Power

[telophase]

Power back on after 6 hours. Power company website says rolling blackouts much longer than expected so I guess that was it. Still no water, and I don’t know if it’s the pumping station or frozen pipes—the faucets that never freeze are giving no water right now. We filled a tub last night as well as some plastic containers so we’re good.

After the power came on we finally opened the fridge and rescued the sandwich fixings, summer sausage and a potato pie I made last night. They’re in a cooler in the garage now, near the garage door so they’ll be good. Rest of the fridge probably a loss, but it wasn’t packed so again we’re good. Freezer inside probably OK, freezer outside definitely OK.

Comments

[trobadora]

I'm glad your power is back!

[telophase]

Thanks! We’re assuming we’ll have more blackouts over the next couple of days, so are doing our best to conserve heat, charge what we can right now, etc. And be conservative with our water use.

[yhlee]

Oh man, stay warm! :hugs:

[telophase]

As warm as we can! We’re assuming the blackout will continue so acting on that assumption.

[yhlee]

:nod: Makes sense. Our power's been fluctuating although not to the point of rolling blackouts. The catten was VERY offended by the frozen rain and icicles, and headed straight back inside!

[telophase]

So it turns out that part of the reason the rolling blackouts all over Texas are lasting for hours is that turbines out in West Texas are frozen!

The cats are weirded out, but D.Va least so. She’s asleep in a basket I put by the fireplace. Sora’s wanting comfort but unable to settle down. I heated the two warm things in the microwave and put the in the cat houses he uses, then brought one house into the living room where we’re sitting. Hopefully he’ll settle down soon.

[yhlee]

Oh man...it's inconvenient that my mailbox is frozen shut, but turbines...

[loligo]

I hope you guys can stay safe and warm!

Am I just less fastidious about food safety than most people? Because I would say that anything other than meat or milk would still be fine after 6 hours in a closed but unpowered fridge.

[telophase]

There’s not that much in it, so not going to worry about it that much. Some eggs—since the US washes them they have to be refrigerated—some leftovers, etc.

[adafrog]

Dang. {{{{hugs}}}}

[telophase]

Thanks! Power still on, still no water, but plenty in containers do we’re better than some. Y’alll ok?

[adafrog]

As of this morning I still have power and water. Although we're being asked to limit electricity use, so not quite normal. *crosses fingers that water and power are still there when I get home*

[telophase]

Fingers crossed!

[squirrelitude]

I was going to say "well, at least you can put stuff outdoors where it will stay cold" but then I remembered that wildlife exists and would *love* a summer sausage.

[telophase]

Luckily we have a cold garage, and ended up putting the food into a styrofoam cooler we had, layering blue ice packs on top to guard against temperature fluctuations, and put a brick on top of the cooler to force any wildlife that got into the garage to gnaw through the cooler instead of knocking the lid off. If anything got in it would be small, on the order of rats and mice, instead of the cats, possums, and potential foxes and raccoons that would be outside and might be able to knock a brick off.