OT [Update] - Texican checking in... power is ON!

[Texican]

Howdy Y'all,

Am borrowing time on another PC to check in.

Day 13 without power. No damage to house or vehicles, no flooding, we did lose a fence and some tree limbs. Still have all other utilities. As a bona fide Good Ole Boy (can survive) and an Eagle Scout, I take pride in preparedness. We still have enough stores that another storm could hit today and we'd be fine for another couple of weeks. No generator but the camp stove is doing yeoman's service for meals. Can't gripe, not when we know about all the other folks who lost all. [a friend of mine just bought a house two months ago in Baytown and now has $30K damage and lost several hundred-year oaks and pecan trees] Starting to feel inconvenienced, though. Upshot has been reconnecting with the neighbors, meeting new friends. I don't miss the TV and the children have rediscovered the joys of playing with dirt and sticks. Grubby kiddos go to bed on time - they're just too worn out to stay up. Am very glad school is back in session for my boy, though.

Kicker is that we had electricity yesterday for half an hour. Now there's no word if it will return any time soon. I hope that I'll be able to hang out here more often soon.

I guess your prayers and well wishes worked. Thank you very much.

[brucew44guns]

Your attitude is remarkable. I imagine that in the back of your skull, you are thankful to no end that your family, your house, your world, is still in one piece and ok. The electricity will come back, eventually. You see the bright side, and you know that "this too will pass" Thanks for letting us see you in all this.

[Ysabel Kid]

Glad you are okay and were spared all but a little damage. Still, being without power for 13 days is no picnic. Prayers continue!

[Duff L Bagg]

Glad to hear that you and your family are doing well. Stay safe and keep us updated when you can.

After Hurricane Charlie hit us in 2004 we had three more come through Central Florida within 44 days. We spent 13 days with out power. I bought a generator after Charlie, best money I ever spent. We put a window unit air conditioner in the living room window it kept the house cool enough to be bearable. The humidity is hard on a fat boy down here.

[gamekeeper]

Glad to hear you are OK, thanks for posting and I hope the power comes back soon.

[Borregos]

Great to hear from you. Hope your power returns soon.

[Ysabel Kid]

The electricity will come back, eventually. You see the bright side, and you know that "this too will pass" Thanks for letting us see you in all this.

Another "bright side" or "silver lining" - half a month without an electric bill!

[Hobie]

Thanks for taking the time to post. You don't know just how much your post picked me up this morning.

[TedH]

Sounds like you're doing as well as can be expected. Hope things gets back to normal for ya'll soon.

[kirkwood]

Hang in there. This will pass and be only memories. I lost everything in Katrina and power was out for 9 months to the area I lived in. I eventually had to give up and relocate when the house was clearly not salvagable and sent to the landfill.

As long as you stay healthy and keep your mind straight, you can come out ahead and make changes for the better. In some ways, Katrina made my life much better because it made me get my priorities in life back in order. Don't keep your stress bottled up and don't worry about things you have no control over. It doesn't do you any good.

[okdee]

Dang! What part of Houston are you in? I live in NW Houston, and we were out of electric for 5 days only.


Seems pretty small compared to you all. Let me know if you all need something.

Oklahoma Dee
Living in Houston, TX

[mescalero1]

Glad to hear you are well, there is life after electricity; though it is different.

[Old Ironsights]

Electricity is largely overrated... but that didn't stop me from getting an inexpensive 800watt 2cycle portable "RV" generator to keep my sump pump running and cell phone/laptop charged...

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, glad your OK and didn't have more losses. Bummer about the electricity.

Are you able to get to work and such? That obviously is a biggy - need to keep the paychecks coming!

Hope this gets worked out quick.

And I was looking into power interuption generators - automatically switch on and are powered by natural gas - they come in different sizes/capacities - one that could power the fridge, computer and lights would be what I'd look at - we'd just keep the A/C off and open the windows. These aren't cheap but the lower capacity ones are more reasonable.

Primary reason that I haven't installed one is that we aren't really in a zone that's likely to lose power for very long. Hard to pop for $3500-$5,000 for something that you probably don't need...

But if lived along the coast...

[Old Ironsights]

I'm with you OSOK.

That's why I bought such a small one. No transfer switch, no crank case oil, just mix & go.

My Freezer will stay frozen for a couple of days without power, but with 6-8gpm water coming into my sump pit I lose in a hurry if I can't run the pumps.

[2ndovc]

I'm with you OSOK.

That's why I bought such a small one. No transfer switch, no crank case oil, just mix & go.

My Freezer will stay frozen for a couple of days without power, but with 6-8gpm water coming into my sump pit I lose in a hurry if I can't run the pumps.

Have the same problem. We're in a wet area too. If the pumps aren't workin then we're in for it.

Have one large and one small ( little Suburu that runs forever on a gal. of fuel) gen to keep the pumps, fridge, freezer and a couple lights going for several days.


Good to hear you're OK down there.

jb

[Peter M. Eick]

Hang in there. I know my generator got a lot of workout while we were down with no power or water for days.

The one thing Ike taught me is that I had originally planned to be "down" for a few days. No, you need to plan on weeks of fuel, water and suppplies. I started a list of things that I will procure on this offseason for next years hurricanes. Simple things like more water bottles, another generator (if my primary goes down I want redundency), more MRE's more extension cords and a stash of building supplies. More recharge-able batteries (disposables are just not worth it). ETC.

Start the list now and think about it while it is fresh.

Good luck from the "west side"

[Rexster]

I just got power yesterday; two weeks was the wait. The best part about finally having electricity is that the neighbors' generators will no longer be conspiring to suffocate me or keep me awake with their noise. At least one was running way too rich; raw gasoline fumes are no fun. We had little structural damage, but damage to trees is heartbreaking to see.

It could have been worse. Alicia followed a similar track through here in 1983, and a good friend was crushed by a tree, then power was out for three weeks, during which a heat wave occurred. Ike was followed by mostly cooler weather.

[Texican]

Power is back on! It came on last night and this time stayed on. Just in time too, the mosquitoes are getting THICK! Took a while to cool the house down from an interior temperature of 86 degrees, but just having the ceiling fan on was a blessing.

We celebrated this morning with eggs-over-medium (electric range), real coffee (coffee pot), real bacon (microwave), real biscuits (oven), cold juice (fridge) while sitting in air-conditioned comfort. Hallelujah! [We will still wait til 24hrs have passed before loading the fridge completely, though. ]

I little discomfort goes a long way towards being thankful for what you have. Thanks again y'all for the kind words and prayers.

[RKrodle]

Glad everything is starting to get back to normal for you. You been in our thoughts.

[Ysabel Kid]

Glad to hear the power is back on and looks like it will stay on!