Summertime Power Woes

This past Sunday at around noon a powerful thunderstorm came though the Chicago area. Our village, Glen Ellyn, was hit hard and our street took a lot of damage. We lost a large Bradford Pear tree in front of the house on the parkway. This one fell into the driveway and the street. Sue Reyes was visiting from San Diego and the tree missed her rental car by a few feet. The large maple between our house and the Metcalf's to the south of us was torn asunder, splitting in half. Luckily it fell directly east and right between the houses. Each house took a little gutter damage but nothing more. However, niece Kathy and grand niece Brady were visiting also. Kathy's car was right in the path of the tree, but miraculously, the big branches of the tree went on either side and above her car. We were able to cut her out with a hand saw and clippers. Her Prius had a few little dents and scratches on the hood. When I have access to my laptop to transfer some photos I will add them to the blog.

Lee came over with his chainsaw, and with the aid of neighbors we cleared the tree from our street and the driveway so that we can get in an out. During the storm as trees fell they took down power lines. One was in the street just two houses south of us. Today is Tuesday and we are still without electricity. Com Ed claims we will have power restored by 11:00 P.M. on Wednesday, July 4.

Being summer in Chicago it is warm - in the 90s all this week so it is a bit uncomfortable in our house. Sue had reservations at the Palmer House in Chicago as she was attending a conference. We sent Kathy and Brady with Sue for a night in the city. We stuck it out at the house Sunday night, and though uncomfortable for the first few hours, it did cool off and dropped into the 70s by morning.

On Monday I bought three bags of ice and pulled two coolers from the garage. I began the task of emptying and cleaning our refrigerator. It really needed cleaning! I see this as an opportunity. I tossed a lot of old stuff and pulled all the shelves and drawers out and washed everything. I found a bag of salad and an open Prosecco bottle, so took a break for lunch in the back yard under our almost intact maple. Later in the day I talked to Melissa Nachman who offered us their portable generator. Lee brought it over within an hour. It is running to keep our freezer in the basement going. I also used it to charge my phone and run a fan. The downside is that it is noisy and has to be refilled with gas every hour and a half.

Sharon and I attempted to stay at a local Comfort Suites last night. What should have been a ten minute drive to get there turned into an hour of driving for me. When I got there they had my reservation, but no wifi, no cable, no refrigerator, and a room next to the pool. I passed, called Sharon and told her to go home and not the hotel. We went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant and then home to our hot house. We both managed sleep, but uncomfortably and in different bedrooms.

I am now in place at the local Panera. An everything bagel, coffee, wifi, and life is good. Sharon is going to look into a hotel for tonight. Tomorrow we will go to the Glen Ellyn Independence Day parade. Kathryn Hudson has invited us to join her at her store on Main Street in Glen Ellyn. She is offering seating and bloody marys. Hard to beat an offer like this. Then tomorrow evening, we are having cocktails on the court. I'm going to smoke some ribs. Hmmm. I might need another cooler to keep them in tonight. Next stop Costco for ribs and cooler?

Heard while at Panera, "Do you actually have a plain bagel actually."

I went to Costco today to pick up some ribs for tomorrow. All the Walmart shoppers were there. I wanted to sing the Walmart song! I sat in the food court and watched people go by. I couldn't help but wonder if they thought I looked odd. After Walmart...uh Costo I bought a bag of ice and cold beer at Binny's. It was time to add some fresh ice to the coolers and fill the new cooler I got at Costco. It is a nice one, stainless steel and even has a bottle opener on it. Do you think the home owner's insurance will pay for it?

Kramer tree service came by and gave us an estimate on taking out the remains of the maple that went down between the houses. $2,194. I also talked to the insurance company who will be sending out an adjuster on Thursday. No update fro m Comed on power restoration but they are working in the neighborhood, slowly, but they are working. Power is back within a block of us, but not at our house.

I discovered water that I thought had been draining from the kitchen sink was actually draining into the dishwasher and then leaking out of the dishwasher onto the floor. I bailed the dishwasher and then mopped the floor. Then I took a wash tub we use for party beverages out into the yard with my iPhone and a beer, filled the tub with water and vegged in the back yard for a while. In the meantime I plugged the clothes washer into the generator and rewashed some things that had been sitting in the washer. Turns out the clothes washer does not like the generator power and I had to manually advance through the cycles until the things were done. Now I am cooling off and using power and wifi at the Glen Ellyn Library. I am ready for the Hyatt tonight and power back at the house tomorrow.

Final update. We had dinner with Lee and then went to the Hyatt. Nice room and cool! On Wednesday we went home, dropped off our things and started the generator. Then over to the Glen Oak for breakfast and cooling. We then walked a block down to main street to Knicker's where Kathryn Hudson had invited us to watch the parade. A great time. Then home, a side trip to Whole Foods for supplies. Sharon made sangria and we headed out to the court around 6:00 to eat snacks, drink sangria, chat with the neighbors, and wait for Com Ed. Com Ed fixed the power lines, replaced a transformer, and then we had power! There was much cheering from the court and we all went home to turn on our air conditioners. We are back in business. Three and a half days without power and 90+ degree days makes for stressful living. We are spoiled.

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