Electricity went down.

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A strange night for that to happen.  No heavy or hard weather.  It wasn't too hot or cold.  Nothing seemed to be wrong.  I looked outside.  It seemed as if I was the only one.  I don't really know what to do about such events, so I just made up a plan.  I thought to call the electric company, but knew, if I was answering the call, in spite of never having called before or answered such a call, that I would want to know if the fuse box had been checked.  So... I checked that first.  Everything off, then back on.  Just to make sure.  Nope.  So I called.  Without electricity, at night, but not even close to bedtime, options are limited.  I do have flashlights available, and handy.  I also found a couple of those snap and glow lights, and used two, just for general light.

Then I bunch of things hit.  First, I needed to be showered for tomorrow.  If they didn't turn electricity back on before morning, that would mean a cold shower.  I suppose I could have heated water in a number of ways...  The grill, the propane heater, or the rocketstove, at least.  I do have a number of cookstoves as well, though those are mostly for smaller volumes.  But that would have taken a bit of fussing and finding and digging and scraping.  So... I thought, perhaps, to take a shower before the water got cold.

I worried, next, about the freezers and refrigerator.  I can't really do much about those.  I guess I just hoped electricity would come back on fast enough.  I suppose a backup generator would be nice.  But getting it wired in sounds like a major chore or expense.  It's just not in the budget.  Usually when the electricity goes out, and stays out, it's in the winter.  I suppose, in that situation, turning off the water at the main, draining the pipes, and just figuring out how to stay warm enough to survive is the thing.  The cold will take care of the rest.  Though the refrigerated food may freeze to ruin?  If I was sure I'd be staying, I would definitely get some sort of backup generator online.  As is, it's not in the cards.  I'd honestly prefer to put in a minor solar system, just for overhead lights, and perhaps minor appliances along with my new ac/dc fridge/freezer.  Hmm... I could have fired that up and put it to freeze, running it on the batter.  If all else failed, and I drained my battery, I have the tools to kick it over and perhaps recharge it.

I have so many things to do tomorrow, though, that I was worried.  Some of my clocks and alarms have batter backups, but how long those last in a grid-down is difficult to be sure.  Old batteries?  Have they been used a time or three already?  A few hours.  Newer or barely used batteries?  A day?  Half a day?  All unknown.  I still would want a shower in the morning.  Rent a room somewhere?  It depends.  If electricity comes on, when?  If it's an hour before I need to go, even three, there wouldn't be time to heat the water.  Bleh.

As it turns out, electricity did come back on.  My next trick is to be awake when I need that.  I can't find where the appointment is written.  They weren't open today, so I couldn't call.  I thought of calling Friday, but was so sleep deprived, and off schedule as well, that it didn't happen.  I knew, wrongly, that I could call today.  Ugh.  Sometimes it's an ugly life.  It doesn't take much to make an ugly life a little shop of horrors.  Thankfully, this time, just for a moment.  Probably.  Later.