Showing posts with label catastrophes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label catastrophes. Show all posts

Sunday, June 23, 2013

It Never Ends

Stormlets have given way to Mega-storms.  Here I was, blissfully prepping for the open house to show my peeps my new abode (it was supposed to happen in January but kept getting delayed) when The Storm of the Century hit the night before the party.

I know it's an overused phrase, but it really was a big storm.  Mine was among 500,000 plus homes without power Friday night.  And Saturday.  And half of Sunday.

Normal view on a nice day
View after the storm
Street-level view

I saw much, much worse, but I feel so sorry for those people with trees on their houses and sidewalks ripped up with trees down I just didn't have the heart to stop and shoot pictures.

Of course, this all means that the party did NOT go without a hitch.  Girl-child had to let people in the door manually since the door wasn't working, and then she lead them up the stairs since the elevator wasn't working...in the dark because the lights weren't working ... until Elizabeth saved the day by having a flashlight in her bag (a good scout is always prepared - she qualifies as a good scout!).

The good news is I will no longer be hauling ice up the stairs, the bad news is that I have to throw out food.  I hate throwing out food.  And just for the record, I think there is no foodstuff more disgusting than an overripe banana that has been frozen and then thawed.

Weird meals abound when salvaging food during/after a power outage...
yes that's a ton of cocktail meatballs with corn for lunch

People brought things even though they were not supposed to ... and I received flowers from afar too.  The beer, wine, tea, soap, mixed nuts, chocolates, full-spectrum lightbulbs and vinegar (yes, vinegar - how clever was that?!?) will all be put to good use.  Oh, and I got a sack full of lace-weight yarn that I forgot to offer to the knitters, which means I'll have to take it to Knit Night.

Amazing box of flowers spotted in the lobby;  couldn't believe it when I saw my name on it!
Turned out to be a box of sunshine!
My new best friends - the guys from the electric company
One funny story... so I was fretting myself to distraction Saturday morning ... went to a coffee shop to get Internet ... went to two places to get ice because the first was already sold out ... went to Midtown Farmers Market for breakfast to get my mind off having 30 people over with no power ... was chatting at the market with a woman who politely asked, "So, do you have your top on inside-out on purpose?" to which I replied, "No! Only because I got dressed in the dark this morning!"  I'm happy to say I had my shirt on right-side-out by the time my guests arrived.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Ironies

Irony the First
It is hotter in the Twin Cities than it is in Accra, Ghana. Really. I have my iGoogle page set up with current temps in both cities and today is the second day in a row that it's hotter here. Of course, we broke a record here and it's not as humid as it is in Ghana, but still. Ironic.

Irony the Second
This one is tragic. You know that oil well that is deep under water and far off shore and proving nearly impossible to plug up and stop? They drill deep and far from shore because of environmental issues with drilling near the shore. If it weren't so deep and far they wouldn't be having such a hard time getting it under control. (thanks Pato)

Irony the Third
We were in a little traffic jam the other night. Turned out there was a state trooper and two cars pulled off to the side on the exit ramp. Do you know what the person in front of us did? He rear-ended the person in front of him. We all heard the big crunch. Even the trooper who was standing right there. Bummer. Then there were four cars and a state trooper pulled over.