SUPERSTORM SANDY

Last year it was Hurricane Irene; this year, Hurricane Sandy.

Since we lost power here for several days after Irene I took a bit more
precautions for this storm. I made sure I had sufficient batteries and
food, and I charged my cell phone and ereader up on Sunday afternoon.
My laptop battery was fully charged as well so I was all set there. I was
more concerned about losing food because of losing electricity. I'd
ended up throwing out most of the food in my freezer after last year's
storm.

So while I was watching the football game Sunday I took some advice
from the local newscast. I turned my refrigerator's temperature
control down to the coldest setting. Then I filled up a two liter soda
bottle and some food containers with water. I put them in the freezer
to fill up some of the empty space. I also had a bag of ice already there.
Supposedly food in a freezer won't go bad for 48 hours after loss of
power but I hoped that the extra frozen containers would extend that
safety period a little longer. Then I went outside to move my patio
furniture into the building's foyer Finally, I took down my bird feeder. 

After that, all I could do was wait out the storm.

Monday didn't start off to badly but the forecast was for the worst of
the storm to start around midday. I had a warm breakfast of hardboiled
eggs, a toasted mini-bagel and a cup of tea. For lunch I microwaved
leftover spaghetti because I thought that if the power was lost at least
I'd have had a hot meal beforehand, Sure enough the lights began
dimming, and then went off and on three times before I finally lost
electricity at 4:23pm.

I settled in for the night. I had a flashlight and a booklight, and my
transistor radio. I read a book for awhile, then made a ham sandwich
for dinner. Afterward I played some games on my laptop while I
listened to a talk show on the radio with people complaining about losing
their power. Outside the storm lessened and the sky cleared enough
for the full moon to shine down and dimly light up the lawn outside
my apartment. I finally went to bed around 1am.

When I woke at 8am Tuesday morning I realized the electricity was back.
I knew this because of my razor sharp powers of deduction: the lights
were on in my living room. (I later heard from the handyman that power
returned around 3am.). After I had my hot tea I moved the furniture back
outside, rehung the bird feeder and returned my refrigerator to the normal
settings. My freezer had weathered the storm in frozen style.



Other parts of the country were less fortunate than my area of Massachusetts.
I'm glad that my friends and family got safely through the past few days and I
hope that those people who have lost their homes will receive all possible
help to get back on their feet soon. 

And that was my Hurricane Sandy experience.