. Some areas, not so very far from us, were hit really hard. A few hours without electricity is a blog. A few days could easily be a disaster.

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