Ahhh…sweet, sweet electricity.

As predicted, I’m in a much better place now. the lights came on around 6 p.m. last night. I literally jumped up and down like a lunatic.

Last Friday was a pretty rough day for me. Rand (along with Lady Turpentine and jennimi) went to Canada on Thursday evening to attend a conference. They should have come home on Friday afternoon. Alas, mother nature had other ideas.

Thursday night, I had started watching season 1 of Veronica Mars (thanks, Netflix!). I absolutely loved it. When it was clear there wasn’t going to be school on Friday, I decided to stay up and watch some more. The first disc has four episodes on it. I stopped after the third, thinking “I can watch the last one tomorrow…” I went to bed around midnight. I still had electricity.

I think the power must have gone out and come back on during the night, because I heard the cordless phone beep. When I woke up at around 8, there was no power. I ate some cereal…the milk was still cold.

My parents called me around 8:30…they’d gone out for breakfast and heard about the snow in Buffalo. I confirmed that yes indeed, there was a whole bunch of snow out there. My phone beeped at me, letting me know that my battery was low. Crap! I started to panic a little…I had no way to charge my phone, and the only phones in the house were cordless and therefore useless.

I decided to get dressed and venture outside with the camera.

Here’s what greeted me, just outside the door:

Some people were attempting to dig out their cars. Why? Who knows…no one was going anywhere. Even if you had managed to get out of the parking lot, our road was blocked by trees and downed lines.

I walked down main street a bit, verifying that nothing was open. I came home and read for a little while, then tried to occupy myself by going through old piles of crap I had lying around and organizing them. I found batteries for the radio and tried to get some news. I tried to figure out how I would be able to be in contact with anyone with no cell phone. I alternated between pacing, staring out the window, and reading for the next several hours.

I decided to turn my cell phone back on, and Rand had called from Canada. I called back, worried that the battery was going to die in the middle of my conversation. It was at this time that I completely lost it. I had been holding onto the foolish hope that Rand would somehow be able to make it back that afternoon–that the roads would be cleared. Not so. I learned that all major routes were closed. The next 24 hours stretched out in front of me, seemingly endless. I was cut off from the rest of the world, but for my radio. My phone wasn’t going to last. I had very little food.

No, I wasn’t going to die…but I was going to be awfully miserable.

I let myself freak out for a bit, then pulled it together and decided to venture out again. One of my neighbors was charging her cell phone in her car. Her boyfriend(?) was standing outside, and I commented how I wished I had a car charger.

“What kind of phone do you have? I have one in my car, and you can use it if it fits.”

He got into his car, pulled out the charger, and lo! It fit! I wanted to hug him.

I sat in the car, plugged in the charger, and called my parents.

Then it was back down to Main Street with me. I brought my phone, charger, and computer…just in case. Maybe Starbucks or Caffe Aroma would be open.

I was amazed by what a difference there was from the last time I’d been outside.

(8:30 am)

(1 pm)

I came across someone walking toward me with a takeout coffee cup. Something was open!
“Where did you get that?”

She told me that DiCamillo Bakery was open, so I headed there.

I ordered some pizza and headed over to the cafe area. The cafe area is pretty tiny, but they did have many available electrical outlets. I immediately plugged in my phone. There was no place to sit, so I sort of hovered. When my pizza was ready, a couple who had a table invited me to sit with them. They were very nice, and I was happy for a little while…I had hot food, warmth, human contact, and a place to charge my phone!

When I got home, I managed to find an old phone that didn’t require electricity. Yay! I read for a little while longer (finished one book and nearly finished another), talked to Rand again, then felt sorry for myself a little while longer. I decided to call up a friend of ours who lives nearby…he didn’t have electricity either, but he does have a fireplace! I visited for a bit, warming myself by the fire. They gave me some hot apple cider, and I played Sudoku with one of his daughters. They were all in kind of a frenzy, trying to find an open hotel with electricity. They found a possibility and decided to head out, so I left. The Wegmans on Sheridan was open, so I headed there to get myself some provisions.

Since we had been advised not to drink any water without boiling it first, I bought some bottled water (I got one of the last 12-packs of spring water in the store). I also got a few other things that didn’t require refrigeration or cooking.

It was probably close to 8 when I got home, and it was dark. I lit all the candles I could find, and put batteries in the cordless window candles I’d bought in the Christmas aisle at Wegmans. I snacked and tried to read a bit by candlelight. I realized that I could watch a DVD in my computer, so I finally watched that copy of Once More with Feeling (the Buffy musical) that Stephanie made for me long ago. (I loved it, by the way…) I talked to my mom, talked to Stephanie for a bit, and talked to Rand again. Then I piled on some blankets and went to bed. I did not sleep well. 🙁

I woke up at around 8, and decided to head to Wegmans in hopes of getting a hot drink. It seems that everyone else in the world had the same idea…I decided that a hot drink was not worth waiting in line for an hour. I picked up a couple of things and headed back home. I bundled up and tried to read, but I mostly paced and stared out the window a lot. Rand called shortly after 11 to let me know that he was sitting in border traffic. I decided to try Caffe Aroma. Much to my joy, Caffe Aroma was open! I had a hot drink and an internet connection. I stayed for about an hour, and not long after I left, Rand got home. While I was still a little cranky, my disposition was much better.

We spent the next couple of days visiting with friends and family who had electricity. The nights were manageable, with lots of blankets. It was the getting out of bed, the showering and getting ready in the cold. Brrr.

But now my apartment is light and warm again! I celebrated by immediately doing two loads of laundry…that was starting to become a problem!

What a crazy, crazy week this has been, eh?