Lights out!

Not having electricity blows. Here in the upstate of South Carolina, we were hit by an ice "storm" last Wednesday. I use the term storm loosely - while I'm aware I grew up in the Northeast, and therefore I'm used to blizzards and such, I don't see a need to have mass chaos over an inch of ice. That inch of ice has caused my home to be without power for 4 days. We may not get turned on until Tuesday evening. It's ridiculous! I can understand the fact our state doesn't have a lot of snow & salt trucks; there isn't really a need. But at least once a year, an insignificant amount of ice causes mass power outages that take days or weeks to fix. As many as 300,000 people were without electricity in the area. You would think they would figure out a way to build the lines so this doesn't happen, or at least so it would have less impact.

I haven't seen a single crew working over the last few days, & I've been all over town. I'm sure they're somewhere. All I know is that two of the major roads I take to get home have limbs strewn everywhere - it's a major obstacle course to navigate. There are plenty of other roads and interstates in the same state all across town. You would think they would at least avoid additional hazards by cleaning this up. Stop lights are inoperable through major sections of town. You would think in some of the high traffic, high accident areas, they would have police directing things, but no. Not only do you have to navigate around the various tree limbs, but there is one accident after another. I am thankful that my stepfather got his power back quickly, so I've had a warm place to sleep, unlike a lot of my friends and coworkers. Funny how if you live in the affluent section of town, you're power is back up in a matter of hours. My poor cats have had to stay alone & in the cold. I'll probably rough it tonight & stay with them at the house, heat or not, just because I feel terrible for them. Thank goodness for fur! I hope to have my power back up before Tuesday, I'm tired of living like a nomad.