Power, yay!
Nov. 23rd, 2024 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
The big storm that went through on Tuesday evening took the power out for pretty much everyone on the east side of Lake Washington. Ours died just before 7pm and we got it back Friday evening.
We're used to power outages - lots of trees around here and the power company doesn't bury the lines, it hangs them on poles, right by the trees. They normally only last about 24 hours though. For the first couple of days, we're all, 'Que sera sera' but by day three tending to a wood fire and reading by solar powered lanterns after 5pm gets tedious. As does washing dishes by hand and cleaning cat litter trays, because the automated ones aren't working. At least we have a gas hob, so we can still cook and heat water.
The cats were deeply unimpressed by the whole experience. The heating vents don't work, the heated cat beds don't work, the water fountains don't work, the litter trays don't work - stupid humans, why don't you do your job and make things perfect for cats?
18 year old Kuro who has slept on my bed since he was six months old slept IN my bed for two nights for the first time ever. When the power's been out in the past, he's always preferred to stay on top of the covers, but now he's a skinny old man with not much muscle or body fat and he feels the cold more. Last night, with the power and heat back on, he crawled back inside the bed again at 4am, so I may have created a monster...
Kuro and Yami sharing a blanket in front of the fireplace. Normally their relationship is more tolerate than appreciate, but the cold makes for more willing bedfellows apparently!
Kuro even washed her a little.
It looked a lot more atmospheric at the time, since it was dark with only the firelight and a couple of dim lanterns, but photos required flash.
Anyway, it's good to be back to normal now, because there are still nearly 100,000 people waiting for their electricity. And if the council ever get around to giving us planning permission for the remodel (it's a year now and counting), when that's done we'll have a battery backup supply so we won't ever have to sit in the dark again :-)
We're used to power outages - lots of trees around here and the power company doesn't bury the lines, it hangs them on poles, right by the trees. They normally only last about 24 hours though. For the first couple of days, we're all, 'Que sera sera' but by day three tending to a wood fire and reading by solar powered lanterns after 5pm gets tedious. As does washing dishes by hand and cleaning cat litter trays, because the automated ones aren't working. At least we have a gas hob, so we can still cook and heat water.
The cats were deeply unimpressed by the whole experience. The heating vents don't work, the heated cat beds don't work, the water fountains don't work, the litter trays don't work - stupid humans, why don't you do your job and make things perfect for cats?
18 year old Kuro who has slept on my bed since he was six months old slept IN my bed for two nights for the first time ever. When the power's been out in the past, he's always preferred to stay on top of the covers, but now he's a skinny old man with not much muscle or body fat and he feels the cold more. Last night, with the power and heat back on, he crawled back inside the bed again at 4am, so I may have created a monster...
Kuro and Yami sharing a blanket in front of the fireplace. Normally their relationship is more tolerate than appreciate, but the cold makes for more willing bedfellows apparently!
Kuro even washed her a little.
It looked a lot more atmospheric at the time, since it was dark with only the firelight and a couple of dim lanterns, but photos required flash.
Anyway, it's good to be back to normal now, because there are still nearly 100,000 people waiting for their electricity. And if the council ever get around to giving us planning permission for the remodel (it's a year now and counting), when that's done we'll have a battery backup supply so we won't ever have to sit in the dark again :-)
no subject
Date: 2024-11-24 03:51 am (UTC)Holy cow! You're still waiting on permissions from the council??? Have they given you any kind of estimate on when they'll get around to it?
There's nothing wrong with sleeping with furry kids under the covers. Bet Kuro really enjoys sharing your body heat. :)
no subject
Date: 2024-11-24 05:16 am (UTC)The ways of the council are not mysterious, but they are definitely low in competence and high in bureaucratic arrogance. They can take three months to respond to anything. They had a massive IT failure and spent many weeks this summer telling our lawyer they couldn't do anything because their systems were down. They have regulations that are in direct violation of state law and rely on people a) not knowing that or b) not being willing to take the time to argue it when it's easier to just go along with the council to get shit done.
We've managed to get most of the planning permission niggles sorted out. There's one long-standing issue that the council have now agreed to verbally but need to get in writing and then have it voted on at a full council meeting; and there's one more that our lawyer's still arguing with them and telling them that what they're asking us to do is illegal, because they're requiring us to take action that involves neither our property nor the council's interests, since it's over the border into the next jurisdiction. So who knows when that one will get resolved. Meanwhile we just keep paying everyone involved more money!
no subject
Date: 2024-11-24 08:30 pm (UTC)A 3 day outage is a looong time without power. Glad you have yours back, and hopefully your neighbours will get theirs soon.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-24 09:01 pm (UTC)Apparently 96% of people now have power back, but there are still a couple of really badly affected towns plus a bunch of small pockets here and there. The power line crews are still staying busy...