Tropical storm Hannah has arrived in the Triangle area. I was cautiously optimistic that I would retain power. You see, I
live I an electrical black hole. I lose power frequently. A gentle
wind, a scampering squirrel, a snake curled up in the power station.
In August we lost power on three different days (including a 20 hour
outage, during which I had to pack and leave for vacation). On the
last occasion, a falling limb caused a small fire bringing out the fire
department, The fireman kindly suggested that a call to the utilities
commission (who knew) might encourage Duke Power to come and trim the
trees and heavy growth hanging over the power lines.
Now I have lived
in this house for 17 years and I have never seen any tree trimming
activity. But now for the past four weeks, we have had trucks in the
neighborhood and vigorous tree trimming occuring. Hence my short-lived
optimism regarding Hanna's arrival. Alas, the power blinked six
different times this morning and then died (and in my blind cup half
full optimism, I had not yet dried my hair).
Sooo, I thought what of the many things I need to do around the house this weekend, can I do without power. I decided I could spend some time going through emails and clearing out my inbox...all I need is a WiFi connection (and I am so thankful that I upgraded to a laptop a couple years back). I headed to Borders (because I had a $5 off coupon). Found a seat with a plug, plugged in my computer and discovered that Borders does not offer free WiFi (very unfriendly!!). Bought a magazine with my coupon. I owed $2.11 after the coupon. I handed the cashier a $5 bill and he handed me $2.11 in change. I said, 'since the price was $2.11, shouldn't I receive more in change' - I mean it is printed right on the receipt not like it required any math skills. Anyway, change corrected, I decided to head to Panera's as I know they offer free WiFi, even if it did mean spoiling my diet with a poppy sead bunt cake :).
My second tropical storm Hanna problem is leaking in my art room. I had an art/laundry room added to my house, which was fianlly finished in February, however each time there is a significant rain there seems to be a new leak. This time through the overhead light fixture, which seems a little scary (mixing electricity and water just doesn't seem wise). Thankfully it missed my work table by about 2".
So that is how my weekend has started. Hopefully electricity will be restored before the end of the day as I don't think very many people have lost power (unlike Hurricane Fran when I had no power for seven days).
