Sandy - you bitch!
We lost power around 10pm Monday - the night of the storm.
This is around when the winds really started hitting hurricane force.
The power was out for 13 days! Of course if it was a summer hurricane it would be warm out, but NO, it was 40 degrees at night and 50 in the day, so the house was cold and the refrigerator was warm. Most of the gas stations couldn't pump gas for days, so the few that had gas had a 4 hour line. Many people couldn't go to work (me included) because they didnt have any gasoline. The schools were closed; all of the businesses for miles had no power....so there are a bunch of cold people, living in the dark, with nowhere to go and nothing to do....sounds like a great setup for comedy movie. Maybe we'll see one on FX later this year.
I really can't complain though; I had no real damage to anything I own, no flooding, just a lot of inconvenience. Some people lost EVERYTHING.
The images are pretty scary.
Losing power for a day is educational and at times romantic; losing power for more than a day is annoying; losing power for 13 days is downright torture.
This happened to NJ last year with another storm. Last year though, I had no water (pump), this year I have both hot and cold water (city water and gas water heater). So from that respect I am a lot better off. I can warm up with a hot shower twice a day.
Here are some thoughts I had over the period of power loss, for better or worse:
- When the US really hits an oil crisis (like there isn't enough oil to go around) there is going to be a lot of scenarios like those survivalists envisioned; and we all called them crazy. There were people arguing in gas lines; going crazy scooping up supplies in the store, etc.
- There were also a lot of people who made an effort to help out others - but is this only because they knew it was temporary? How would they react if they felt it was the new way of life?
- Life is very boring without power! There is not much to do when there is no light, no communications, and not much heat. No wonder all people did in the previous centuries is read the bible and have sex (interesting combo)
- I am defeinitely investing in a generator and multiple fuel cans, and possibly a gas fireplace.