Saturday, December 15, 2007

Power for the People

Shame on those folks who had the audacity to show-off their holiday lights while others still had NO power.

As I was driving back last night from our library staff holiday party, I had already dismissed thoughts of arriving home to lights, heat, in short power, although there had been a few reports from co-workers that their power had been restored. I wasn't optimistic, mostly because of the extent of the damage in my working class neighborhood and the fact that it is indeed a working class neighborhood where the original home owners are all dying or moving into assisted living facilities, and there are many "for sale" signs up and even more troubling many "for rent" signs popping up in several front yards. Those of us who own our homes in this 'hood are just glad when new residents don't set up a meth lab in their newly occupied house. Still there were encouraging signs as I turned off the main drag into my neighborhood, a line of electric company trucks (from Georgia!) were heading out, and I thought I saw a few glimmering lights along the streets. Could it be? Had PSO, with the help of electric companies from across the country, been able to get our power back on a full four days before the earlier prediction of power restoration? Well, I wouldn't call it a miracle (mostly because I am too much of a skeptic to believe in divine intervention), but still it was a welcome sight to be able to pull into my driveway and open my garage door with the garage door opener. I have POWER BACK in my house, and I am not even complaining that my cable is still out.

I stowed my arctic-rated sleeping bag back in the closet, and fired up my lap top and spent a warm and well-lit evening in my own home. Don't worry dear readers, I am not about to subject you to a sappy rendition of how strong our pioneer ancestors must have been to live every night without the comforts that we take for granted, or worse yet regale you with a plucky tale about how we all came together in a time of need and made the best of it, but I will say that it was a trying week, and I am glad to be able to be in my home without shivering or straining my eyes to see which bills arrived that day. And through it all I am thankful for my sleeping bag, my boyz (Tulsey & Dylan), a handful of candles, a sturdy flashlight, and some AAA batteries that allowed me to listen to NPR in the mornings and Steph in the evenings. I also must give thanks to all of the folks who, although they do not realize it, helped me get through this rough week by sacrificing a bottle or two of wine that I bought to give as holiday gifts but ended up drinking myself - viva Il Bastardo!

Today I am attending a Wellbriety PowWow that is hosted by my friend's family in Pryor, OK. It should be a happy event - my friend has had power since Thursday and never lost heat as the house where she lives relies on propane for warmth. I'm sure by tomorrow I will be back to my usual commentary on the state of the nation and the world, but please excuse this brief excursion into daily life here in Tulsa - it may not be what you are all used to, and believe me it wasn't what we were used to either.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Day Four with NO Power & NO Heat

Loyal readers of this blog, I am writing to you from my desk at work (something I rarely if ever do, as I do try to draw a line between my professional life and my personal life and my blog is definitely part of my personal life), but alas, sometimes exceptions must be made, and I think that four days of no power (no electricity, NO HEAT, no internet access, no cable TV) as a result of an ice storm that blew into Oklahoma on Sunday night and stayed until late Monday afternoon and took down many, many tree branches (and trees) along with power lines, fences, and utility poles that fell across streets, cars, driveways and sidewalks is a reasonable excuse to deviate from my usual practice of keeping my personal tasks separate from my professional life. I didn't venture out of my house until Monday afternoon spending most of the day on hold with the Public Service (sic) Company of Oklahoma attempting to report a downed power line that was in my backyard. Around 3:00pm I went outside and tried my best to move the six or seven large branches that had fallen out of the oak tree in my backyard, all the while staying clear of the largest branch that took out a section of my fence and the already mentioned downed power line.

I have been weathering the chill better than most as I have an excellent sleeping bag (rated to 20 degrees) and two very warm doggies who sleep with me every night. I also have the benefit of a gas-top stove so I can heat water and soup and make grilled cheese sandwiches (a food I have been craving - comfort, I suppose). Also I have managed to hook up a small radio with a pair of cheap speakers so that I can listen to NPR in the mornings and by hooking up my MP3 player at night I can listen to my StephCast which has been a godsend - nothing is more pathetic than sitting alone in one's living room in front of a lone candle in silence - I have avoided this pathetic fate because 1) I am not alone - I have the wonderful company of my two best friends (Tulsey and Dylan), and 2) I am not sitting in silence - see earlier reference to my jerry-built radio/MP3 player. So I am not complaining although those of you who tuned into the SMS yesterday morning may disagree - I had to call in and tell the residents of an albeit chillier-than-usual Southern California that they had little room to bitch. Jim apparently was late to the studio because he had to scrape frost off his windshield - at least he didn't have to scrape frost off his toilet seat before his morning ablutions.

Dear readers, I will keep you posted on how long I will be forced to live here in the cold, dark house on the prairie - PSO is predicting that we may have power by sometime next week, but the weather folks are predicting snow for the weekend, so who knows what the next week will bring us as we tough it out here in the middle of America? Keep us in your thoughts and send warm wishes our way - we could sure use the heat =)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon

On the first anniversary/birthday of this blog I have decided to mark the occasion by posting this video clip of images that show the atrocity that is war in this perverted world we live in (the world could be beautiful, but it's not). I think that beyond being a fan site for Stephanie Miller and her morning radio show, this blog has been dedicated to ending the wars that this country has started and encouraging peaceful resolution to conflicts in the world. I have attempted to address these issues by pointing out the horrible policies of the current administration that have led us into the disastrous situations that we find ourselves in around the world along with the incredible price that we are paying at home for these murderous escapades abroad.

I'm sure that I'll get back to lighter fare in subsequent posts (wishing everyone a Happy ChrismaHannaKwansica), but today I just wanted to post a video and a wonderful song that I hope will remind us all of the huge job that is before us, and to never give up, never back down, never acquiesce to the powers that be that are leading us all down a hellish path. Many thanks to the loyal readers of this blog for all the support. And please keep working for peace - it may seem like a thankless job, but it is really our only honorable work.