Power went out

It's high summer around here, with the heat up around 90 degrees. Yesterday, as I was sitting on the deck reading, my son comes outside and tells me the computer crashed. Really? Tell me more about it. It just stopped working.

I ask some more questions, and figure it sounds like the power is out. I went inside to check...yup, it is out!

My neighbors come out of the house to figure out if it is just them, or if everyone is out of power. Seems like we are all out of power around here. Up and down the block, no electricity.

Grrr....I can't call my husband (I have no cell phone, and the cordless phone won't work if the base has no power), I can't internet (the router and modem won't work without power even though my laptop is fine). Not to mention the dinner I had going in the crock pot and the bread I had baking in the bread machine!

I decide to take my son out to see if we can pick up some cold salads for dinner (since the bread and crock pot dinner could be a total bust). We drive up to the store, which is running on generator power. No lights, but they have those registers running and the credit card machines humming.

All of the refrigerated cases are cordoned off. No one can get milk, cheese, meats cold salads. Nothing from the deli. Grrr....Yes, I completely understand the principle of needing to keep the fridge and freezer doors shut. But I am unable to purchase anything for dinner because of this. I grab some tomato's and rolls and we check out.

OH!! I need gas! My car is on empty (had a long car trip last week and haven't filled it yet), and I need gas. So, I get some extra cash to pay for the gas. Hold up...I can't get gas because the pumps don't run without electricity. D'oh!

Thankfully, blessedly, the electricity comes back on as we were pulling out, so I got gas on the car ride home.

Lesson learned: I am far more dependent on electricity than I had an idea about. Sure, we weren't using a huge amount in our house (didn't have the AC on, no lights on), but I couldn't do the normal things I had going (like baking and cooking). When we left the house, driving was a nightmare with the lights out, having to stop at all the intersections. Not being able to purchase items like I normally would, and what if I couldn't have gotten the gasoline that I needed? For two hours, my entire world was turned upside down. I really don't know how I would have reacted if it had gone on for longer (well, my husband would have hooked up the diesel generator, and I could have cooked, at least). Still....it makes me wonder about the dependency we have on POWER. mmmmm.....

And my rolls came out wonky. They were edible, but not light and fluffy. Doggie hockey pucks for the yard today!