When the Lights Went Out

[ChristopherRobin]

I believe the year was March, 1999. I live in the south burbs of Chicago. It was around 6:00 a.m., and I was standing near the kitchen window, doing dishes and listening to WGN. The kicker part of this is, there was nothing unusual in the forecast. Suddenly, I couldn't even see my deck. A whiteout blizzard came absolutely out of nowhere. And right then the power went out. I had to call in sick at work because at that time, I couldn't get my garage door open with no power because the side door was stuck shut, and I kept putting off getting it fixed. It also got really cold, fast. So the only thing I could do was get under a quilt with my cat. I thought I'd go nuts. Then a friend called me and said it would be 3-4 days before we would get the power back. I stuck it out the first day, and then the second day I bolted to a hotel, after taking my cat to the vet to board. I took hot shower, and went to Traverso's for what turned out to be the best hot cheese pizza I ever had, because I hadn't had anything hot to eat in 24 hours.

Anyway, you have my sympathy, because it is HOT.

 

[Buckeye1]

We were without power in Memphis back in the ice storm of '94 for over a week. Being in the cold was (to me) easier to bear than hot as fuck humidity. But a week with no power is a long time. We were reduced to putting blankets up (over the doors) to keep the little heat we had (from a basically barely working gas-log fireplace) in the dining room, and sitting around looking at one another, in the candlelight. And this was before the internet was so popular! Makes me wonder what we did before!

Being without electricity for almost nine days is not something I would want to go through again. I ended up driving to a local "country-food" restaurant that served lots of home-cooked vegetables and stuff, to volunteer to bus tables and pour water, along with the Mayor and other important peoples. At least we were warm! I swore then: I WILL NEVER TAKE HAVING ELECTRICITY FOR GRANTED, EVER AGAIN!

Thanks, DrabBoiz. I'll take the heat over the cold any day. You took a bad situation and did something good from it that you probably would not have done otherwise. That's a great story, man. My hat's off to you.

 

[Buckeye1]

I live in central NJ. OK, so far. South of me got hit with severe storms last nite/early this morning. Took out the power to many home. You are lucky you have a generator. Not many people do.

The guys and gals out your way are getting some big numbers. 100 degrees in NJ and I do as little a possible.

Thanks Tim. The 100's have broken, at least for us. It's only going to get up to 98 degrees today. I'll have to try to remember what I did with my sweater.

 

[Buckeye1]

Hurricane Irene last year. 48 hours without power. I live in the San Juan metro so it didnt take too long to restore. Irene was only Cat 1. Hard for a computer nerd like me to be without internet, I was twitching trust me! haha. Food went bad, but no major issues other than annoyances. Was a good break in a way, reminded me of what I am grateful for.

Oh, WebMonkey....hurricanes. Brings back some "fond" memories. "Fond" might be stretching it a bit. I would have hated being on one of the islands in the path of a hurricane....nowhere to run. You just have to hunker down and take what you get. Scary thought.

Adversity does seem to bring out the best in people. Time to figure out what is really important to us. I'm glad all went well with you.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Buckeye1]

Australia is a great country to be a part of, and for me Tasmania is paradise, if the opportunity to visit ever arises grab it.

I'm not sure I have a good answer as to why I became interested in gay porn...I don't really know myself...here's my best quick explanation.

I've been slightly left of center my entire life and that made the first two decades of my life difficult. Then I got to a point where I stopped trying to be 'normal' and began embracing the things about me that make me different. Now I consider myself very lucky because dealing with those early difficulties made me acutely aware of other people's feelings and the value of a smile. It also explains why I share my kitchen with nine abandoned and abused bunnies... lol

So, you can probably see why me liking gay porn isn't really surprising, I do what makes me happy. Actually, I don't like all gay porn, I just really like the style of gay porn on this site.

Thanks, Grace, for answering my question. Being "normal" is imitating somebody else....being yourself is the only way to go, as you have already discovered. You are a smart woman and it is a pleasure to have you "grace" our forum. (I think I've been hanging around Stimpy too long.)

Not sure about the bunny thing in the kitchen. Go to bed with nine bunnies in the kitchen and get up the next morning with 59 bunnies in the kitchen. I'm sure you somehow have that under control though.

Thanks again, Grace.

 

[Buckeye1]

My suggestion if you do not have power for a week is to take a vacation. We do take electricity for granted and to think, around 100 years ago or less there was none in most places and people survived. Candles, solid fuel stoves and interesting conversation come to mind.

Jon, I'm on vacation every day. I just recently got out of the hospital and am unable to travel, so I'm stuck here for better or worse.

May I add one thing for your list of pre electric days....reading a good book by your candlelight (as you sweat your ass off in this ungodly heat). Sorry...my meds made me say that.

 

[Ms. Kianna]

Jon, I'm on vacation every day. I just recently got out of the hospital and am unable to travel, so I'm stuck here for better or worse.

May I add one thing for your list of pre electric days....reading a good book by your candlelight (as you sweat your ass off in this ungodly heat). Sorry...my meds made me say that.

Your water still works, so put the candles close to your bathtub. Read your book by candlelight, while your bottom half sits in cold water.

 

[Buckeye1]

I believe the year was March, 1999. I live in the south burbs of Chicago. It was around 6:00 a.m., and I was standing near the kitchen window, doing dishes and listening to WGN. The kicker part of this is, there was nothing unusual in the forecast. Suddenly, I couldn't even see my deck. A whiteout blizzard came absolutely out of nowhere. And right then the power went out. I had to call in sick at work because at that time, I couldn't get my garage door open with no power because the side door was stuck shut, and I kept putting off getting it fixed. It also got really cold, fast. So the only thing I could do was get under a quilt with my cat. I thought I'd go nuts. Then a friend called me and said it would be 3-4 days before we would get the power back. I stuck it out the first day, and then the second day I bolted to a hotel, after taking my cat to the vet to board. I took hot shower, and went to Traverso's for what turned out to be the best hot cheese pizza I ever had, because I hadn't had anything hot to eat in 24 hours.

Anyway, you have my sympathy, because it is HOT.

Love your story, Christopher. The bad thing here is there aren't that many hotels here that have electricity, and the ones that do are making out like bandits. It's not really as bad as I thought it would be. The biggest thing for me was to keep the fridge running. Sure would hate to loose all that food. I hate eating out of cans. Did enough of that in the army.

Thanks, Christopher.

 

[Buckeye1]

Your water still works, so put the candles close to your bathtub. Read your book by candlelight, while your bottom half sits in cold water.

God I love the way you think. I knew I should have come to you first.

BTW, have I told you lately how much I love you? I really do, you know.

 

[joninliverton]

Your water still works, so put the candles close to your bathtub. Read your book by candlelight, while your bottom half sits in cold water.

OMG a sweaty ass for a week - I won't be going anywhere near that lol. I'm afraid I'm not an extreme lover so if I ever moved to America, it would be somewhere cool but comfortable. Maybe SF...

 

[cumrag27]

How I Spent My Summer Vacation from the 21st Century!

Stimpy, the cold showers sounds like heaven to me. Unfortunately, due to some medical s**t (don't know if I can cuss on the general forum), my doctor insists I wear, I'll have to settle with a cold wash cloth. And I will have to work on my power outage timing. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

I've been watching your temps in Little Rock (105-106). Stay cool, my friend.

Dear Robb, AKA Buckeye,

By the grade of God and my landlord's sister and without his specific permission, She just got a new Central A/C unit installed on June 1st and this new unit is keeping "my unit" very cool indeed, after 13 years of prior inadequate cooling. It has recently been as high as 108 and with high humidity to boot. So I therefore feel well-qualified that I can especially appreciate your scorching predicament you find yourself in.

Robb, I sincerely hope you are restored to full-power very, very soon!​

Sincerely wishing you the best, most electrified, & coolest, Dear suffering Robb. Think of it as..."going away to summer camp without all the toting of heavy bags, insufficient clean OR near-clean underwear, fire ants, mosquito bites, and ticks in your shorts!" (and if you will believe that one, you'll believe practically anything Did you ever hear the one about the traveling salesman...Then, there is the one where you come down South to avoid ALL the HEAT...)!

Affectionately yours,



Stimpy

 

[Buckeye1]

Dear Robb, AKA Buckeye,

By the grade of God and my landlord's sister and without his specific permission, She just got a new Central A/C unit installed on June 1st and this new unit is keeping "my unit" very cool indeed, after 13 years of prior inadequate cooling. It has recently been as high as 108 and with high humidity to boot. So I therefore feel well-qualified that I can especially appreciate your scorching predicament you find yourself in.

Robb, I sincerely hope you are restored to full-power very, very soon!​

Sincerely wishing you the best, most electrified, & coolest, Dear suffering Robb. Think of it as..."going away to summer camp without all the toting of heavy bags, insufficient clean OR near-clean underwear, fire ants, mosquito bites, and ticks in your shorts!" (and if you will believe that one, you'll believe practically anything Did you ever hear the one about the traveling salesman...Then, there is the one where you come down South to avoid ALL the HEAT...)!

Affectionately yours,



Stimpy

I'm not sure Stimpy, but I think your meds are a tad bit better than mine. You'll have to tell me what you're taking and I'll see if my doctor will give me a script so I can be more like you. Just kidding, man.

Thanks (I think).

 

[cumrag27]

What's this (I think) business?

I'm not sure Stimpy, but I think your meds are a tad bit better than mine. You'll have to tell me what you're taking and I'll see if my doctor will give me a script so I can be more like you. Just kidding, man.

Thanks (I think).

Dear Robb,

Concerning my meds, I have found that there is nothing that a little "white lightening" won't improve. I soak it in my fruit cakes at Christmas time, I use it as an all-purpose tonic and mileage re-setter on both my heart and my pay-per-copy copy machine/phone, and in a real pinch, it has served me tirelessly by removing any water in the tractor's fuel tank, starting-up with narry-a-sputter or a big puff of black smoke! Well, I've been known to spike the baby's formula just a bit, when the triplets won't shut-up, shut down them video games, and put the Investment Banking/National Debt Crisis rating software to sleep if only for the night!

In my most desperate moments, why, I've even been known to tear off the clearly marked "DO NOT REMOVE LABELS" on ALL my bedding and pillows, half-way expecting the pitter-patter of their tiny, but extra-wide, size 6 1/2 tripple Z hairy feet on my front porch from them sorry, good-for-nuthin County Revenuers expecting to be breathing down my hairy back again, just like nearly two weeks ago! I don't want you to think that the "White Lightning" has caused me to get a little Pair-of-Noids or any such new-fangled, high-tech, solid-state device not depending on the ole-timie Vacuum Tubes slowly starting to glow in the night as a fair warning that really shows

WE MEAN BU$-I-NE$$ IN THESE HERE PARTS OF THE WOODS!​

Provided the FBI is not camped right outside my door as usual in their plain white Ford Crown Victorias with the dog dish hub caps, extra dark tinted glass, and a curious arrangement of the "antenna farm" sprouting all over the rear decklid.

They can't fool me! Why, I've nearly finished all way through the 7th grade, up until I went and decided to announce my 18th birthday by sporting a full-beard going all the way down to covering my privates and ditching those gosh-darned dog dish hub caps on the Parole car and turned in for DNA analysis, my high-mileage and well-worned long-handled drawers I have been habitating since I saw my first leg-hair agrowing! Since the heat wave, I reckon they have got purdy near beyond hope ever seeing WHITE again.


Sincerely,


Stimpy

 

[rrhill]

 

[Phantom]

Impressive. I always did like watching lightning storms, especially when you get a show like this.

 

[rrhill]

Bang for your buck

If you like white lightning too as your medicine...

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&NR=1&v=Jm3rHONOr9o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjZnwp6X1_s&feature=related

 

[Buckeye1]

Dear Robb,

Concerning my meds, I have found that there is nothing that a little "white lightening" won't improve. I soak it in my fruit cakes at Christmas time, I use it as an all-purpose tonic and mileage re-setter on both my heart and my pay-per-copy copy machine/phone, and in a real pinch, it has served me tirelessly by removing any water in the tractor's fuel tank, starting-up with narry-a-sputter or a big puff of black smoke! Well, I've been known to spike the baby's formula just a bit, when the triplets won't shut-up, shut down them video games, and put the Investment Banking/National Debt Crisis rating software to sleep if only for the night!

In my most desperate moments, why, I've even been known to tear off the clearly marked "DO NOT REMOVE LABELS" on ALL my bedding and pillows, half-way expecting the pitter-patter of their tiny, but extra-wide, size 6 1/2 tripple Z hairy feet on my front porch from them sorry, good-for-nuthin County Revenuers expecting to be breathing down my hairy back again, just like nearly two weeks ago! I don't want you to think that the "White Lightning" has caused me to get a little Pair-of-Noids or any such new-fangled, high-tech, solid-state device not depending on the ole-timie Vacuum Tubes slowly starting to glow in the night as a fair warning that really shows

WE MEAN BU$-I-NE$$ IN THESE HERE PARTS OF THE WOODS!​

Provided the FBI is not camped right outside my door as usual in their plain white Ford Crown Victorias with the dog dish hub caps, extra dark tinted glass, and a curious arrangement of the "antenna farm" sprouting all over the rear decklid.

They can't fool me! Why, I've nearly finished all way through the 7th grade, up until I went and decided to announce my 18th birthday by sporting a full-beard going all the way down to covering my privates and ditching those gosh-darned dog dish hub caps on the Parole car and turned in for DNA analysis, my high-mileage and well-worned long-handled drawers I have been habitating since I saw my first leg-hair agrowing! Since the heat wave, I reckon they have got purdy near beyond hope ever seeing WHITE again.


Sincerely,


Stimpy

Stimpy, you are one funny dude. There are a lot of comedians out there who are in dire need of your wonderful sense of humor. You have missed your calling in life, my friend.

I'm a little confused about one thing though. Do I soak my meds in the white lightning or just use the white lightning to wash them down?

I'm sitting here with my little brown jug of white lightning awaiting your answer.

 

[Buckeye1]

I, too, love lightning storms. I used to sit out on the beach at night in Florida and watch the "dry" lightning storms out over the ocean. The original free fireworks display.

Beautiful picture, Robert. Thanks.

 

[rrhill]

Buckeye, my pleasure to entertain you in this thread with amazing pictures, for as long as your power is off.

 

[Buckeye1]

Buckeye, my pleasure to entertain you in this thread with amazing pictures, for as long as your power is off.

Robert, it is appreciated more than you will ever realize.

It is now 61 hours since the lights went out here, and not a power truck to be found. My house keeper comes in today and I will have to send her to the grocery store to replenish my near empty pantry (that is if she can find a store with power).

This has really become a humbling experience. I have always been an independent and take charge kind of guy.....now I realize how much I need and depend on others for my mere existence. Some good comes out of everything.

Thanks again, Robert.