Playing catch up

Monday night/Tuesday morning about midnight, the thunder and lightning started. It was fierce and almost constant for close to an hour and a half. It was impossible to tell how close it was because there was no pause in the lightning so that I could count seconds until the thunder. The cats jumped out of bed and went under it – not what I consider a good sign. I got up and unplugged the computer and the internet connection. After an hour, the storm let up briefly for a bit before coming back with a vengeance. About 2:15 the power went out and the storm raged on for another half hour or so.

I wondered if I could remember how to open the garage door if the electricity stayed off until I had to go to work. I had considered opening it before going to bed, but it was so windy and wild outside that I didn’t know what might blow in and damage the car. As it was, when I went out in the morning, the wheelbarrow that leans up against the side of the garage had blown over into the flowerbed and the chairs (admittedly plastic) on the deck had been blown all around.

About 5:30 the power came back. I got up and checked around. The overhead light in my room would not come on, but most everything else seemed okay. The television was working – which meant the satellite dish had not been knocked out. But there was no water pressure. Hoping it was just a fuse – and that I could find it (Tom is out of town all week) -- , I went to the basement. Sure enough a switch clearly marked Well showed red as did one saying Master bedroom. Flipping the well switch brought a reassuring hum, and when I returned to my bathroom, the water pressure was fine. Flipping the Master bedroom switch had restored the overhead light.

What was not fine was the telephones. I discovered this because the computer – the first thing I do is turn on the computer, even before I go to the bathroom – would not hook up to the internet. Since our internet connection is part of the phone service, I lifted the phone and heard – nothing.

I called Tom on my cell phone to let him know that we had survived without serious tree damage and to report on the phone situation. At Holy Hill we lost our phones all the time in thunderstorms and there was a reset button that usually fixed it. Not so here. He suggested I leave it and see if the phone people took care of it, assuming it was out all over and not just in the house.

As I say, we had some limbs down and I saw a fairly good sized tree was down into the road on my way to work. When I came back more of it was down and it blocked half of Berry Road, but the county came by shortly thereafter and cleaned it up.

When I came back in the afternoon, still no phone. Hence no internet, which is why this is not getting posted until whenever, assuming the phone company comes through on their stated commitment to have it fixed by noon. I called Tom to report that they were not fixing it on their own – he was at the hospital with Chris who was beginning his chemotherapy session, which of course made a telephone outage seem not so much --, and then put in a call to Verizon. They did a trace on it and say it is in their system and not in the house. This means I don’t have to hang around waiting for the repair dude or dudette to come and that they won’t charge us for an inhouse service call. [Actually they got it fixed only about 5:00 p.m. on Friday, but the nice thing was that they called Thursday night to tell me that there was a delay and when they hoped to get to it. Given the flooding and continual storms, their workload has quadrupled this week.]

Not having access to the internet! How will I survive? How will I get to my email? Etc. I know, I know. The library has computers, but they are overbooked by all the students hanging out there. Phone is not as big a deal. I don’t use it that much and I have a cell phone for emergencies anyway.

So I took my notebook computer, went to Starbucks for an overpriced cup of coffee and worked on a short story. Then I went by the library on the off chance there might be a computer free, but what are the odds? Instead I got a Spanish dictionary and worked on a translation of a children’s book on marine life that I am putting into English for one of Joe’s grandkids. Then I checked out a 10-CD unabridged audio version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility to listen to on my way to and from work – radio reception is amazingly bad! – and went home.

Turned on the television to see that the big news is – the weather! More rain, more thunderstorms on the way. Tonight, tomorrow, into Friday. More flooding, maybe hail and a possible tornado, though that is to the south of us. Sauk County is officially a disaster zone as of yesterday, but we are in good shape compared to some places. Still, officials already estimate we have about $1.5 million in damages in this county alone. Most of that is to crops, and they expect the amount to go higher. Most farmers were too busy saving their livestock to tell how bad the crop damage was so far.

So the cats, who are already disoriented by the fact that Tom is away and that no one is in the house for most of the day, have to cope with thunderstorms and torrential rains as well. They keep standing by the doors onto the deck looking out forlornly. If I open it to let them out, Cassidy will give it a shot, but Sundance usually tucks her tail down and goes back to a bed somewhere. Of course, Cassidy will be back demanding to come in within two minutes. Tonight should be another exciting time with them once the next storm fires up. At least they are well-trained to their litterbox, even though they hardly use it except in the dead of winter. The rest of the year I can tell the weather has been bad when I check it in the morning and need to clean it up.

Friday update: The phones and internet came back, as I mentioned, about 5:00 p.m. Yesterday I managed to get a library computer Thursday in Reedsburg just to get my email. It is nice to have the internet back, though. I have become used to having much more pinpointed radar and weather information than the television provides.

Tom, meanwhile, in Chicago is living through very severe weather there. They had power knocked out and lots of trees down in the neighborhood. My friend Michaelangelo’s school on the south side of the city had funnel clouds nearby, and they all had to pile into the basement yesterday afternoon until the danger passed. Today Evelyn needed to go to Prairie du Chien, WI and both the main roads were washed out in places.

The weekend is supposed to be better. But it rained pretty much all day today.