Blowing like stink...

It was blowing in the 20s when I went for a bicycle ride this morning.  Continuing to build by the time I got back (gusts above 30), so I wrestled the cover back on the boat again.  That is a chore when it isn't windy, even more work when the wind is howling.

Joan asked if I wanted to get out of the house for lunch... "Well, sure."  I think everyone knows that BBQ is good on windy days.  Or, non-windy days.  ;-)  We were about 2/3 of the way through our meal when the power went out.  That doesn't surprise me - it seems to happen on occasion when the wind is blowing strong.  Fortunately, I had cash to pay for our meals.

We surmised our power would be out at home, too.  A quick check of our on-line devices showed that to be the case.  Joan pulled up AEP (our power provider) on her cell phone to check outages.  Yep, it looks to be the whole town.

Back home, we can still have internet thanks to the hot spot on my phone.  No TV or music, though.  We are forced to converse to pass the time.  She seems nice.  Yeah, it's an old joke, but I'm an old guy.

When I went outside to check the boat (which I do more frequently when the wind is howling like it is, currently: 29 gusting to 40), our next door neighbor came out and asked if our power was out, too.

"Yep.  Looks like the whole town."  We talked about generators; they just bought the house next door last year... he asked if we have a generator.  "Yep.  Shouldn't need it today, but it is there, just in case."  He bought a used generator when they bought the house, so he should be good, too.  He asked about food in the refrigerator... "You should be just fine, since they are anticipating having the power back on by 5:00.  Just don't open the refrigerator door to check on your stuff."  ;-)

I took Ruf out for a bit... it is kinda protected between the houses, but he was ready to come back inside after a few minutes.  "Can you do something about this wind, Pops?"

"Yes - go back inside."

On the bright side: the high today is only supposed to be 79 or 80º, and it is mostly overcast... so, not blisteringly hot and sunny.  I believe it might be a good day for an afternoon nap.  'Cause it won't be any fun to take out the boat or the scoots.

What happens when your phone battery gets low?  Thanks for asking - we have a small aux device that will handle the charging for a while.  Now, if the power were to be out for several days, the generator would keep us from plunging into total anarchy.

So, the only thing I am missing right now is the lights on the Christmas tree.  Fa la la la la.

Joan has music playing on her iPad.  I'm typing this on my MacBook.  I've joked about this area being "the edge of the country."  We aren't exactly a 3rd world existence... more like 2nd world.

Joan just said, "You can still rock out with your music if you want - your small Bose (S1 Pro) has a battery, right?"  I already played for a while today.  It's all good.

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On edit: we were without power for about an hour and a half; it came back on just before 3:00.  In a 1st world kinda problem, it will take a half hour or so for our cable TV and home internet to boot itself back up.  The wind is still blowing like stink; we'll see how long the power hangs in there.