The Summer Storm From Hell

I learned a few things during this recent storm from hell that hit the DC area a few days ago. They aren't particularlly deep lessons or anything, but entertaining enough to write down. I mean, how often does a storm that knocks out power to over 1 million happen around here? Answer: never. Note: I just got back power maybe two hours ago after going about two days worth without it in 100 degree Virginia-humid weather so you can say I'm quite chuffed.

Lesson 1: Be Careful What You Wish For (or at least be specific)
-When this storm started and the trees outside my kitchen window started hurling themselves around like some of my overly enthusiastic drunk friends, I got excited that we could in fact lose power. I actually like the thrill of things going pitch black and being at the mercy of mother nature mostly because my area never loses power as most of the lines are underground. Well, when the power finally did go out, I broke out the candles and flashlights and felt like a champ. That night, I went to bed to the sweet sound of rain and still strong wind, all content and happy with the world. Now fast forward to two days later where 80+% humidity and 100 degree highs reigned and I'm absolutely miserable. Everything is sticky: the couches, the chairs, the table, and there is absolutely no breeze at night when things cooled down a bit so even sleeping with the windows open did nothing to help. It reached about 88 degrees at its peak inside the house which is bloody miserable. Moral of the story: if you're going to wish the power to go out, include details such as 75-80 degree highs, moderate breezes, and at most for 24 hours.

Lesson 2: Ice
-Fun Fact: when the power goes out, you have about 1 day or so before your frige warms up and less than two before everything in your freezer thaws and is ruined. Moral of the story? If the power goes out, the moment that it's safe to drive and it's before midnight or so: haul ass to the nearest grocery store and get your greedy little fingers on all the effing dry ice or bags of ice you can. I don't care if you have to punch a kitten or sweet old Mrs. Johnson from next door, just go and hoard the stuff unless you want to lose all your perishables. Literally, the next afternoon after the storm ended, all the local grocery stores (and there are 4 within a 10 minutes drive of my house) were out of dry and regular ice. Mind you, this storm hit pretty much just days after a Costco run so we had quite a lot of stuff that needed saving. Unfortunately we were late to strike so a lot of food will probably be sacrified. So wha happens of the power comes back earlier and you have lots of left over ice? Well, make some cocktails or something. Win-win.

Lesson 3: Don't Take Any Modern Convenience For Granted
- Some things I never knew I would miss so badly until they were forceably ripped from my hands: air conditioning, the fridge, television, home phone (we have fios so no real land-line), charged laptops, fans, the ice maker, the microwave, wifi, the printer, lights, and more air conditioning. I have never been more happy to stand outside and hear the background humming of dozens of household air conditioners running at the same time.

Lesson 4: My Inner 5 Year-Old Comes Out When I'm Bored
-Not really a lesson but more of an observation - Since I was internetless, and pretty much my life revolves around it nowadays, I revert back to my elementary school roots to pass the time. One night I found a bottle of bubble solution and I ended up just hooking up my ipod to my car stereo and blowing bubbles for an hour while sitting on the trunk of my car. Good stuff. I also spent my days doing word searches, sketching, and rolling around on the floor with my dog. See? 5 year old.

Lesson 5: I Start Craving Salad When It's Hot
-Once again, more of an observation than a lesson but I ate more salads in the past two days than I had in the past two months. They were quite tasty salads though, I must say.

Lesson 6: Driver Licensing Laws Are Way Too Easy
-Not news to me or many people for that matter but it's worth saying. When street lights stop working, we've all been told to treat intersections as 4-way stops. Someone (meaning almost everyone), didn't get the memo apparentely since I saw nearly 5 near crashes at major intersections because people decided they were king of the road and barrell through an intersection without stopping or bothering to look at other drivers. The icing on the cake for me however when it comes to bad driving is seeing a guy in an SUV driving INTO a massive fallen tree branch that was blocking the right lane with his SUV. I think he figured he would just plow through it since he had a massive truck but nope, Mother Nature bitch slapped him in the face and made him swerve onto the sidewalk and through a chain link fence before coming to a stop. It was quite funny to be honest.

So hooray for the power being back and for my house slowly cooling down to a beautiful, low humidity 75 degrees. I got a taste of what living in the 19th century must have felt like, and I don't intend to ever try that out again.

All the best,

JP