I'm still alive

Sorry, folks.  I'm still here, and everything is still basically fine—especially after about 6:00 this morning.  For the week before that, though, we have been completely without power.

You may have noticed a few stories about a huge ice storm that just hit the Southeast (the worst in ten years, some say).  Well, about 7:00 last Tuesday morning our lights went out, and that was that.  Yes, a few times I planned to try to get some computer time at a local library just to let y'all know I was still kicking, but either the library was also without power or other, more important issues came up and I just never could do that.

So, anyway, I apologize for suddenly disappearing off the face of the net like that.  I'm going to make sure that, next time, someone else out there knows how to contact me when I don't have computer access.

After I get a few emergency issues, i.e. repairs, completed, I'll start posting again.  I was starting to go into serious blogging-withdrawal!

Comments

[DaveG]

Welcome back! I was wondering whether you were taking your third strike posting too seriously!

[Obi-Wan]

Heh. 'Preciate that, Dave--but nah, I don't take myself or most other things too seriously. It was just a "series of unfortunate events," and I'm taking steps to keep this from happening again. I already have a "new" used computer, a UPS with line isolation (surprisingly inexpensive), and I'm letting a few trusted folks know how to contact me should I ever lose internet access again, which is inevitable, I suppose.

And many thanks for the welcome back!

[Steel]

Next time ... have a backup poster. Phoenix posts and so does a friend in PA. It's hell when ya can't post and news happens huh? Glad you're back amigo.

[Obi-Wan]

EXCELLENT idea, Steel.

Now, if I could just think of someone who could do that... ;o)

[Phoenix]

Obi,

I'll be happy to post for ya. :} Heh. Heh. I'll make MATH posts. Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about. Math. Good old math. Rob can help. :)

[Rob]

Yeah, I could help.. I'd post pictures of me before and after hormones.. Wouldn't that be slick?

[Rob]

Hey, you mentioned awhile back you decided not to be helpless in times like that (weather related). Did you do anything about it? If so did it help much?

[Obi-Wan]

Didn't really make much difference, because of the particulars of being without power.

I already had a large kerosene heater (although, before this last storm hit, I purchased and filled an extra kerosene can, and I'm glad I did, because all the kero sellers went powerless too). Although most of Greenville County was without power for at least a few days, the large grocery stores all have generators, and the roads were (mostly) clear. Supplies weren't a problem. The one thing I didn't have that I still plan to buy is a dual-fuel, two-burner camping stove that can run on ordinary unleaded gasoline. Hot meals were the only thing we didn't have here at home.

A generator is looking less and less like a luxury and more like a necessity about now, since we just lost a large freezer and fridge full, and I mean FULL, of food. No telling how much that will cost to replace.

South Carolina isn't exactly known for ferocious ice storms, but while this might have been the worst in about 10 years, it's hardly the only recent time we've been without power for days at a time.