Saturday, January 09, 2010

We Spent the Night Without Electricity

It is rare that we have freezing weather here in South Texas. We probably get more hurricane threats than freezes. It's so strange to see people go insane every time it gets cold around here. Given that most of us are accustomed to hot weather, we do not adapt well to the cold. Unfortunately, this puts a strain on our electic grid. We don't invest in oil or gas heaters for our homes. We also don't really need fireplaces. We're all electric, baby.

So, my apartment complex went dark just as our first freeze was starting. The funny thing is that all around us, everything else was lit. Our power company is a Co-Op that has its own grid. We were dark for about 16 hours.

Fortunately, our place is well insulated to deal with the summer heat. It worked well against the freezing temperatures as well. Our inside temperature went down to 69 degrees. The biggest problem was boredom. Electricity is a big part of our daily lives, especially if, like me, you live on the Internet.

Power finally came on this afternoon after we went shopping for battery operated lanterns, just in case. Fortunately, we don't need them, yet. Tonight is the second hard freeze for a while. After tonight, we should be fine for a while.

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