Snowbound Journal, with comments:
Reason #559 that it is good to have a Vibe: When stuck without heat or electricity in the middle of an ice storm, that plug in the dashboard sure comes in handy for turning your car into a generator-on-wheels and allowing you to hook up the boiler and have HEAT!
I woke up at 3:30am on Thursday morning to find that my electricity had gone off. No electricity meant no heat, because the boiler has an electric switch. All night long I listened to the sound of trees cracking and branches sliding to the ground. I didn't get much sleep Wednesday night.
Snowstorm, Day 1 1/2.
Inch-thick ice on trees. Electric out since 3:30am. Had to make another batch of candy to keep warm. Molasses Cream Candy, hopefully.
Stayed home from work sick on Wednesday, but Thursday was weather-related. Spent entire day trying out different ways to keep warm. Right now, I'm waiting for the last couple of degrees to inch up the thermostat so I can go to bed. I have 3 degrees left. Grrr.
Being snowbound with no heat or electricity is no fun. At least I had the gas stove, but the trees breaking right & left were scary, and I haven't slept since 3:30am. It's almost 9pm now.
What a Christmas. Em might not make it down from Columbus, and Jess is snowbound in her apartment. It's been interesting, that's for sure.
Today--in the house--I am wearing two pairs of socks, my snowboots, a pair of flannel boxer shorts, corduroys, a silk short-sleeved shirt, and my second-warmest sweater. I actually only started to get really cold when the house dropped down under 50 degrees. Ugh.
Dad did manage to come and hook up my car plug to the boiler, so I had heat by Thursday evening. Which was nice.
Calculation at 2:30am 12/24
House was 65 degrees @ 9:30pm
House is 50 degrees @ 2:30am
5 hours/15 degrees
3 degrees lost per hour.
If I heat the house to 65 again, I will have (technically) 5 hours until it drops back to 50 degrees after the boiler heats the water in the radiators. But during the time the boiler is heating, house will be warming up, so I should have +/- 8 hours of 'heat'.
There are no books in this house yet, and I'm trying to conserve Dana battery power. So I am being forced to read the "Reader's Digest Great Chicken Dishes" cookbook, which will probably put me to sleep. (I didn't get far in my reading.)
Friday--Day 2
Today was actually a bit better, but still no electricity. I slept in, went down to Bethel to deliver water and visit a bit (I'm on city water, so I had cold water just fine) and brought a few books back to read.
I turned on the boiler at 5:10pm. It's now 7pm and I've just sat down to eat supper. (Chicken noodle soup made in one of my Cephalon skillets.) It's actually working well.
Anyway, we've gone up 5 degrees in 2 hours. So since we're aiming for 65 degrees this time, I'm here and awake for the duration. It is getting warmer in here, though.
Day 3:
Power returned 12/25 at 3:30am, bringing the total outage to 48 hours. Hopefully that is a record and will not be repeated, but there are people still out.
I'm in Bethel now. We're not opening presents until Emily gets here--Dad left to pick her up at 10am from my house and just got there. I have electricity, my heat is back working properly again, and my pipes didn't freeze, despite the weather outside getting down to -5.
It was actually too cold in the house to knit that first day.
Merry Christmas, everyone. I know I got my wish. :)
Reason #559 that it is good to have a Vibe: When stuck without heat or electricity in the middle of an ice storm, that plug in the dashboard sure comes in handy for turning your car into a generator-on-wheels and allowing you to hook up the boiler and have HEAT!
I woke up at 3:30am on Thursday morning to find that my electricity had gone off. No electricity meant no heat, because the boiler has an electric switch. All night long I listened to the sound of trees cracking and branches sliding to the ground. I didn't get much sleep Wednesday night.
Snowstorm, Day 1 1/2.
Inch-thick ice on trees. Electric out since 3:30am. Had to make another batch of candy to keep warm. Molasses Cream Candy, hopefully.
Stayed home from work sick on Wednesday, but Thursday was weather-related. Spent entire day trying out different ways to keep warm. Right now, I'm waiting for the last couple of degrees to inch up the thermostat so I can go to bed. I have 3 degrees left. Grrr.
Being snowbound with no heat or electricity is no fun. At least I had the gas stove, but the trees breaking right & left were scary, and I haven't slept since 3:30am. It's almost 9pm now.
What a Christmas. Em might not make it down from Columbus, and Jess is snowbound in her apartment. It's been interesting, that's for sure.
Today--in the house--I am wearing two pairs of socks, my snowboots, a pair of flannel boxer shorts, corduroys, a silk short-sleeved shirt, and my second-warmest sweater. I actually only started to get really cold when the house dropped down under 50 degrees. Ugh.
Dad did manage to come and hook up my car plug to the boiler, so I had heat by Thursday evening. Which was nice.
Calculation at 2:30am 12/24
House was 65 degrees @ 9:30pm
House is 50 degrees @ 2:30am
5 hours/15 degrees
3 degrees lost per hour.
If I heat the house to 65 again, I will have (technically) 5 hours until it drops back to 50 degrees after the boiler heats the water in the radiators. But during the time the boiler is heating, house will be warming up, so I should have +/- 8 hours of 'heat'.
There are no books in this house yet, and I'm trying to conserve Dana battery power. So I am being forced to read the "Reader's Digest Great Chicken Dishes" cookbook, which will probably put me to sleep. (I didn't get far in my reading.)
Friday--Day 2
Today was actually a bit better, but still no electricity. I slept in, went down to Bethel to deliver water and visit a bit (I'm on city water, so I had cold water just fine) and brought a few books back to read.
I turned on the boiler at 5:10pm. It's now 7pm and I've just sat down to eat supper. (Chicken noodle soup made in one of my Cephalon skillets.) It's actually working well.
Anyway, we've gone up 5 degrees in 2 hours. So since we're aiming for 65 degrees this time, I'm here and awake for the duration. It is getting warmer in here, though.
Day 3:
Power returned 12/25 at 3:30am, bringing the total outage to 48 hours. Hopefully that is a record and will not be repeated, but there are people still out.
I'm in Bethel now. We're not opening presents until Emily gets here--Dad left to pick her up at 10am from my house and just got there. I have electricity, my heat is back working properly again, and my pipes didn't freeze, despite the weather outside getting down to -5.
It was actually too cold in the house to knit that first day.
Merry Christmas, everyone. I know I got my wish. :)
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