FINALLY got electricity back! 5 FUCKING DAYS LATER!

[Solon]

I swear, this was a fucking aggrevating situation, OK, I live in St. Charles Missouri, only about 30 minutes from St. Louis, and I don't know if you heard, but over half the area ended being without electricity for close to a week. We got our power knocked out after the first storm that hit, I think it was last Wedsnday. Since then NOTHING, and we reached temps of over 100 degrees since, with no air conditioning, no fans, luckly we just hung out in the basement, but dammit, this was fucking ridiculous. Just got power back about half an hour ago.

It was so bad that on certain days, forget about getting FOOD, the businesses around here didn't have power either. At least now, the refridge will work, we lost 90% of our food too, spoiled.

[Jo March]

1. That is most excellent

I'm glad that your power is back on.

Quick - stand in front of an air vent and get cool!!

[Solon]

2. My Computer desk sits right on top of one...

Cool air is going over my feet as we speak! :D

[Jo March]

4. You are in the cat-bird's seat, then

The coolest place to be!

BTW, I can't believe how long it took for you guys to get the power restored. It's almost criminal!! x(

[City Lights]

3. We just got back from visiting my SIL and her family.

As of around noon today they were still without power. We ended up having to stay elsewhere. Their power went out Wednesday night, came back on briefly Thursday morning, but then the transformer across the street from them went out and they've had no power since. They are going to stay with family members. They have kitties and are carting around one of them, but going back every day to spend time with the other two. (They have a basement so the kitties aren't overheating.) Last they heard, the electric company was hoping they'd have power by Wednesday.

[Solon]

6. Damn, that sucks, I hope they get power soon...

Our power outage was haphazard at best, next door neighbor on one side had power for days before us, but the neighbor on the other side didn't get power back till we did. Its freakin weird as to how convoluted the power grid is around here. Its somewhat funny, before the power went out, we were power conscious, converted all bulbs to florescent, had the AC set to 80 rather than 60, and always make sure everything is turned off when not in use. So now I'm thinking of installing my own solar panels on the house, so this CANNOT happen again.

[City Lights]

8. It's haphazard by them too.

People have power one block over from my in-laws. My BIL said it took four days to get power restored the last time this happened. Their next door neighbor took matters into his own hands. When we stopped by the house to check on the kitties, I noticed they had a big generator running in their driveway.

Glad you got your power back and are cooling off. It was so humid when we left to come home. :hi:

[Solon]

12. That's the thing that really kills people around here...

I mean that literally, we have two big rivers running through here, and when the temp goes up, so does the humidity. I mean, I'm BETWEEN the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, it can get REALLY bad around here. We had a heat index of about 117 for a day or two, that's killer weather.

[Sequoia]

5. Good. And we did hear about you.

I said a little prayer for your state over the weekend. The internet "showed me" photos of two towers laid flat like pick up sticks. Hope you didn't have any ice cream that melted (ha, like that was the least of your worries!)

[Solon]

7. That's the thing that was most aggrevating...

We had to get almost all our news second-hand, no TV, and no Radio either, because my damned BIL took it to work. Anyways, one of the large transformers around here, which my dad, ironically enough, designs, in fact, just finished an order for a BACKUP for AmerenUE, but the thing ARCED electricity when it shorted out, struck by lightening, and started a fire about a mile from me, the ONLY reason I know about it was because my BIL was at the stoplight where the transformer was at and saw it happen. It was damned close.

[MoseyWalker]

9. I don't know how you made it

Hope the power stays on, and best of luck.

I'm guessing others in other parts of this glorious country of ours will be experiencing the same soon, if not already.

I'm in a place where supposedly they doubled the power by building hundreds of wind turbines, so am keeping my fingers crossed.

[Solon]

10. Buying lots and lots of ice bags, putting some in coolers, and then...

Poured ice water on myself in the backyard, not to mention SLEEPING outside at night, when temps were more tolerable outside than in. This house was like a damned sauna on the inside for most of the day.

[pitohui]

11. welcome back and a tip

depending on the value of the food lost and the deductible on your homeowner's policy, they will pay for your spoiled food

[u4ic]

13. You must be overjoyed

I can't imagine not having a/c or fans, or any electricity, and it's not as hot here.

Here's hoping it's the first and last time it happens to you. :hi:

[hedgehog]

14. You know, in the old days, a power outage was big news.

Only survivalists had home generators. Power companies used to boast in advertisements about how fast power was restored. If the lines came down anywhere, you were apt to see trucks from every power company for 500 miles around repairing them within 24 hours. Yep, back before Reagan we had no idea how soft we all had it!

[Calliope]

15. My daughter is in Sunnyside Queens

Her electricity went off Tuesday night, she got it back Thursday night, but she still doesn't have hot water. (And yes, she does know how lucky she is because a couple of blocks over they don't have electricity at all.) Con Ed at its finest!

[Calliope]

17. She just called and she has hot water

But the laundromat around the corner is still without power

[hfojvt]

16. that really musta sucked

two years ago I lost power for most of a day because of a wind storm. It was fairly hot and muggy, plus I was working on clearing up a ton of debris. However, they had power right across the street, so at about 2 o'clock I went to my air conditioned work place and took a shower and got some ice. I had no water at home because I had my water shut off.

[lizziegrace]

18. I know how it is

I was without power for 11 days after a storm. But it was ice, not thunder and lightening. I'm so glad you're back and hope the rest of the city isn't far behind.

:)

[smitty]

19. So for a week you lived like your ancestors did.

How did they survive in the 19th century without electricity and air conditioning, especially in the summer. I was without power for 16 hours two weeks ago and thought I'd go nuts.

[maxsolomon]

20. or like they do in Bagdhad today

they still aren't back to the pre-invasion power levels.

[Sanity Claws]

22. Our ancestors generally didn't live in an asphalt and concrete jungle

Cities trap the heat and the buildings block breezes coming off the water so it may be worse now, even if it weren't for Global Warming.

[ikojo]

24. In the 19th century it was not as warm as it is

now, especially in the rural areas. Thank you global warming!

I've had older St Louisans tell me that they would sleep outside "back in the day." My mom's second husband, Bill, was born and raised in St Louis. She told me that he told her he would sleep on the roof when it was really warm during the summer.

[sarge43]

25. I suspect they dropped like flies

I'm in central NH in the country, surrounded by woods and water. Last week we had five days of temps in the nineties and high humidity. I was outdoors for about a half hour and got my sweet self a nasty case of heat exhaustion. I can't imagine what some farmer or his family endured during a heat wave, especially considering they wouldn't strip down to a tank top and shorts. As for conditions in the 19th century cities, hellish would probably come close.

[Solon]

33. Know what, I would have traded in this house for a Sod house...

to get through this heat wave, in a heartbeat, would have dealt with the weather MUCH better than the current house.

[hedgehog]

38. But back then they were set up not to have power!

They had wood stoves, lanterns, and even ways of keeping milk and butter cool. That's a bit different from being in a house in winter with no power to run the furnace and no other options!

[Jack_Dawson]

21. How many cold showers did you take? n/t

[ikojo]

23. I'm glad you got your power back Solon

I was lucky...I was house sitting in Chesterfield so I had power. My apartment building lost power for a day, which would not have been bad but it was 100 degrees.

I feel for the folks still without electricity. After a weekend of cooler temperatures, it's getting warm again.

On KMOV Channel 4 news they hinted at a possible investigation of AmerenUE because of how long it has taken them to restore elecricity.

[Solon]

26. They should be investigated...

AmerenUE has been atrocious in this crisis. Good thing you were housesitting, but damn, this was almost as bad as the rolling blackouts of 1993, when our transformers were out on the floodplain, whose bright idea THAT was, I hope they were fired. The weekend was good though, opened up ALL the windows, and the house actually lowered in tempurature to about 80 degrees, our thermostat is battery powered, so it gave us a good reading of temps in the house during the time it was out of power. For a couple of days, it hovered around 100 degrees within the house.

[graywarrior]

27. That is inhuman.

You should sue for temperature abuse.

[Solon]

28. The only good thing is this...

We have an above ground swimming pool in the back yard, so during those days, we were out back all day, the only thing was that the filter was off, obviously, so over the course of the week or so, the water got greener and greener, shocking it tonight, but it was a lifesaver. Don't know how we would have survived, we are lucky to have it. Hell, I SLEPT a full night IN THE POOL, had a really good raft and I was laying in it, relaxing, and next thing I know, the SUN was rising the next day.

[ikojo]

30. That sounds nice....sleeping in the pool..too bad it

was something you HAD to do to keep cool.

When I first moved to St Louis in 1990, I had an apartment that had no air conditioning. It was on the south side so you know it was a totally brick building that got very warm in the summer. Before I went to bed each night I'd take a bath and not dry off. Instead I'd lay down in front of the fan and fall asleep. There were times I thought about sleeping in the tub but it was an old tub and not too comfortable.

[Solon]

34. One thing I will say, the pool wasn't cold, its above ground...

so, with the way the summer is going, it was more like bathwater, almost, no goosebumps going in, etc. But damn, was it cooler than the house! A good way to keep yourself from overheating. Believe me, I should know, last summer I worked as an ice cream man, with no AC in the van, those things get up to 115 degrees or hotter on the inside, and I learned, really damned quick, how to stay cool without any "active" help.

A favorite trick was I had a cooler, and I filled it with ice AND water, and stuck one hand in it for about half my shift, this would be enough to help cool me down. Another trick was that I put a wet towel in the freezer in the van, and then wrapped it around my neck when I felt too hot.

[graywarrior]

31. We stayed at a tourist house in NH til we found the place

we're in now. For 10 days, we had 90 degree sun hitting our apartment, plus humidity...no A/C. Plus we were right next to a Cumberland Farms gas station that stayed open all night, so we got gas fumes on top of all that. I was ready to m-u-r-d-e-r anyone who looked at me the wrong way.

The final straw was the paper mill 10 miles away releasing a lovely scent in the middle of the night when it finally turned cool enough to sleep.

Glad you brain did not melt....or did it?

[sarge43]

35. It did, but no one noticed the difference.

Oh jeez, a paper mill. That's a good excuse for arson. They're evil.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. I'm so sorry, Solon!

I'm going to clean out my fridge now, before it gets stinking hot again!
Hope the rest of your summer is better! :hug:

[Solon]

32. I cleaned it out, wiped it down, and deordorized the damned thing...

I can't believe the stink, especially from the freezer, but that thing looks BRAND NEW right now, especially with no food in it. Been running for about 4 hours now or so, so figure its safe to put food in again.

[antigone382]

36. I was just in St. Louis for the College Dems convention...

The storms came through just after we got to our hotel, which was pretty amazing, considering that it was bright and sunny when we arrived. Luckily, our hotel didn't lose power--it was filled up with locals by the end of the next day. I don't know how you made it through Wednesday and Thursday with that hellish heat!

I didn't realize the extent of the damage until we were driving around St. Louis looking for a gas station, and I saw all the downed trees and businesses without power...I really wanted to do some relief work while we were there, but I was told that it would be way too difficult to organize all the students into something effective, particularly since the main problem was the lack of power; something we couldn't do anything about. Still, I feel kinda guilty about it. Glad to hear people's lives are slowly going back to normal.

[City Lights]

37. Just heard from my SIL - her power's finally back on.

:woohoo:

[Solon]

39. Excellent, glad they have electricity...

People don't seem to realize how important it is till they lose it.