The Storm: Everybody all right? Check in, please!

[SeattleGirl]

We lost power at 9:30 last night. I heard the transformer blow. Went out and got more candles and batteries. Thank goodness for our little battery operated TV's ("6 minutes to Wappner".) While driving to the store last night, had to negotiate tree limbs that were all over the road.

Power came back on about 7:00 this morning. That's what woke me up -- the lights on the clock radio flashing. Since I only got about 3 hours of sleep, I'm going to be a zombie today.

Anyway, check in as you can. Want to make sure that Washington DUers are okay.

[maxsolomon]

1. intact

power out at 1 in view ridge. still out this am.

dog was scurred. cat was snuggly & affectionate for a change. our college junior still working on a paper using battery power at 2.

missus wouldn't get out of bed @ 6. left her & took shower at work. downtown is normal.

[uppityperson]

2. All is fine outside Port Townsend, so far

power flickered several times but thta is all. Heard wind, watched trees, got to sleep late, slept well. Don't see trees down and had kids come home late so driveway (small road in woods) is clear. Had big winds pre-thanksgiving with trees down but it looks normal wet out.

69-74 mph gusts at Hood Canal bridge last night. Hear tell there are lots of power outages all over but seems ok here. Had concerns since we are next to the Straits where highest winds were predicted, but our place survived. Waiting to hear from others, hope all are ok. Off in a bit and will check back tonight.

[merwin]

3. my power has been out all night and it's cold as hell inside.

i'm checking in on my cell phone right now. hope i get power back soon, but there's like 1 million people without power right now...

[Mrs. Overall]

4. I'm in North Kitsap

and we have trees and power lines down all over our area. Schools are closed, roads are closed. Our power went our at about 8pm and there are at least five trees down on wires in our immediate neighborhood. Judging from past storms, we will probably be without power for at least four days. We did finally buy a generator to run a few essentials, but it can't give me a hot shower!

[MrCoffee]

5. lights flickered a little in Ballard, otherwise fine.

[LisaM]

6. Lost power right before 2:00 a.m.

It came back on about 7:30. I saw a transformer blow out of my back window and I guess a tree was down, but Maple Leaf came through okay!

The sound of the wind was enough to drive someone mad.

I had a lengthened commute, but I think it was more due to the Seahawks' game than the weather (about 6:00 p.m.)

[mondo joe]

7. All well in Fremont. Unfortunately my office has power too.

[Rainscents]

8. Power went out around 8:30pm last night

and came back on 8:45am this morning. Oh, what a night!

[lumberjack_jeff]

9. Power's still out here.... no biggie.

DSL just came back on... biggie.

The generator's getting a workout, but luckily, no trees on the house. In my area, some people had it lots worse.

http://www.thedailyworld.com/articles/2006/12/15/local_news/01news.txt

The entire roof blew off the local chevy dealership, and landed on my bank. :wow:

[SeattleGirl]

10. Oh my God!

That must have been one hell of a wind gust! :wow:

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Worst ah ever seen.

I counted four BIG trees on five unfortunate houses (these were big trees), on my drive into town for kerosene and generator gas today.

I had my teens use the tractor to push a nearby tree off the road this morning.

[uppityperson]

13. Wow, it got wild out there. Glad you are ok

we managed to be in the "wind shadow" somehow.

[malmapus]

12. Got power back in Tacoma at 10:30 this morning

Still lot of areas in the dark. I actually tried going to work in Redmond, and looked like Redmond took a beating. MS campus was trashed with downed trees and limbs everywhere. Didn't have power either so my dumb ass had to drive back home in some of the worst traffic hehe. But yeah, so far still have power and phone.

On a side note, neighbor did remodeling on their home for subletting and used a very shoddy contractor. Needless to say when I walked outside this morning, my yard was littered with shingles along with our front porch furniture blown across and god knows what else my wife had out there. But my gnome still stood!! GNOME POWAH!!!

[regnaD kciN]

14. We lucked out (knock on wood)...

Not only did no trees come down on our property (which is quite a change from past storms), but we only lost power for a few moments on four separate occasions at the height of the wind. We're in an approximately two-square-mile area that appears to be one of the few residential sections of southeast King County with power -- literally four blocks to the east of us, all is black. Drive in any direction, and for about a half-hour you'll see nothing but darkness.

(Hopefully, when they try reconnecting the power to everyone else, they won't blow out our circuits in the process.)

[SeattleGirl]

15. Hopefully most folks would have had the presence of mind to

turn all switches/machines/etc. off. That's the second thing I did when our power went out. The first thing was using the braille method to find my flashlight and the candles.

[JetCityLiberal]

16. Spent 10 days without power on Camano Island once

that was the most, in recent years the "least" was 4 days.

Hope all are well. I my nearing 20 years here, it is hit or miss with our micro climates up here.

Let us know if anyone needs ANYTHING please.

[Papillon]

17. I just got my power back!!!

My electricity went out at 9:15 Thursday night. I had just gone to bed. I got up and called PSE to report it because I am in an area of about 30 homes that lose power, but the neighbors across the street still have theirs. Can't figure that one out. The next thing I did was take a shower while I still had hot water.

My lights just came on at 1:20 am. The sound of the ceiling fan woke me up and I was so excited I got up to make coffee and check in on DU to find out what I've misses.

[SeattleGirl]

20. Glad you're back!

[yewberry]

18. It's back on!!!

Yay!

There are still large areas of unlit neighborhoods just south of me (W. Seattle) but I'm back.

[SeattleGirl]

21. Welcome back, tofunut!

[icymist]

19. I just spent a couple of rough days. (My adventure)

The power went out in Port Orchard at 5:00 P.M. on Thursday night. I had to be at work in a nursing home in Lacy at 10:00 P.M. so I took a bath while the water was still hot and got going, driving over the Narrows bridge. Driving to the bridge on SR 16 was like driving through a freshly cut lumber yard. At work we kept track of the storm through a television where we found out about that poor woman drowning in her basement. Shortly after 1:00 A.M., Friday morning, the wind hit us with such ferocity that it knocked out all the power on both of our wings in the six wing facility. Everyone had to hustle to get the patients on oxygen switched to portable canisters while the maintenance people were summoned to assist in the emergency. Some of the maintenance personal were totally blocked in and couldn't make it through. Two men finally made it in and we got extension cords to the air-mattresses. Most of the night shift had to work into the the day-shift as a lot of the nursing staff was stuck where they were. When I finally did get off work, the Narrows bridge was still closed so I tried to drive around highway 3, which I found closed just a few miles outside of Shelton. I pulled off and listened to the radio for some time and discovered that the bridge had opened. In driving back, I noticed numerous power-lines down on highway 101 and SR 16. I can't tell how many trees were down, too numerous to count. Finally arriving back in Port Orchard around 9:30 A.M., I came home to a totally blacked out town. We cooked soup using a tea warmer which took about four hours to warm up sufficiently. We have LED emergency lights and listened to chanel 5 through our hand-crank radio. It got COLD last night so I sent my house-mate off to friend's apartment in Bremerton who still had power while I roughed it out with the cats and birds. The power finally came on sometime when I was sleeping last night. I could look down the hill and still see parts of Port Orchard in the dark.

[SeattleGirl]

22. Are all your residents okay?

What a mad scramble you had! Glad you finally got your power back on, icymist!

[icymist]

27. Yeah, they're all okay.

When I left the facility, two-thirds of the building had emergency power. Then I had two nights off to cope with the storm here in Port Orchard. Do you believe that, yesterday, I saw someone trying to sell gasoline for $8.88 per gallon? A regular gas station at an Albertsons? Ridiculous when just across the other side of town it was $2.47! Anyway, I go back to work tonight at the facility in Lacey so I'll let y'all know what's happening there tomorrow morning, but, it'll probably be boring.

[SeattleGirl]

40. I'm glad the residents are all right.

The elderly and the very young are the most vulnerable. I was watching a story on the news about an assisted-care facility in Issaquah where the main generator went out and all they have is a small backup generator. They are coping pretty well but shoot! I want them to get their power back asap.

And, boring or not, I'd love to hear about it.

[icymist]

57. Life is back to normal for my residents.

Whatever 'normal' is. The only difference is that some of the staff are taking showers at the facility because their power is still out. See, like I said, boring!

[marlakay]

23. Leavenworth Never went out!

Work at chamber and tons of calls for the lighting festival today and tomorrow. Passes are fine...lights never went out except at Lake Wenatchee and Plain area.

Oh...but I did come home to 3 feet of snow...that was a real joy to uncover!!!!!!!!!!!!

But glad everyones okay here...

[pnwmom]

24. Our power's still out on Sunday but nearby neighbors got theirs back.

Hopefully that's a good sign.

[Tripper11]

25. Checking in from Renton

We're in the Highlands. I was going into a nice 4 day weekend when the storm hit Thursday night.
We lost power around midnight Thursday into Friday and we are now on day 4 of no power!
Luckily we have a wood stove and lots of wood. We had our elderly neighbour come over and hang out for a while.
We broke out the Coleman stove and the BBQ and have been making an adventure of it. The kids seem to be doing ok with board games, lego's and whining! LOL
Mrs. Tripper and I wrapped gifts by the light of candles and radio.
We came to my wife's office downtown for showers. 4 days ripe is more then even a loving family should endure!
We'll do a supply run for more batteries, some candles and maybe some more food.
Thankfully our laziness in grocery shopping paid off! We don't have much food that went to waste, so we'll clean out the fridge and start anew when we get our power back.
All pets, furry and scaly are doing ok. Godzilla our lizard now has a comfortable little home right beside the wood stove so he can drink in as much heat as he can take.
I'm kind of surprised we are still without power. Normally we barely get a flicker and even on those really bad days, we may go a couple hours at most.
As much as it sucks, overall we're fine. Making due with what we have. I still have Monday off, so hopefully we get it back then. If not, I only work 3 days this week and will still have another 4 day weekend to relax and enjoy.

[flamingyouth]

26. Just got our cable/internet back a few minutes ago

We were without power for eight hours Thursday night/Friday morning. Our basement and our bedroom both have some water damage, but we're otherwise fine.

[SeattleGirl]

29. Good to see you, flamingyouth.

I haven't seen JulieRB. I think her area got hit particularly hard. I think there were 5 downed powerline poles in one area out there. Hope she's okay.

[flamingyouth]

30. Yeah, they got hit pretty hard up there.

My SO was down at Lowe's on Rainier yesterday trying to get something to seal the basement and they were in the dark. It's so cold - ugh. Take care and try to stay warm!!

[SeattleGirl]

31. Was just watching the news. They showed Julie's area.

Power lines and trees still down all over the place. Jeez. I really hope they're okay.

[flamingyouth]

32. Ugh - yikes

Do you have her phone number? I'm worried about her too.

[SeattleGirl]

33. I do have it.

I'll PM you with it. I did just call and left a message. Hopefully she'll get back to me soon.

[Mojambo]

28. Still freezing my ass off at home.

I live in Bellevue, just off Northup way at 164th.

There are still two big trees hanging on power lines on Northup. I don't think PSE has even looked at them yet despite the fact that they make the road unpassable.

At least the power at Crossroads is back today so I can get warm at work and check email.

It's been a miserable couple of nights and it looks like we're going to have at least one more. I'm pretty discouraged.

[SeattleGirl]

34. Dang, Mojambo.

Sorry your home is still in the dark (and cold). I just heard on the news that other states, including Utah and California, are sending power crews in to help with the power restoration, so hopefully, those still without power will have it back soon.

Please stay as warm as you can. It's gonna be really cold tonight. :hug:

[Mojambo]

47. Thanks! I'll make it.

It's just really discouraging to see the rest of your neighborhood with power and have it not work starting pretty much with your street.

[uppityperson]

35. stay warm, wear a hat to bed, really.

Keeping your head covered helps you stay much warmer. We have woodstove for heat and sometimes I wear a hat around the house. Hope you get power back soon.

[SeattleGirl]

36. Great suggestion, uppityperson.

Wearing socks to bed can also help.

[Mojambo]

46. Yep, the hat makes a big difference.

I'm wearing two long sleeve shirts, a pair of sweatpants under a pair of workout pants, a stocking cap, and two pairs of socks to bed each night. Then I take a fleece throw blanket and wrap it around my neck and face like a scarf. I look like an arctic terrorist.

It's not terribly comfortable, and I pretty much have to go to bed the instant I get home, but I'm not going to freeze to death.

[MiniMandaRuth]

37. We lost two trees...

Thankfully not near our house. Our garbage can has also been relocated to the neighbors yard. Other than that, we're fine.

We lost power at six on Thursday. Creepy. We still don't have any power (Up in the Buckley-Bonney Lake area). I'm posting on a hotel computer. I hope everyone is safe.

Peace.

[SeattleVet]

38. We came through it fine, never lost power (Seattle north end),

but our ISP is in Bellevue and we just got our access back a few hours ago.

Worst part is the idiots that refused to treat the darkened traffic signals as all-way stops. There were a few spots that were pretty bad, where the majority of the cars just blew through, but most of the bigger intersections seems to be flowing pretty well, and safely. I made sure that I had plenty of space behind me so I didn't get rear-ended when I stopped.

[diddlysquat]

39. My power just came back on!

Three days without!

[SeattleGirl]

41. Welcome back, hawthorne17!

How did you fare?

[diddlysquat]

43. I was OK.

I had a kerosene heater that I have had for over 20 years. I had just about decided to retire it but then this happened. I was lucky to be able to get fuel at Ace Hardware. I would have been miserable without it. My next purchase when all this clears out is a camping stove. If this is part of global warming and I beleve it is, we will see more of this.

[SeattleGirl]

42. Who have we NOT heard from yet?

I have not heard from JulieRB or BigBearJohn (recent transplant to Washington. He lives on Vashon, and the island was hit very hard).

[satya]

44. Power went off here at 9pm Thursday, came back on at 4pm Sunday.

We're on the Eastside; lots of trees down, but no serious damage in our little area. We got by with flashlights and sleeping bags at night. During the day we'd venture out looking for a warm place to eat -- fortunately, we still had a full tank of biodiesel. Lots of folks were spending hours in line waiting for fuel.

Really makes you think about how much we take for granted, here in the land-of-too-much. The first couple of days, we whined about not having TV and internet -- but by Day 3, a warm room and a hot meal sounded pretty darned good.

Hi, SeattleGirl! Glad to hear you're okay! :hi:

[sentelle]

45. Bainbridge Island, Manitou Beach

I am at work (downtown Seattle). It never lost power.
At home, however, is another story.
My wife and I are still without power, out here on Bainbridge Island.
We have a Nursing home/hospital facility across the street, also without power, (they are running on generators 24/7 except when they have to change them out.)

So we are not out of the woods yet. We saw a downed tree about 100 feet from the Manitou Beach Drive WA305 intersection (and 5 feet from Manitou beach drive.
We also saw two power poles at a 45degree angle on Falk road, just south of duncan road. Those are the feeders for the entire area.

[MikeNearMcChord]

48. Didn't lose power, but McChord AFB was without it for early

AM on friday. A tree fell in my apartment complex, but thank God, there was no damage, but my friend, another story. a tree smashed his wife's car, and another branch took out the wiring of his house, and that wire is touching a fence.

[uppityperson]

50. 1 good thing about living near a military place is power gets back on quickly

it seems. We had trees down here during the Nov windstorm, it is no fun

[MiniMandaRuth]

49. Our power came on today around 5 this evening.

Olivia and i are warm, and clean (!) for the first time since Thursday. Never appreciated modern conveniences as much as I do now.

Tam

[SeattleGirl]

51. Welcome back to the modern world!

Glad the power is back on for you. Any damage to the house?

[MiniMandaRuth]

53. This is Olivia (AKA Mini)

Nope. No damage. We did lose a tree, though.

[opiate69]

52. Finally got power back around 730 last night

We're in Old Nisqually.. there were several trees down on the lines around here.. thankfully, we have some friends who, even though they had no power either, they have a wood stove so we all managed to stay warm, if not entirely comfortable.

[flamingyouth]

54. Glad your power's back.

That's a long time to be without it. Yikes, to put it mildly. :(

[opiate69]

63. Thanks..

and yeah.. it was quite the adventure.. We're just really thankful that we have friends we were able to crash with instead of having to haul the whole family down to a shelter.

[geniph]

55. We're fine in Auburn

Lost power early Thursday evening, got it back early Saturday morning. We're fine without it; I have a good woodstove insert in my fireplace, my stove is gas, my water heater is gas, and I have plenty of lanterns and candles. So we can still cook and shower and keep reasonably comfortable with the power out, and I mostly read when I'm at home anyway. My husband was getting a little antsy without his computer Mah-jongg game, so I had to drag my laptop out so he could play for a little while. But we're much luckier than others. I had brought everything either into the garage or the house that could blow over or away, and we'd anchored my car canopy to the (brick) house, so it was fine.

I didn't realize my workplace was closed Friday and went in early because I was worried about my servers. They'd sent an EMAIL to tell us the place was closed, and since I'm adamant in refusing to carry a Blackberry, I never got the message. They could have called me - they're supposed to - but I think that was a little bit of revenge for my stubbornness in refusing the electronic leash. Anyway, driving home from Burien Friday morning was an interesting experience. Every road up the hill out of Des Moines was blocked at some point, so I had to do quite a bit of zig-zagging to get up to Pac Highway - where of course every traffic light was out, and it took me 20 minutes to cross Pac Highway so I could get on I-5 south. Damn, how can people not know what to do at a traffic light that's out? But even now, on day 6 post-storm, there's STILL people that haven't figured it out!

I feel sorry for the guy who owns the little corner grocery near us; his power was out until last night, even though everyone around him had power. He'd finally put PSE SOS on his big sign, and ALL MEAT AND FROZEN GOODS 50% OFF. Poor thing, that's the kind of thing that drives a small independent like that out of business.

In the Inauguration Day storm, I was up on the Enumclaw Plateau, and that was MUCH worse for me - tree limbs hitting the windows at 100mph is quite an experience. We were without power for 5 days that time, during a horrible cold snap (I think it got down to 19 degrees at one point after that storm). Even with a gas log fireplace, I couldn't keep that place warm. Luckily we had a gas water heater and stove there, too. I'm not sure I'd have any other kind. It's really nice to be able to take a hot bath and have hot food; it helps a lot.

[SeattleGirl]

56. Welcome back.

Sounds like you didn't have too bad a time of it, even without electricity. :hi:

[LaBanty]

58. Power on @ 10pm last night

After being surrounded by people with power for days (within a couple hundred feet of us east and west) we finally had power restored last night. This little strip of us without power included just under 600 accounts. The trucks working on the lines out here were from Oregon, BTW.

It got pretty doggone chilly, too ;-) The house finally dropped into the 20's at night and we had no fireplace. Leaving wasn't an option since we have animals to take care of. We did get a hotel in Puyallup to "get a break" and at least take showers and get warm. I kept a fire going in the outside fire pit every day just to stay warm while at home. Finding burning material was easy since so many trees near the house lost BIG limbs!

I hate to think of all the other people in rural areas like ours that are still waiting for power and heat. Reports say many of them won't have power until after Christmas, or the first of the year. That's pathetic.

[SeattleGirl]

59. Glad you're back, LaBanty.

I had heard on the news the other day that crews from out of state were coming in to help Washington power companies get things going again. We were only out for 10 hours, so we were fortunate.

[SeattleGirl]

60. Message from Washington DUer JulieRB posted in the Lounge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5965812

[flamingyouth]

75. Thanks for posting this link.

Somehow I missed it the other day. I'm so glad she's all right.

[dghll]

61. our part of Redmond came back Tuesday

Power went out Thursday nite. So many candle lit card games...

[SeattleGirl]

62. Welcome back!

:hi:

[Tripper11]

64. Power back, FINALLY!

Tuesday morning around 9:30am, the power came back on..........for about a half hour, but only stayed off for about 45 minutes and came back on.
I was out running errands and kept calling my answering machine to make sure it was still on.
So lovely to have a nice warm meal in my own home, cooked IN an oven, not a coleman stove on the front deck!
I hope everyone else gets theirs back soon who don't have yet.
I have a friend I work with who lives in Snoqualmie Ridge and she says that PSE says that they won't have anything until AFTER Christmas.

[SeattleGirl]

65. Yay!

Glad you're back. Sucks, though, that so many of our brother and sister Washington DUers are STILL without power, and will be until Christmas at the earliest. Sheesh.

[tavalon]

66. I was really grumpy yesterday because my power has been out

since Thursday and it looks like it won't be back on until Christmas. However, as I was sitting by the (new just last winter) soapstone wood stove, I started thinking about the folks on the Gulf Coast and then I thought about the folks in Iraq and I got an attitude adjustment. We're doing just fine out here in Duvall, just fine. And heck, we use the generator for an hour or two each day so I even get internet connectivity of a sort. We are doing damn fine.

[SeattleGirl]

67. And that's damned good.

So sarcasm meant. I'm glad you're doing well, tavalon. And yes, sometimes we all have our attitude adjustment moments.

[tavalon]

68. Somebody at work said something hilarious

She said she was so done with singing Kumbaya (meaning, she was damned tired of camping at home). I'm pretty done with it too, but still, it's okay. Heck, my stove just heated some water for me and now I'm going to make some cowboy coffee. It really, truly Isn't That Bad (tm). Unfortunately, I have to turn the generator off soon so I won't get to have the full measure of my DU addiction and that really is too bad. ;)

[SeattleGirl]

69. Too late to edit.

I meant "NO" sarcasm meant. Oy, sometimes my brain moves faster than my fingers. :eyes:

[flamingyouth]

76. I feel for you guys.

Hang in there. :hug:

[uppityperson]

78. stay warm and dry there.

been thinking about Gulf Coast people also. Did a post here in WA forum about it also. We have a lot, even though there is a whole bunch of damage. Hope you stay warm and dry there.

[Catherine Vincent]

70. Hope everyone is doing okay in the storm's path.

I know how it feels not having any power whether it's too cold or too hot. JulieRB posted on the PJF Fan club that they are fine and it will be a while before their power is turned back on and is keeping warm with their gas fireplace. I hope it's sooner rather than later. Basically her and hubby are safe, warm and have food and are very thankful for that.

[pnwmom]

71. We still have no power, after a week.

This is getting very old and, alas, I'm not feeling very thankful.

[SeattleGirl]

72. Understandable, pnwmom.

Hope you don't have to wait too much longer.

[pnwmom]

73. Thanks, me too. What bothers me the most, after all this time,

is that they can't tell me where my neighborhood is on the schedule. And they don't mention my neighborhood as being an affected area on their website or on their recorded phone message.

I wonder if they're minimizing the problems that still remain, or if my neighborhood is the only one in this situation.

[Mrs. Overall]

74. Have you been able to actually talk to someone at your power

company?

Friends of mine who are still without power in North Kitsap County were able to eventually get through the phone menu at Puget Sound Energy and talk to a real person about their neighborhood outage. The representative told them that parts had to be ordered from another state in order to fix the lines in their area. They were also given an approximate restoration time.

[pnwmom]

81. I talked to a real person, but she couldn't tell me anything.

She said that there was no projected date for my getting power back, so she assumed that meant I'd get it when other parts of my city did. Today's recorded message finally gives a time for my area -- supposedly by Saturday. We'll see . . .

[flamingyouth]

77. I'm so sorry.

I just can't imagine how frustrated I'd be. My roof and my basement are leaking yet I feel grateful.

[pnwmom]

82. Thanks. I'm not having water problems, so that's something. n/t

[eridani]

79. Still no power on Wednesday at 6;30PM

Everything's electric including heat and hot water (gas not available in our neighborhood), so have been couch surfing and trying to get stuff done at work, where we got power back last Sunday. Have not sent out Christmas cards this year--my list is all in a Word file on my home computer, and hadn't gotten around to making hard copy. (Yes, me, the big voter verified paper ballot advocate--oh well, the shoemaker's kids and all that.)

My half block is a black hole with zilch, nada, zip for us, but with power on every block for a half mile in any direction. Being surrounded by Christmas lights on all sides makes me want to holler BAH HUMBUG! a whole lot. On the other hand, one co-worker's living room was destroyed by a tree, so it could be much worse. And of course it is much worse all over Iraq, the Gulf Coast and elsewhere. Guess I've gotten too used to being bourgeois.

[SeattleGirl]

80. I would hardly call that being bourgeois, eridani

We each get used to the things we have access to every day, but I do understand what you're saying. Sometimes, we get brought up short when we think about others who have less than us.

Here's hoping that you get your power back before too much more time goes by.

[pnwmom]

83. I'm not happy about all the Xmas lights around us either.

Especially because the power company has been announcing everywhere that people shouldn't be using unnecessary electricity till the system is running well again.

[progressivebydesign]

85. I feel for you.. we were out for 5 days...

I don't subscribe to the idea that just because others are suffering more, that it makes your problems trivial. It is impossible for anyone to go through something and actually feel better when reminded that others have it worse. It's totally okay for us to be unhappy with our situation.. even if someone else has it worse. Stress is stress.

Are you starting to feel zen about things? We got that way on the 4th day. We had somehow started to believe that we'd never get power again.. ever. And that this was just the way we lived now. A new lifestyle. It was a freakin' shock when the power came back! I nearly hyperventilated! Overload!

Hope you get your power soon.

[progressivebydesign]

84. Was without power and heat for 5 days.. but okay now.

We also lost everything in the fridge and freezer. and.. of course we had just done two big shopping trips to Trader Joes and Costco. Neighbors had trees in their roofs, etc., but we were just inconvenienced and now lost some money because of it.

I feel for those that are still without power in my area, and those with damage to fix up.

[SeattleGirl]

87. Glad your power is back.

That sucks, though, losing all the food. x(

[Mojambo]

86. I have the Power! (finally)

Sorry to all that are still without. You have my greatest sympathy!

I'm so effing happy right now.

[eridani]

89. And now I have the power too!

A miserable seven days, but it's over now. Thinking of Riverbend and wondering if she is OK.

[fortyfeetunder]

88. thursday thru monday nite

it sucks to be old and cold.

we fared fine -- gas water heater, and various forms of light, heating water and food, and a fireplace.

But I could never get warm; I looked like a rainbow polar bear with the multiple layers of "fur". And I stayed cold....brrrrrrrr....

I need to go somewhere warm for a few days to warm my bones. Any suggestions?

[uppityperson]

90. Harrison Hot Springs in BC, east of Vancouver a bit.

http://www.harrisonresort.com/
http://www.harrison.ca/harrison/

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

91. Late checking in

I worked the night of the storm. I work for Verizon though it's indoors. We had an emergency generator at the facilty I worked at.

Driving was the real adventure especially heading home. Amazing how the wind can blow a 3/4 ton van about. Power was out in Mill Creek, Alderwood Manor and Silver Lake while heading home. The down trees didn't help either. Saw a lot of Snohomish County PUD workers out in the middle of the storm. Anyone who can work on high voltage lines in that wind has my respect.

I had power at my house by morning. It's clear many others weren't so lucky. My sister who's a nutritionist told me of one old folks home that had and emergency generator, only it wasn't wired into the facilty's heating system. They were without power for several days.

[uppityperson]

92. Hi, have a question for you

How come Verizon reception has gotten so bad near Port Townsend since our big windstorm in Nov? phone searches and searches and searches, my phone, my husbands phone, visitors phones, etc. Never had great reception but I used to be able to talk and now it goes 4 bars 2 bars 0 bars 3 bars 4 bars 0 bars 0 bar 0 bars all within a minute. I called and heard "no one else has complained". Any advice. And glad you are ok too.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

93. Not sure I can answer your question

I'm with the land line part of the business. I'm in a union while the wireless side of the house is non-union. The company likes to keep us seperated to save money.

But given your description of the problem. Since you say no one else has complained it sounds like your phone may be faulty.

[uppityperson]

94. thanks, but my phone, my husbands, my sons, other people visiting here, friends nearby

whole bunch of people having problems locally, each of us thinking it was our phone having problems. Interesting telling thing about cell phone stuff is that we expect our phones to go bad. Anyway, we started talking and comparing and figured out it is not just my phone but more of an area problem. I've encouraged others to call, I was the just first but hoping to not be the last. Thanks for the info anyways too.