Got home Saturday in time to enjoy our little ice storm. Every tree in my neighborhood has collapsed under the weight. Several cars and a couple of houses on my street were damaged by falling branches/trees.
Then, about 2:30am Monday morning, I couldn't sleep, afraid one of the collapsing in my back or front yard would come crashing through my house. I looked out back, just in time to see and hear this amazingly brilliant blue explosion as my neighborhood went dark.
I run outside to start my truck and discovered that my batteries are dead. Guess the cold got to them even though I had them hooked to a charger. I figure, "OK. I'll use the pick-up to jump the truck." Wrong. It refused to start as well.
Finally, I was able to borrow a battery from a neighbor(he keeps a couple, in the garage, on a battery tender), start the pick-up and jump-start my truck.
In the interim, I've been on the phone with OG&E, trying to report the outage and get some kind of time frame re: restoration of power. They finally say 24 to 48 hours. Good. Now I have something I can work with.
It takes me until 6pm to convince my mother and sister that we can't stay and we need to find somewhere else to be. I get hold of my niece and she has power. "Good. Your mother, grandmother and I are coming for a short, extended visit. Have coffee and hot chocolate ready. Do you have any Jameson's? I'll bring my own."
Well, we were told yesterday not to expect power to be restored until early next week. I asked why such a great disparity between this and what was said before. I was told that after I spoke with them Monday morning, an additional 600,000 homes and businesses lost power and, since there are fewer than 100 homes in my neighborhood were affected, we were at the bottom of the repair list.
Damnit. Lost revenue, unexpected down time and unexpected expenses are totaling around $2,500. I hate to leave my family like this but if I don't get back to work, I'm going to lose my truck.
So, I booked a load to San Diego. It takes too long and it pays crap but, at least, I won't be losing more money.