It’s the time of year for saving money!
One week ago it began to rain. Electricity and phone cut out by Thursday evening. We’ve had more than 15 inches of rain during the past week, each day eclipsing the last for rainfall.
I’ve been serving as a radio base for the local Four Mile Fire Protection District. On Sunday I was on from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. After I turned off my generator (I wasn’t using a Dixie-cup and a string). I managed to stay up another hour and a half. I slept for almost twelve hours.
My morning routine since the flood has changed. While before I woke up, fed cats, and then went onto the Internet, now I get up, feed cats, fire up my generator, and then go to the top of the hill by my house to field email via my iPhone. My return messages are brief.
As for writing about audio or making close-approaching deadlines, it ain’t happening. It’s very hard to get excited about first-world concerns when you are trying to cope with third-world issues such as keeping the generator going and keeping the communication between first-responders open during rescue efforts. Yesterday the National Guard evacuated over eighty people from the cut-off parts of my canyon. A few elected to stay put, but they were a minority. Residents were told that their utilities could be out for as much as a month. Also houses near the creek that may be OK could have lost their wells and septic systems.
The hill next to my house should probably be renamed “cell-phone hill.” It’s the only spot around where folks can get cellular service successfully. I’ve seen all my neighbors as they strike poses similar to the statue of liberty, but instead of an ever-burning flame they’ve got their cell-phones raised high. I’ve drawn lines in the drying mud where my best reception is.
Supposedly road crews will be working on the part of the main road where a transformer blew on Thursday night. And if they can reach the transformer there’s hope we might have power within a couple of days. Phone and Internet? I haven’t a clue.
The sun came out this morning. But after 45 minutes the clouds moved in again.
Forecasts are for afternoon thunderstorms.
Shit.
