Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

January 8, 2007

Uncle!



That distant screaming you heard this morning was me yelling, "Are you fucking kidding me?" as our power went off at 6:10 a.m., for no apparent reason. It was not windy. It was not raining. In fact, when I left for work, only my half of the street was out. Fortunately I've become quite adept at getting ready for work with a flashlight, and Brian can disengage the garage door mechanism in a flash, and in the dark, so I can get my car out. But if this is any indication of how the rest of my week is going to go, then I'm bumming hard.

"But you just got a new generator," you say. Yes, but it's only one-third hooked up. We are still waiting for the guy to call us to run the natural gas line, then after that, the "authorized" Kohler representative has to come out and do the "official" start up (to the tune of $430.00 Clearly, I am in the wrong line of work).

Since late October, 2006, the residents of the Pacific NW have gone the full 15 rounds with Ma Nature and I'm fed up. I'm crying "UNCLE", throwing in the towel, waving the white flag. We've had biting cold (late October), followed by torrential rains and catastrophic flooding (first week of November). Then came colder rains with wind in mid-November with a short power outage. After that, we had the snow and ice that crippled the region from Bellingham in the north to Chehalis in the south. More rain, leading up to our 100 Year Windstorm followed by freezing cold. Then some more snow and rain thrown in for good measure, and yesterday it was windy and the heavy rain was blowing sideways. The current forecast is for more snow flurries by Wed., and then clear but freezing cold weather for about a week.

I don't mind the rain. I don't mind the little bit of snow. I don't mind the cold. Normally, I don't even mind when the power goes out because I know it'll be back on soon, and for all I know, it's already on. But this winter has been all over the map. I'm not saying that I'd prefer to be in the Northeast where the temps have been in the high 60's, but I can live without the nonstop devastating storms. This was supposed to be an "El Nino" year, which means warm, dry winters up here, like in 2005. I'd just like a happy medium!

6 comments:

  1. i don't blame you for feeling that way. i'm so ready for a real winter here. when i was a kid we got snow up to our knees in late december and it stayed that way till almost early march. these days, my kids have never even had a real snow. it's very wierd, and a bit disturbing when i think about the environment

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  2. Hugs.....I'm so sorry Jojo :(

    They're warning us the high winds we're having today may bring down the power lines they just got back up!!

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  3. Anonymous6:44 PM

    Oh Jojo, I am so sorry to hear about the power company failing you yet again! You need to live next door to a power company worker . Make that a priority in your next house. Boy is Diane ever right about technology and the weather!

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  4. well our seasons have certainly shifted this side of the pond... but not sure how I would cope without power

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  5. Oh Jojo,that SUCKS!This weather is insane.here in NC is has been 65 on the weekends and in the 50's on weekdays,this weekend is repeating that cycle.That is almost 20 degrees MORE than our normal temps.

    Here I don't have power issues,I have "Gee,Time-Warner is OUT again?Well,so much for phone (we have Vonage) and the Net".Damn TWC to hell.

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  6. "Lighten up "Jo Jo (easy for me to say) you Americans have a way of bouncing back. I do hope things improve for you and the family. Many thanks for your kind comments on my blog. Happy New Year DonW

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