The Blackout Blog - Day 2

01/05/08

4:00pm

Still no power. Woke up still in the dark today. The semi-working outlet still seems to be doing its job. The laptop is charged. I unplugged it and went to battery for a bit and plugged my cell phone charger in there and got it back up to full. Which is good, since I can’t use my house phone. The whole complex is still down. It was raining when I got up, but it seems to have stopped for now. However, I also know that the next storm is rolling in today…the COLD one. And me with no heat.

Haven’t done too much today. A little reading, a little writing. But the dark and the lack of options and the constant wondering is distracting and keeping me from being too productive. A neighbor of mine asked me if I’d called SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utilities District) and reported my outage yet. I said no, because I’m pretty sure they know about it, and they’ve got so many outages (someone just told me 1.3 million people in NorCal are without power) that they probably don’t need more people calling. He suggested that the more of us who call from here, the better than chance of them getting to us sooner. Made sense. So I called, and actually got someone on the phone in a lot less time than I would have expected. He took my outage info, and I made sure he was aware that it was the whole complex. So maybe my one more report will help. He said all he could find, info-wise, was that it was a nearby circuit here that was causing outages at about 200 homes. They’re aware of it, but there’s no ETA on when they’re getting to it. That’s too bad, as that dampened my “any minute now, the lights will pop back on again” hope.

So I think I’m going to stop my hoping for the best and start planning for another dark night. I have zero food, and haven’t done anything about that all day. Looks like tomorrow (when I hope to have power again) I’ll throw it all out and do a shopping trip. You know I have absolutely nothing in my home, food-wise, that doesn’t go in the fridge or freezer? I’ve only got about 30 minutes of daylight left, so I think I’ll use it to get myself ready as best I can and go out and get some food. I can’t shower, so I’m stinky, so I really don’t want to be around too many people, so probably no movie tonight like last night. I think I’ll hit the store and get some non-fridge eats to have around, and then hit a drive-up window on the way back for some warm dinner. Warm sound good, because the temp’s going to start dropping fast in here tonight. I’d better hurry up and get to this before the rain starts in again.

4:50pm

I have hot water!! What the--?

I was brushing my teeth and suddenly noticed the sink was putting out the hot kind of agua, much to my surprise. Now that I think about it, I have two utility bills…one for SMUD, and the smaller one for PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric), which is where my hot water comes from. I’d just assumed everything was down. See what happens when you assume? You, me? ASSES. Does that mean SMUD service only is down, and PG&E is up? Thinking about it, I have no real idea how water heaters work. Does having it now mean that’s all I have left, or does that mean I just have it, period? Don’t know, but I took the chance to hop in and get a nice hot shower (awesome) and feel much more motivated since I don’t smell anymore. Cool. Now that I don’t, maybe a movie is in order. Once again, I can’t check movie times, so I called the 411 operator and had her check the Folsom theater and see if “No Country…” was still showing (last week it was down to one showing a day). Nope. So I had her read me off the other possibles. She mentioned one I’d forgotten all about – “Charlie Wilson’s War”. Hey, I like Hanks, I REALLY like P.S.H. (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and it’s written by Aaron Sorkin. Sadly, it does have Julia Roberts in it… Regardless, might be good. Had her check the same theater I went to last night, on Garfield, and there’s a 6:20 and a 9:30. I’ll probably skip the first one. Too close. But I’ll go get some goodies and some dinner and come back and see how I feel about it.

And it’s now dark, and the rain has started again. I’m off to brave it. Maybe I’ll come back home and find lights and cable TV and that new-fangled “world-wide web” I’ve heard so much about. We’ll see.

8:35pm

Nope. No power yet.

For most of us. I forgot to mention something happening in the complex. We’re all in the dark, except for one apartment, which is partially lit. Why? Because those tenants seem to have hooked themselves up a generator. I first heard it early in the afternoon. When it went on, I didn’t know what it was…it sounded like someone was mowing the lawn. Or using a leaf-blower. Or maybe a wood-chipper. I took a little hope, thinking it might be a work crew trying to get our power back. Maybe a tree had fallen, and they were clearing it before getting the lines fixed. Though I started to notice that the noise was constant, and not going away. I later noticed what it really was. They have some kind of gas generator set up out on their patio. I can see low lights inside. This makes them annoying for two reasons. One, a childish one – they have lights (maybe even a TV and DVD player going) and we don’t. Second, and I think justifiably, it’s REALLY LOUD. It’s pitch black out here with no other sound to hear (which you can hear in your apartment) but what sounds like landscaper doing night work. Getting close to 9:00 at night here, and that thing’s still grinding away. Even if I HAD one? I’d personally never use it, just out of courtesy to the neighbors (some of whom may be trying to sleep already). I used to have this air pump that sounded a lot like that (it since broke) that I used to put air in my wheelchair tires, but I’d only use it during the day.

No movie. Before I left I got a call from my pal A.T. (who has power), and he said he was thinking of dropping by and keeping me company. So I figured I’d stay in. Last I heard from him, about an hour ago, he was finishing some things up and trying to get his kids to bed. If he gets here early enough, we may head over to Tim’s house. Tim, who has power. He doesn’t have heat, as the guys trying to install the central heat and air in his place Friday found a problem and have to come back Monday, but he’s got a TV, for crying out loud! And an internet connection! I could check email! But if too much more time passes, we may not bug him, and might just hang out here and have a couple of drinks and play wait-for-the-lights. An evening with A.T. by candlelight. Hadn’t seen that in my future.

Ah, there goes the rain again. It had actually stopped just as I was leaving, and it’s been dry since. But now it begins. I’m back on the patio while waiting for A.T. Figured I’d have a cigar. I had Wendy’s for dinner (haven’t had that in a long time), because I tried to go to Burger King and found that whole block was black – and the BK sign destroyed by yesterday’s wind. I hit the store and got some breakfast bars, some Pringles, a Sprite (just one, since I wouldn’t be able to keep others cold) and a couple of those RonCo lights you see on the commercials. You know, the ones you “stick anywhere” and click on for light? I have one going on my kitchen counter to keep some light in there. Seemed safer than a candle. A.T. tells me he and his wife, Lynn, had an apartment back during the last monster Sac storm in ‘96, and their power was out for three days. Sigh. Well, almost two down.

Hey, the generator just went off. I can actually hear the rain…and myself think. Wonder if they turned it off for the night or ran out of gas?

Good news. Tonight A.T. was home transferring a VHS tape to his computer and burning it to DVD. This is a big thing on my 2008 to-do list, starting to get all my old camcorder tapes (about a decade of them) into digital format before the tapes start to degrade too much and they’re lost. So A.T. has done the groundwork for me, and he can just show me what to do. Sweet! Now I can start making “best of” DVDs for friends of mine with all the old moments we shared during my film-everything period of my life. Then again, some of them might not WANT me to do that.

Going back inside. We’ll see what the A.T. and Tim status is.

Another Saturday night and I AIN’T got no power

I got no MySpace and got no eBay

Oh how I wish I had SOME way to email

I’m in an awful way…

9:10pm

Wow, THAT’s annoying as hell. Tried to put the plug in my cell phone to charge it some. Remember I mentioned how this outlet’s, like, really in and out? It charged the cell just fine earlier, but now it’s getting the same on-and-off thing I get with the laptop. And whenever you plug the cord into my cell, it makes this chime sound (and yet, won’t ring when someone calls…). It does that when you UNplug it, too. So it keeps going from power to not, and the bell just keeps ringing and ringing. Can’t put up with that right now. Still got two bars. I’ll try it again later when I go to bed and can turn the cell off.

Talked to A.T., who’s getting Parker (his daughter) some tea, putting on his shoes, and heading here. Called Tim real quick, he’s down for us coming over. Which is cool since I haven’t gotten to see his new house yet. Plus, he’s got a fire going. So instead of A.T. by candlelight, I’ll have Tim and A.T. by a roaring fire. My evening just keeps getting more gay by the hour. So we’ll probably grab some beverages and hang out there until midnight or so. I’ll drive once A.T. gets here, so that way we’ll come back here to get his car, and can walk me in, since fumbling with my keys and a flashlight coming home last night was a bit of a challenge. Dare I dream I won’t have to worry about it when I return? Lights, internet, action? We’ll see.

3:00am

I’m serious – 3:00am right on the nose. Not 2:59. Not 3:01. Right on the money. I am THAT good.

No power. We made it over to Tim’s, hung out, watched a movie (Hellboy – I’d started the film before a couple of times but always got interrupted, never got back to it. Tim has been bugging me for like three years to see the whole thing, so tonight was the night, and now I’m all up to speed and ready for the sequel. Got the tour of Tim’s place. Nice. Very much a work in progress. He’s doing all manner of stuff. The bathroom’s torn up for the remodel (he’s having to shower at his folk’s place until it’s done), there’s holes in the walls, lights hanging down, etc. Room by room is how you fix your fixer-upper, and he’s taking it one step at a time. Going to come together nicely, I can tell. Sadly, looks like there’s not going to be room in there for the awesome bar that his father built for him that’s followed him for two moves now. Looks like the bar will end up staying in the garage. Doesn’t that kind of encourage drinking and driving, though?

Got back home, my complex is still in a big black hole. A.T. (having a lot of vodka in him) decided to call SMUD and pretend he was me and try to get some more answers (at 3am). He put it on speaker on his cell. A very nice young woman basically said there’s no timetable on my area…and they aren’t giving ANYONE timetables because they don’t want to raise false expectations. She did mention that the company plan is to have absolutely everyone back up by Monday or Tuesday night. TUESDAY? Wow. Well, what are you going to do? Like I said, lots and lots of people without power, and this company’s working the problems, round the clock. And I’m sure they’re dealing with many angry people calling and giving them hell over all the inconvenience, etc, etc. I don’t want to be that guy. I work in customer service. I’m on the phone with whiney customers all day who think the universe revolves around them and that their little problem is the greatest tragedy ever faced by mortal man. Okay, you know what? Life happens. SMUD didn’t cause the storm, SMUD didn’t make all the trees fall down. SMUD is doing their best. Seriously, how could they NOT be? The NorCal press is surely all over them. It sucks for everyone, not just me. I really hate people who demand to be moved to the front of the line just because they feel that’s owed to them (again, because the vast universe spins clockwise ‘round their visage). If I gotta wait, I gotta wait.

So, I got hot water (apparently), I got a laptop (though charging is starting to take a lot longer with this weak juice), I got a cell phone and some light sources. I’ll make due. The folks are planning to make it tomorrow, but I don’t know what they can do or if they should waste the drive. There’s no power in the laundry room for mom to do my laundry. And I was going to take them with me grocery shopping so they could carry all my stuff for me, but I’m not getting any stuff if I’ve got no working fridge to put it in. I’m seeing a lot of fast food in my next couple of days if something doesn’t turn around. So, guess I should get some sleep here. Again, really hard to without that TV to nod off to. But since I stayed up this late, hopefully I’ll drop fast. And the good news is that it doesn’t seem all that cold in here right now. Hope that holds true tomorrow night…if I’m powerless still.