It’s Saturday, and like a lot of people in the Northwest I’m spending the day prepping for Stormageddon, A huge weather front is supposed to be hitting the Seattle area any time now, bringing with it a good amount of rain and high winds. Rain is kind of our jam here, but heavy wind is a big problem as it has a tendency to knock down trees, making them fall down on power lines and take out the electricity. According to the forecast, tonight’s storm has the makings of the biggest in over a decade in our area, with the biggest saving grace being that it is supposed to move through fairly quickly.
I’ve spent the day doing all the power-dependent stuff that makes our household function: doing laundry, charging phones, cooking up food so it won’t go bad if our electricity goes out and stays out. Bill ran the vacuum and cleaned up the apartment so we won’t inadvertently trip over something and kill ourselves if we’re reduced to using flashlights and candles to see in the dark. I bought a bunch of non-perishable food so that we won’t starve if we can’t use our stove or microwave (I’m hoping we don’t need it and I can just donate it all to the food bank next week).  Since I work for the power company, I’m on call, and am really hoping we don’t lose our power here because as long as my lights (and my Internet) stay on I can remain in my cozy home and not venture out into the storm to help out at work. Depending on the severity of the power outages, the next few days could be long ones as we all band together and try to keep our customers in the know about our restoration efforts.
It makes me so happy to see all the nice comments on social media from people who thank the linemen for the work they do, and all the well-wishes as they encourage all employees to stay safe. I definitely know that going without power can be a huge inconvenience, and it’s reassuring to see so many people who are more concerned with the safety of their fellow humans than put out that they may not be able to watch Netflix for a day or so.
The good news is that so far, it’s relatively quiet outside and I’m feeling good about our level of preparedness in this situation. I’ll be happy to get through tonight so that one way or another, I know what the next few days are going to look like.