Last Tuesday, January 27th, I woke up like any other morning. I glanced out the window to see everything covered in a thick layer of ice. I got a cup of coffee and sat down to watch tv. They were saying that other counties had lost power and I was thinking thank goodness we still have power. At 7:30am, our power went off. I could see the convenient store on the corner still had power, so I just thought ours would come back on any minute. Our power was out for 10 days.
At first it wasn’t too bad. The house was still warm and it was daylight. That evening, we sat in the dark to save our candles and oil lamps. My mom and I made a bet, she said the power would be on within 4 hours and I said it would come back the next day. Whichever lost had to take the other out to eat, needless to say we both lost that bet. I turned on the radio, but there was only one station coming in and they weren’t discussing the ice and power outages. I did have my cell phone, so all wasn’t totally lost. The next morning, Wednesday, we woke up and the house was down to 58 degrees, still not to bad, nothing an afghan wouldn’t fix. I went out and fired up the grill in the garage and cooked breakfast. When it’s 58 in the house and colder outside, scrambled eggs do not stay hot long. We lost cell power, but WBKR 92.5 powered back up and started providing information. Unfortunately, most of the information concerned Owensboro. I heard there was shelters set up, but I had no idea where they were. Plus Mom didn’t want to go. We spent the day laying around the living praying the power would come back on and listening to the radio off and on, trying to save the batteries. Wednesday night my brother came by and said they had no heat either, but we figured one more night and surely the power would be back on Thursday. The longest the power had ever been out was 3-4 days. By Wednesday night it was down to 48 degrees, so we dug out more blankets.
Thursday morning it was 39 degrees in the house. The radio said Radio Shack was open, so I cleaned my car off and went for batteries. The whole town was a dead zone. Far as I knew the Radio Shack was the only store open and it was running on a battery inverter or something. I bought batteries and went back home. I couldn’t get warm and I was seriously getting scared. I kept my mom bundled up under 4 blankets and I kept running out to the grill to boil water for coffee. I made my way to my brother’s house and found out that my cousin had power. So I went home and luckily my neighbor was home checking on things and I was able to use his house phone to call my cousin. They told me to get out there. Whew!
Luckily they had full power. I have to tell you it was so weird. As we drove through town everything was dark and closed, even Wal-mart. About 2 miles out of town, the power was on. So Wendy’s, Denny’s, one hotel, and two gas stations (one with a Godfather’s) was open. The parking lots of those places was jammed. The drive thru at wendy’s was backed all the way to the edge of the parking lot, out a side street and all the way to the highway. The minit mart with the Godfather’s was so packed you could barely even pull in. After I got to my cousin’s we ordered pizza and me and my sister-in-law went to pick it up. The shelves were practically empty and as I stood there I watched the guy steal a pack of snack cakes.
We woke up each morning and listened to the radio to see how far along everything was and how long it would take to come back. On Friday Wal-mart powered up on generators, but you couldn’t buy any meat. On Saturday a shipment of meat came and Wal-mart was packed to the gills. I’m not sure what happened, but Wal-mart ended up losing all the meat again and another truck shipment had to come in.
We heard on the radio that the national guard was going door to door, checking on people and we occasionally seen an army type vehicle when we came into town, but no one checked on us until Thursday morning. By that time most things were back on and we didn’t need anything. I turned the heat on Thursday morning and it was 28 degrees in the house. We came back that night and I spent 3 hours cleaning on the house. I spent Friday catching up on laundry.
I do want to say Kudos to Arby’s Restaurant. They ran out of roast beef a few times, but they kept on cooking and trying to keep up. We went on Tuesday and got 15 of their Arby melts because usually the Arby melts don’t have a lot of meat on them and you have take the meat off two sandwiches and put it on one bun, but that night when we got home, the sandwiches were thick and meaty. I know it’s silly, but after they days right after the power went out, it just felt good knowing some one cared.
I also want to say Kudos to WBKR 92.5, they were tireless. Constantly updating everyone. If someone called in needing kerosene or food, they went to work making calls to find it. They went above and beyond the call of duty.
I also want to thank all the electric people who came in from all over to help us. I also would like everyone to offer up a prayer for those who are still waiting for power. In some areas it could be up to 3 weeks before full power is restored. May God stay with those people and give them strength.
For the first time in my life, I can’t wait for spring and I may never wish Winter would get here faster.
I just seen a commercial for the cardio jump. I’m almost speechless. It’s a fake jump rope! You hold these things in your hands and do the same motion you would if you were using a jump rope and these balls on the end swing around and it somehow measures your jump and how many and all that stuff.
You can imagine my first thought, right? Why not just use a jump rope? Then the price pops up, only 2 easy payments of $29.95. Sixy dollars for a fake jump rope. But of course then they say “Call right now and we’ll knock a full payment off”. Now it’s $30.00 for a fake jump rope.
Why not just run over to the dollar store or wal-mart and buy a jump rope for a few dollars? One woman said she just loved it, it was so compact she could take it anywhere with her anywhere. Oh okay, well that makes some sense, I mean a jump rope is really bulky and hard to take with you.
I’m just wondering how long it’s going to take for mom or dad to be going to town with this fake jump rope with the balls swinging around one each end for little susie to walk up and get clobbered in the face with a ball.
Not to mention for this thing to actually be accurate, your going to have to get the timing right between swinging the hand things and jumping. One guy had those hand things flat flying around there fast enough for lift off, but he wasn’t jumping in time with it. How accurate is that going to be?
Save your money, go buy a cheap jump rope and use the rest of the money for something useful.
For years and years all I’ve heard on the news is how much trouble teenager drivers cause. Insurance rates are outrageous for teen drivers. They keep trying to up the age to get your license, gotta have good grades, etc etc. Well I’m sick of it!
What about elderly drivers? If you actually stop and listen to the news, you’ll hear far more instances of some elderly driver driving into a building or causing an accident. So why isn’t more focus put on elderly drivers?
Today I was driving home on the four lane highway between Hartford and Beaver Dam. This car was straddling the white line on our two lanes. I could not see any heads in that car whatsoever. I was following wondering what the deal was. Finally a car came up beside me and the car in front of me eventually slid to our side and the car past. I slid over and decided to get away from the car in front of me. As I came up beside it, I realized it was a little elderly lady, she could barely see over the steering wheel. Next thing I know, she starts swerving over right at me. I hit the brake and tried to get out of her way, I hit the curb on my side and she finally went back into her lane after I blared the horn at her. She then got in front of me and almost caused another accident turning into a parking lot. It was obvious this lady had no business whatsoever behind the wheel of a car.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know there are some people who are 80 and can still drive as good as anybody. My next door neighbors are 81/80 and he still drives and he’s a good driver. I just think at a certain age, you should have to be tested again. I also think it’s time to lay off teen drivers and focus on the age group that is really causing all the problems.
Take my Son
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had
everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often
sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very
courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father
was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door A
young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.
He said, “Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son
gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to
safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often
talked about you, and your love for art.” The young man held out this
package. “I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think
your son would have wanted you to have this.”
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the
young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the
personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes
that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and
offered to pay him for the picture. “Oh, no sir, I could never repay what
your son did for me. It’s a gift.”
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to
his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them
any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his
paintings Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great
paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collecti
On the platform sat the painting of the son The auctioneer pounded his
gavel. “We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid
for this picture ?”
There was silents
Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, “We want to see the famous
paintings. Skip this one.”
But the auctioneer persisted. “Will somebody bid for this painting. Who will
start the bidding? $100, $200?
Another voice angrily. “We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see
the Van Gogh’s, the Rembrandt’s. Get on with the real bids!”
But still the auctioneer continued. “The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?
Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime
gardener of the man and his son. “I’ll give $10 for the painting.” Being a
poor man, it was all he could afford.
“We have $10, who will bid $20?”
“Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters.”
“$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?”
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel. “Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!”
A man sitting on the second row shouted, “Now let’s get on with the
collection!”
The auctioneer laid down his gavel. “I’m sorry, the auction is over.”
“What about the paintings?”
“I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a
secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation
until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever
bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the
paintings.
The man who took the son gets everything!”
God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the
auctioneer, His message today is: “The son, the son, who’ll take the son?”
Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER
BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE…THAT’S LOVE
God Bless You