Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Hello....Is anyone there???

Here we are almost a full month later and I'm finally getting around to posting another blog entry. It's not entirely my fault, however, I was a victim of circumstances. December is usually a tough month anyway, with our annual holiday concert (rehearsals, dress rehearsal and concert: http://www.merrimackconcert.org/), Christmas shopping, tree cutting, tree decorating, holiday parties, etc., but this year it was especially trying. Normally our concert would be over by the 9th or 10th of the month but this year the schedule had us going until the 20th. Then the BIG complication hit. There are lot's of stories around that event.

Thursday Dec 11th: If you don't know, I like to cook. I had been toying with the idea of making home made gnocchi for some time and finally decided on this day to give it a try. Around 2:00 in the afternoon I started cooking the potatoes and began the gnocchi around 3:00. Nancy wouldn't be home until later since she was going to yoga. Remind me never to make gnocchi again. What a complete and utter pain in the A?!. They came out great but it takes a long time and a lot of patience to make gnocchi. By 4:30 I barely had enough to feed two people. The plan was to freeze it and save for another day. At 4:30 my buddy Jeff called and asked if I wanted to go to a cigar tasting at Blowin' Smoke. I still had at least another hour to go before my gnocchi supplies would be exhausted, so I reluctantly said no. About ten minutes later I thought better of it and called Jeff back to pick me up. Since he was ready to go I needed to pack up and leave quickly. As we were pulling out of the driveway I noticed I had left the TV on.

The tasting was being put on by the Ashton cigar company and it just happens to be one of my favorite cigars. For $15 you received an Ashton VSG torpedo (large), a shot of Talisker scotch (one of my favorites; I'll need to blog about scotch some day), chicken wings, cheese and chocolate. The cigar alone was worth $12. To top it off they gave you 15% off on Ashton products. How could you go wrong. There were other cigar lovers around to talk to and I happened to meet a former co-worker there. I lost the business card he gave me, so unfortunately I can't contact him again. All in all, it was a nice way to spend three hours. Then we left.

It was a little icy when we exited the store and I thought to myself how the weather reports hadn't indicated any major issues for the night. By 9:00 the power went out. I started the generator and it stayed on for the next eight days. We were lucky because we did not suffer any damage from the storm but our neighbors had a tree land on their roof and four others down in their yard, including one of their beautiful apple trees.

I understand the term "cabin fever" now much better than ever before. The generator gives us the ability to prevent the basement from filling with water and keeps some basics going, but it doesn't give us all important water or flushing ability (we have a well and a pump up septic system). By day five without water, I was pretty irritable (read that down right ornery) in addition to being stinky from taking a shower only every other day. Couple that with an intestinal system that can only be used when you drive to a local restaurant to "borrow" their bathroom and I was ready to buy solar cells, a windmill and a whole house generator just as long as I could get power at any cost.

Friday December 19th: Power returned at 3:33 in the afternoon (notice the precise time; it is ingrained in my head). I wanted to sing the entire Hallelujah Chorus right there and then. It was snowing by then and wouldn't stop until Sunday night. We got 19 inches of snow that weekend. A fitting end to December of 2008.

PS: I think we'll still go with the whole house generator.

1 comment:

Wilhelmina said...

I think you forgot part of the story--the part where Mom comes home without her keys, and, thinking you're lying unconscious on the floor because the TV's on, breaks into the back door with a crowbar.