Text 6617, 76 rader
Skriven 2006-10-16 18:44:00 av JOAN MACDIARMID (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av DAVE SACERDOTE
Ärende: Shoutout to NYS!!
=========================
 Hi, Dave,

 DS> Two feet of heavy, wet snow in Buffalo - and in Amherst, NY, where
 DS> resides Joan MacDiarmid!!  Power is out all over the area there.
 DS> Joan, if you can get this message from work, I'm thinking of you.
 DS> Hope you're doing OK.

 Thank you for your concern! I couldn't have
 gotten this from work, as I don't have access
 to an Internet-connected computer there any
 more, though I would have power there (the
 campus has its own back-up power center).
 Getting there would be a problem as Amherst's
 driving ban is still on. I was lucky in being
 among the first to get power back; it went
 out at 1:30 AM Friday, and came back around
 5 PM on Saturday...apparently our damage was
 easy to fix, maybe a downed line from a falling
 tree-limb. The places across the street from me
 are still dark, though, and the whole
 residential neighborhood of single-family
 homes nearby is still out. So I only had one
 BORING evening in the dark, trying to work
 crosswords by flashlight, and missing you guys!
 I kept reaching for the mouse or the power
 switch to the computer! Dope! I did have a battery
 powered radio, so I knew a little about what
 was going on. (My Mom, on the phone, said
 something like "Well, if you'd watch the news
 on TV...Oh!") Dope! Of course, no heat in
 the building, but for some reason, it never
 got really cold in my apartment, maybe down
 to 54F, which I can tolerate with a couple
 of sweaters and a set of leggings under my
 trousers. And our water heaters kept going,
 since the basement didn't flood badly,
 meaning that if you got badly chilled, a
 soak in a hot bath was possible. In the
 dark, of course! Some areas in the region are
 not expected to get power back until next
 weekend, so I do feel blessed! I noted a
 lot of suburban homes were running generators
 and many were sharing power thus generated
 with neighbors, as I biked around yesterday
 to see the devastation. Electrical cords were
 laid across streets and strung between homes
 all over! This way one generator might serve
 several households enough to at least keep
 freezers froze and activate the sump pumps
 periodically so the basements don't flood
 (I do live in a swamp, BTW!) It was nice
 to see so much neighborly cooperation and
 consideration.

 DS> Snow before Halloween!  Can ya imagine?!?

 No, we couldn't! That's why we got caught
 with our pants down! The weathermen are doing
 mea culpas now. No one could have stopped
 the storm and its devastation and the power
 outage but more of us might have been prepared
 with enough candles, matches (I almost ran out),
 bottled water (we are advised to boil our water
 now, the county water authority lost power
 as the purification plant), and maybe some
 better way to cook without electricity. I
 wish I had a little Coleman stove like we
 used to take on picnics!

 Joan MacDiarmid


... It isn't what you know that counts. It's what you think of in time.
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