Archived Posts
Sun, 15 Aug 2004
August 21, 2004 - Our sincere thanks to all.
Thank you all, for holding down the fort during Charley and its aftermath. Thank you for the shelter. Thank you for the food, water and ice. Thank you for allowing us to impose on you. Thank you for looking in and asking after us. Thank you for all you have done. Your hard work and sacrifice are what gave us hope through the long dark hours.
August 21, 2004 - Not hot under the collar.
The heat and humidity of Florida in August is unlivable.
Still, I tried to remain cool. When ice is a luxury to be treasured, so are peace and thanksgiving.
Reckon the days in which you have not been angry. I used to be angry every day; now every other day; then every third and fourth day; and if you miss it so long as thirty days, offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God.
How the Semblances of Things are to be combated. Chap. xviii.
Epictetus (A.D. c. 50 - c. 138)
August 21, 2004 - Phone fiasco and conspiracy theory.
Saturday, after Charley, our phone was down. If you called our number, you would get random phone mailbox messages belonging to other BellSouth customers. My neighbor reported the same, but something more: He heard part of a conversation he and a friend had, from a couple days previous.
When I called my home phone on Saturday, I listened to people leaving heartfelt messages begging their loved one to call and tell them they were okay after the storm. I archived each message I'd accidentally intercepted, pressing 2 again and again. I heard Spanish and other languages I didn't recognize. A friend in north Brevard experienced the same when he tried to reach me.
Sunday, phone service was normal. Monday and Tuesday we lost all service again, this time without the crosswired messages when someone called. Tuesday evening, we were hooked up again.
It has been a crazy week.
Am I paranoid enough to believe my neighbor's anecdote? Are our phone conversations in some timeless limbo, existing forever as stored data on BellSouth computers? Could he have accidentally tapped his own tapped line?
Maybe he was actually listening to a real-time transmission of his earlier conversation, via a freak wormhole or quantum tunnelling effect. Then, there's the slight possibility that my neighbor is a tinfoil-hatted loon. He might have been pulling my leg.
There's the pesky notion that he could be telling the absolute truth. He's got no reason to lie to me.
I just can't decide what to believe. Like I said, it has been a crazy week.
August 20, 2004 - Powered up and running full speed!
Progress Energy restored our power on Wednesday, at 7:30 p.m., to the appreciation of residents on my street. People were standing outside, in their driveways, watching.
The crew inspected the power lines, clearing tree limbs from lines, cutting loose broken lines which had led to an unlucky few homes. Finally, after a length of aluminum roofing was unwound from some wires down the road, they powered up our circuit. My neighbors cheered for the crew, loudly and sincerely, when streetlights and homes lit up.
Heroes riding in bucket trucks to the rescue, it's more than a boyhood fantasy, it's a stone-cold reality to people living without power since Friday.
Our rural neighborhood has no municipal water, we have wells. Without power, or a generator, there was no running water. The gallons of water that rudimentary washing and flushing required came from ten miles away. My family imposed on my in-laws for showers.
Now that I have power again, I've been cleaning. I'm washing, drying and folding endless loads of laundry.
I washed and disinfected the fridge and our auxilary freezer. I'd thrown out about 150 lbs of perishable groceries. Fifty pounds was frozen meat. We feed an army of six.
The canned goods survived.
[Mmm. Sweet Sue Chicken and Dumplings! It brings back fond memories of my college days. Open a can, heat, add salt, enjoy. If you are lucky enough to have a chunk of bread, you sop the gravy. That's good living, a chunk of bread to sop your gravy.]
My people came to Florida in the eary forties. That's before A/C. For years, my paternal grandparents didn't have electricity on their farm in Indian River City. Having no electricity from Friday night until Wednesday evening isn't a big deal in the light of history.
Still, I'm glad that's over. Now, I can vacuum again. Now, the dishwasher is working. Now, I have running water. Refrigeration! Air conditioning!
I mean ice-cold, brr: "Dave, will you please turn off the air conditioning!"
No, I will not. Not for a while.
August 15, 2004 - Florida was powerless before nature's fury.
Now, I am without power after Charley. I am not alone. I don't expect to have our power restored anytime soon.
My home in east Orange County survived the storm. One pane of glass was broken when a pine limb punched through it, only minor damage, but a heck of a mess.
My family and I weathered the storm with my in-laws, in north Brevard. They lost their porch awning.
Everyone is well, providence smiled on us. Our prayers are with those who suffered greater hardships than we had to face.
Until the power comes back on at home, I'll be somewhat disconnected. I may post an occasional note from a friend's house, just to keep in touch.
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