Never A Dull Moment

Sandy came, and Sandy went. Lots of trees and power lines came down, but luckily our little house remained unscathed. Still, the power has not yet been restored, so by now, on our fourth day of power-free living in Mercer County, we've adapted our routines a bit.

In the morning, as soon as I wake up, here is my new routine:

Put on shoes and "gas jacket" (I'm trying to restrict the gas smell to just a few articles of clothing)
Pour any remaining gas into generator.
Put empty gas container in plastic bag, closed with twistie tie (this helps my car from smelling like the inside of a gas can).
Grab newspaper and cellphone and head out to the only gas station in town that still has gas.
Count number of cars ahead of me and select newspaper articles to read accordingly.
Wait, read, and text friends to make dinner plans and/or see if anyone has power.
Wait some more.
When it's my turn, fill up gas can. (Note to self; borrow Tracy's gas can when we visit with them.)
Return home, put gas in generator, fire up generator.
Wait five minutes.
Plug sump pump and refrigerator extension cords into generator.
Go back in house and check interior temperature. (57 degrees today.)
Add additional layers of clothing accordingly.

Other new routines include the following "how to cross an intersection" routine:

Look to see if signal light has power.
If no, slow down.
Look to see if the intersection has any kind of police presence.
If no, slow down some more.
Assess for oncoming traffic from all directions.
Make eye contact with other drivers.
Try to remember what your New Jersey Drivers' Manual said when you moved here 12 years ago.
Fail to remember; revert to "drive and pray" style of driving.
Keep hand on horn at all times.

And the rustic "brush your teeth by candlelight" routine... which you can probably just imagine on your own.

Today we powered up the generator and then got the heck out of dodge... since the lovely Feldinis have power again, we have removed ourselves to Pennsylvania.

On the plus side, there were two giant PSE&G cherry pickers out on Cedar Avenue this morning.
On the minus side, well, there's this:

Sigh.

My sister and her husband came home from a meal out when their power was out to discover a glowing porch light. Today I flipped our porch light to the "on" position as we were heading out...

I hope to be reporting happy power news SOOOOOOON!

(Thanks to all the friends

who have pitched in during pre- and post-Sandy craziness.

And thanks to our giant backyard pine tree for not falling over.)