Adventures

So, last thursday, Jan 28 at 4:17 pm, the entire town and base lost power. This was caused from the ice storm that knocked down 25 poles on base, tons more in town, and almost every power line heading into town. We averaged a tempuature of 40 degrees. It was freaking cold. We were using our gas stove to heat what we could of our house. And lots and lots of blankets. (Thanks grandma for a) giving me warm blankets and b) teaching me how to crochet blankets) And non essential personelle don't have to work. Seth is an essential person. So he gets to sit in one of the 4 buildings with power, while I freeze.

The power is still off the next day. We have a BBQ at a friends house to try and use up all the meat we have. The best part is, we try to play Monopoly in the dark, with only a few candles. That was entertaining because we could see anything. How are you supposed to know what property you need people to pay you for. Needless to say, it didn't last very long. And we were soooo cold. 7 people, 6 guys and me, were all huddling close together trying to be warm.

The next day our friend calls and asks us if we want to escape town for the weekend, and offers to pay for the hotel. And seriously, who is going to say no to that? So we go to Texas, and have a blast. I got Seth to go see a chick flick with me, the movie When In Rome. SOOOO cute, totally reccommend it. But the inevitable happens, and the weekend ended. So we have to go back home so they can work. =(

It was bad enough, that they had paid an extra $2,000 to get food to our base because the trucks didn't want to drive our roads. So the dining facility and gym became a shelter for everyone on base that wants to become a sardine. We were not one of them. Then the best thing happened, the Commander sends out the cops and fire department all around base housing to do a welfare check. They are concerned we have froze in our homes. That afternoon, we were being evacuated. Awesome.

So, I repacked up all our clothes, even the dirty ones (gross). We are told that we may be gone for up to 10 days. And the best part is, it's all on the governments dime. So I head out early, get to the hotel, and start waiting for all our people to show up. ( about 7 cops. Do people realize how crazy cops are when they are kept together in a small amount of space, aka a hotel. I do!) But the all get recalled, mainly to say, be safe, and here is your GTC (government travel card). But turns out, they didn't work. They finally show up at 9:30, 3 hours behind me. The very next morning, power comes back on. But we get to stay for the night.

So, long story short. We are now back home, our power is on, I did our taxes in a hotel, we got our internet working again, I replenished our parishable foods. And we just found out, we are getting another bad storm coming in a few days. So hopefully our power stays on, and we live to see another day.