Our electric company, PG & E, notified us that we would *likely* or *possibly* have a 9-hour power outage during day hours on Tuesday. It was "planned" in advance for them to do some line-work. While we appreciated the heads-up, it still didn't make it easier to be without power, on a day I usually spend at home! Kelvin was at work, and Iver was at school a half-day, but Tuesday (my post-call day) was my home day. I did sleep a little (which doesn't require power) after an OB admission overnight, but I realized that being home alone without power is really not that fun. I did get a lot of reading in, but here is what was lacking:
- Food options! We duct-taped our fridge closed in advanced, to keep things cool and remind me not to open the fridge. I pulled out lunch food and snacks ahead of time, but then that was all I could choose from. I was gambling on whether the power would be on before I cooked dinner, or whether I'd have to last-minute scramble for take-out. Thankfully, it did return with time for me to cook the thawed chicken in the fridge.
- Heat! It's been raining, and was pretty cold (relatively, for CA-- like 50-60) in our house. I had to layer up, but couldn't run anything electric, including my heating pad (for my back) or a space heater. Poor Pepper was also freezing!
- Hot water. I forgot that heat was needed for hot water, so I did without a shower rather than take a cold one (I HATE cold showers).
- TV! I don't want much TV, but I do love watching tennis, and my recorded Australian Open was on (but unwatchable when I had the time to do it). The ESPN app on my iPad was also not working, so I was tennis-less until the lights returned.
- Internet. Wireless Internet was down alongside the power. So while I could turn my iPhone into a wireless hotspot, I didn't want to blow the battery on that.... because I couldn't charge my phone (Kelvin actually does external battery/juice pack but I preferred not to use it except for an emergency). I elected not to do an EMR inbox work at home due to the above.
I am thankful that I don't (yet) have a newborn, or frozen breast milk I would have had to salvage somehow with an outage like the above, or an electricity-dependent health issue... It could certainly have been worse. Midday, however, I got really tired of being cold at home and went into clinic to do some work, then errands, and picked up Iver. Thankfully, power was back on by 3pm (having been off for 6 hours but on sooner than the estimated 1730) and we all warmed up.
On the electric PLUS side.... I now have a new plug-in hybrid car that runs on electric for about 40 miles on one charge (except I couldn't charge it that day because of the above!), and then uses gas as a backup. I post reluctantly because I feel that "getting a new car" sometimes seems showy, but my 11-year-old Prius has been having battery issues and we don't want to have an unreliable car at this point in our lives. Kelvin (in consultation with my Dad, a Volt owner) did all the research, and we are now owners of a Honda Clarity, which I've just started driving this week!
It's big enough to seat five (which will be good for two carseats), and has better trunk space than does the Prius (and is less ugly). I haven't had a new car in over a decade, and it's a bit new age-y, with buttons, not gears, on the inside, a rear and a side right "roadkill-viewing" (per Iver) camera, bluetooth (for my podcasts!) audio (but no CD player), and a remote start mechanism... but I do think these are all things that I can get used to (and love). I really love that I can now rarely fill gas with my low-mileage driving around our rural town(s), saving our wallets and our environment!
Electricity is good stuff.
- Food options! We duct-taped our fridge closed in advanced, to keep things cool and remind me not to open the fridge. I pulled out lunch food and snacks ahead of time, but then that was all I could choose from. I was gambling on whether the power would be on before I cooked dinner, or whether I'd have to last-minute scramble for take-out. Thankfully, it did return with time for me to cook the thawed chicken in the fridge.
- Heat! It's been raining, and was pretty cold (relatively, for CA-- like 50-60) in our house. I had to layer up, but couldn't run anything electric, including my heating pad (for my back) or a space heater. Poor Pepper was also freezing!
- Hot water. I forgot that heat was needed for hot water, so I did without a shower rather than take a cold one (I HATE cold showers).
- TV! I don't want much TV, but I do love watching tennis, and my recorded Australian Open was on (but unwatchable when I had the time to do it). The ESPN app on my iPad was also not working, so I was tennis-less until the lights returned.
- Internet. Wireless Internet was down alongside the power. So while I could turn my iPhone into a wireless hotspot, I didn't want to blow the battery on that.... because I couldn't charge my phone (Kelvin actually does external battery/juice pack but I preferred not to use it except for an emergency). I elected not to do an EMR inbox work at home due to the above.
I am thankful that I don't (yet) have a newborn, or frozen breast milk I would have had to salvage somehow with an outage like the above, or an electricity-dependent health issue... It could certainly have been worse. Midday, however, I got really tired of being cold at home and went into clinic to do some work, then errands, and picked up Iver. Thankfully, power was back on by 3pm (having been off for 6 hours but on sooner than the estimated 1730) and we all warmed up.
On the electric PLUS side.... I now have a new plug-in hybrid car that runs on electric for about 40 miles on one charge (except I couldn't charge it that day because of the above!), and then uses gas as a backup. I post reluctantly because I feel that "getting a new car" sometimes seems showy, but my 11-year-old Prius has been having battery issues and we don't want to have an unreliable car at this point in our lives. Kelvin (in consultation with my Dad, a Volt owner) did all the research, and we are now owners of a Honda Clarity, which I've just started driving this week!
It's big enough to seat five (which will be good for two carseats), and has better trunk space than does the Prius (and is less ugly). I haven't had a new car in over a decade, and it's a bit new age-y, with buttons, not gears, on the inside, a rear and a side right "roadkill-viewing" (per Iver) camera, bluetooth (for my podcasts!) audio (but no CD player), and a remote start mechanism... but I do think these are all things that I can get used to (and love). I really love that I can now rarely fill gas with my low-mileage driving around our rural town(s), saving our wallets and our environment!
Electricity is good stuff.
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