Remnants

So the remnants of Ike blew threw PA last night. Yes, that’s right, PA. Wind gusts were 60-70 (up to 80 once or twice) miles per hour (nothing compared to a full-blown hurricane but heavy none-the-less). Trees, debris and property were blown all over. Of course, with wind like that, we have outages.

Our outage happened at 8:45 last night. We still have no power and won’t until approx. 11 p.m. tonight. Unfortunately, some idiot in my household left my freezer door open so we also have no food . . . byegones.

As a firefighter, I respond to outages, downed wires and down trees. Last night was no exception. At 8:45, I responded to a tree down in my neighborhood which caused a transformer to explode and power to be lost. The arcing of the lines drew me to the firehall before our siren went off. Then the transformer exploded.

I blocked off the very busy road at 8:50 p.m. and there I stood until 8:30 a.m. To say I am tired is an understatement. I’m obliterated. However, because we have no power and consequently no school, I am obliterated, with a hungry child.
Here we sit in McDonalds where the Wi-Fi is free and the fries are hot.

So, I stood in the wind and rain for nearly 12 hours last night with my flashing LED light, in my pajamas which I wore under my turnout gear (at least I remembered my bra) – or at least under my jump pants and a road-cone vest – listening to the Steelers win on the radio.

It was lonely and dark, and kinda cold and not everyone was kind. Of course neither was I. At one point, a man accosted me for holding him up. He said “What the hell are you people doing? I have to get to work, I don’t know how to get around! Where the Hell am I supposed to go missy?”

My response? “Sir, there are live wires laying on the road ahead and you cannot pass. I, however, did not personally place them there so that you would be late for work, indeed, I didn’t have much to do with that tree that fell on the wires. Now, I can tell you how to get around this obstruction or I can tell you where to go, of course the choice is yours.” He was not amused, he barked at me to tell him how to get around – I gave him the really long way with lots of turns . . .

Anyway, I attempted to engage a couple people in texting, but alas, I was rebuffed. I guess that speaks volumes for my sad life. In fact, clearer still is the fact that my husband watched me walk out the door and told me not to touch live wires in a snide way, yet he had no idea at all that I was not home and never came home. HE DIDN’T REALIZE I WASN’T THERE!!!!! I feel incredibly appreciated and loved. Seriously, I feel so loved I could jump off a friggin bridge.

On a high note, my reputation as a Redneck Magnet is intact. While asking me for directions last night, a toothless redneck with a rebel flag tattoo on his forearm asked me for directions and also asked me if I’d “like to straddle his gear shifter” what class, I am telling you! Seriously, he even remarked that I must be chilly as my “highbeams were on and if I wanted to flash him, he was game .” I blinked my led light at him, told him, my highbeams were most assuredly not on – I checked, and if he didn’t move along quickly I was going to drive my rig right over his sorry ass.” He grinned a toothless grin and off he went – I sent him the wrong way too . . .

Today? I smell like flares, exhaust and chew-spit since some asshole spit on me last night. I’ve no power, no shower, I got 2.2 hours of sleep between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 11, and I brushed my teeth using a bottle of water that I didn’t finish last night. I am cranky, tired and getting indigestion as McDonald’s is hell. I am utterly forgettable as far as my husband is concerned and I annoy the hell out of my friends – to say I am not a happy camper today? Fucking understatement of the year. Now, excuse me while I drive a couple towns over to find a truckstop with a shower – I am sure some "dirty" trucker would be more than happy to let me share :)

If you need me - I'll be in the corner with a cocktail - did I tell you? I've taken up drinking again - yay me.