filed in Daily Life
Power Outage
With the massive rains in L.A., our building lost power (and hot water) for 20 hours. The electricity just went back on. I moaned and groaned about the inconvenience, imagining all the home-cooked containers of food going bad in my freezer. Trying to keep my cell phone charged was a real chore. But at the same time, it made me realize how much we take electricity and hot water for granted. Tonight, they will be part of my gratitude list.
Illustration by Ben Wiseman
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If your freezer is full and you didn’t open it, the food might still be good (happened to me during an ice storm).
But you are so right about taking these sorts of things for granted. I get miffed when I lose my internet (which happens with regularity, given the winds and that I have Comcast as my provider!) But it usually returns fairly quickly and really, I’m only inconvenienced, not devastated!
I’ve decided the food in my fridge and freezer is fine. At least I hope so. In the last few days since the power outage, I’m really appreciating electricity – and hot water.
I understand what you went thru. When Hurricane Sandy came thru, I lost power for 5 days – and it was really, really cold. Luckily I had my dog and cat and a big, heavy down comforter. Lasted 2 nights then had to go to a nearby hotel. Luckily could charge stuff at work so I at least had phone and iPad. It made me very thankful for our conveniences. But it also made me paranoid of all storms. Thankfully, I haven’t lost it since.
I can’t imagine not having power for 5 days. It makes sense that you would have to go to a hotel, especially in the cold weather. We’re supposed to have another big storm on Sunday (Oscars!) and I’m paranoid about it.