An Irene story with a happy ending
Midday yesterday I thought there was no way I’d be here in the office today. So I’m very glad to have been proven wrong … and extra sympathetic toward those still without electricity.
Story: There is only one road into my neighborhood, so the prospect of being shut out or trapped in has always been as close as a single downed tree.
That tree fell yesterday morning, taking a tangle of power lines to within a foot of the ground – thanks, Irene. And it fell mere minutes – maybe seconds — after I had ventured out in the storm to fetch a few bags of ice to help us cope with the electrical outage that had already robbed the kids of their video games two hours earlier. Upon returning — and being stymied by nature’s blockade — I should have been thankful that the tree hadn’t toppled with me and my car underneath it, but gratitude was not the dominant emotion as I contemplated a half-mile walk home lugging three bags of ice through a driving rain.
Prior to the start of this little mini-drama, I had written on Google+.
Here in Hopkinton, Mass., Irene is starting to sway the tree tops pretty good and the rain is coming down in sheets. … Today’s the last day of my vacation and nothing would put a damper on it like a power outage.
Good thing I’m not superstitious.
I got home just fine, and even had a much-needed laugh when one of the kids exclaimed, “Dad, you’re alive!”
An hour later I walked back to see if perhaps any Nstar trucks or chain saws had arrived to liberate the neighborhood, only to find a couple dozen people milling about and wondering when Nstar trucks or chain saws would arrive. A rumor was running rampant that we would not have power restored until Wednesday.
Thankfully, the chain saws showed about 4 p.m. and the crew got the tree off the power lines. Then they went about clearing the road. When the electricity snapped back on about 5 p.m. there was much rejoicing up and down the street (except for the chainsaw guy 20 feet up in a bucket who was irate that the juice was flowing again while he was still up there doing his thing).
Two hours later they had the road passable and I got my car home.
All in all, not an ideal way to end a vacation, but we fared better than a lot of people … and the kids have a newfound respect for electricity.
(Update, 1:30: When I wrote this post, I had no idea how lucky my family was to get power back yesterday. I must have spoken to at least six colleagues already today who still have no electricty at home.)
Welcome regulars and passersby. Here are a few more recent buzzblog items. And, if you’d like to receive Buzzblog via e-mail newsletter, here’s where to sign up. Follow me on Twitter here and on Google+ here.
- 16 milestones of a million, billion or more … from just the past month.
- Did Google+ ban cleavage-snuggling LEGO stormtrooper?
- “Have I reached the party to whom I am speaking?”
- Imagine your neighbor built a fake Apple store.
- Toyota systems automatically stops car before it can hit a pedestrian.
- A few suggestions for destroying the “indestructible botnet.”
- Monkey business with a camera sparks copyright debate.
- What Microsoft paid The Stones to help launch Windows 95.
- Pilots spar over wisdom of relying on an iPad in the cockpit.
- Tech ‘firsts’ that made a President’s day.
- 2011’s 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries.
