I Have the Power!

Was it "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe"? I think that was his battle-cry. That was my Sister's generation -- I was already grown when it was on, but I remember the sword in the air and the lightening strike.

This morning, I didn't have the power. None of it. I woke at 5:30 to the news that the lights were out. It's amazing how quiet the world is when there is no electricity.

Apparently, somewhere nearby a tree blew over and took out the power lines. It got our whole neighborhood. The kids were scared -- well, Ryan was. Katie was P.O.'d because she couldn't shower. Ryan wants to know why things happen, and his imagination takes him places it shouldn't. He's his own worst enemy. So I grabbed the old tractor battery (which I happened to save after removing it the other day, remember?) and hooked up a 500 watt inverter, and got the TV going. (yeah!) Naturally, there was no news about it.

I'm not able to work without electric, so once I got the kids on the bus, I headed back to bed. I love my bed.

Later, I woke up. Made the bed, wandered through the house doing odd jobs that I could do without power, light, or water. Not much, let me tell you. Mostly, I stood looking at the room, wrought with terror because I could be receiving e-mails and I'd not know about it. Yes, I had an anxiety attack without my computers. I'm such a geek. And I don't mean that in the contemporary uber-cool nerdfighter sense of the word, but rather, in the derogatory 'nerd' sense.

At 11:30 am, I was using the restroom, and heard the slightest hint of a fizzing sound. No, from the inside of the toilet. Stop that! Yes, there was water running. It grew louder, and louder... The PUMP IS RUNNING! Within moments, I had water, and the water heater started up, and the lights worked, and the TV worked, and THE COMPUTERS BOOTED!!! O HAPPY DAY! WHAT JOY DIVINE! I HAVE THE POWER!!!

"Hi. My name is Dan, and I'm addicted to electricity."

-dan'l