Toad Hall Weather, Storm, and Disaster Report: Day 2 With No Power and the Cost of Working
Friday's nor'easter did a real job on our electric service, it seems. We're coming up on 48 hours without mains power or Internet, and it's making life extra challenging at a time when we're already dealing with extra stress from a new job and a search for a second car for @donnadavisart, a quest which seems never-ending and cursed with one setback after another.
As grateful as I am to have this generator, and therefore the use of a tea kettle, microwave, and electric heaters, it turns out that tracking down diesel when half the town is without power is a challenge in itself. The nearest station capable of pumping it at the moment is 15 miles away, but a closed bridge means a long detour that brings it to 25. My five gallon can gets us through 24 hours so I've got to make the run once a day. If the outage goes on much longer I guess I'll have to invest $30 in a second can. I'll be back to work tomorrow, and the wife won't have access to the car to refuel during the day.
Water is another challenge. Our well pump doesn't plug into the generator. It doesn't produce water suitable for drinking anyway, so we're used to gathering drinking water from a public well four towns over every couple of weeks. But after using most of our supply up just to flush the damn toilet, I've resorted to lugging 5 gallon buckets of sea water up from the beach. I'm sure all that salt is great for our 60 year old pipe (sarcasm). And there's nothing like wading into the ice cold ocean and hauling 80 pounds of seawater around every time you want to take a crap to make you appreciate the modern conveniences.
But yes, I AM grateful that the ocean is so nearby. Things could be much worse.
These pictures are of the tree my neighbor chopped up so I could get home from work in the middle of the storm (described in my last post). I gave him $40 for doing it. He tried to refuse, but he did save my butt in the middle of some pretty shitty weather, and it seemed like the right thing to do. Plus I want him on my side the next time I'm in a bind with something in the neighborhood. Still, it turned out that if I'd just gotten home half an hour sooner, the town would have cleared it for free.
It seems like all I've done since I got this job is spend money. I'd forgotten how damned expensive it is to work. It's going to take me two months' salary to make up for everything I've needed to do since I started. So it's a good thing I still love this job.
Sorry to hear you're bleeding money a bit.
Isn't that what they say.
Stay safe guys and take care. Hope things get back to normal soon.
Generator ground to a halt at 4. I'm afraid permanently. But the power came back on at 5:30. I hadn't even finished cursing!
Oh no! Let it all out. :(
Glad to hear the troops made it to your neck of the woods and got your lights back on.
The situation looks pretty awful, so sorry for your problems.
Looking on the bright side, all this activity, hauling water and stuff - I guess you don't have to worry about staying fit!
I haven't run in weeks and I'm down 10 lbs total!
...u need money to work. Didn't get that saying till I had to buy my first car just to get there lol. Hang in there! :3
Ugh, so sorry. :( I hope they restore power soon, but my sister lives in Mass and has been knocked out from storms for days many times, so I know how that works.
You could always set up a compost toilet until power is back? 5 gallon bucket+toilet seat+something to cover (peat moss, sawdust, hamster shavings, dirt, even, though there are blogs reviewing which is best for smells). Then when it's full you put it in a sunny location outside in a dark trash bin and let it cook for a year to kill off pathogens, then you've got humanure! There's a book called "the humanure handbook," for free online, if you're not squicked out by the idea.
We've tried this a bit in the past. We once spent a fortune on a composting toilet and then discovered what a simple thing it could have been. Had a vent that had to be run through the roof and a metal bar underneath meant to stir the compost, and you had to buy this proprietary sawdust. The bar bent after a year and it stopped working. DIY is much better.
O: I know how expensive those can be, I would be pissed if it broke after a year! I've heard some poor reviews of at least one brand, as well - that the separating wet from solid doesn't work for all bodies simply because it requires aiming that not everyone can do. I was like, hmm, thousands of dollars for hassle and problems or a bucket? I think I would bucket... 😂
Holy crap!! You have had an eventfull past couple days… to say the least.
Think that this money is invested, not simply spent. You are learning your lessons here and saving in electricity and you are getting more passionate and motivated by your job!
Wow!!! Challenging!!!