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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on November 22, 2009 12:47 PM. The previous post in this blog was Quiet morning around here. The next post in this blog is Not just another aerial tram. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Scenes from a power failure

When we awoke to find our power out this morning, it took a few minutes to sort out what we could and couldn't do.

In the Could category: We could use our iPhone to call the power company and check out where things stood. Our laptop still had some juice left in the battery, and the Personal Telco connection a couple of blocks away was still functioning for internet connectivity, so nothing was missing there. We could use the gas stove, but we had to use a match to light it. There was enough daylight in between rain showers to read by.

In the Couldn't category: We couldn't watch football on the telly. We couldn't make coffee, because we grind our own beans and the grinder is electric. We'd have to wait to run the dishwasher, and it was time. Lounging around in light clothing was not feasible, because it was 60 degrees in the house. Not having any electric clocks other than the digital variety, we couldn't tell precisely when the power had gone out. We'd have to postpone the leisurely shower, and ration out the door openings on the refrigerator.

Since one of the kids was away at a sleepover, we wanted to make sure our telephone land line was functioning, but our cordless household phones require AC power. Have no fear -- we dusted off our early-'80s model telephone out of storage, and it functions fine on the tiny amount of power that comes through the phone line off the telephone pole:

The computerized call system at Pacific Power was pretty impressive. It asked us for the phone number on our account, confirmed the house number, and then told us that there were about 3000 other customers around our neighborhood in the same boat with us. The source of the problem: "Trees." The system predicted that power would be restored by 10:00, and it asked us for a number that it could call back to confirm that everything was o.k.

The power came back on at 9:59, and the robot callback came at 10:06. Not bad.

Comments (18)

9:59? Not bad? Considering the football telecasts start at 10, I'd say that was damn good.

It didn't help my underdog pick.

How to deal with power failures?

In addition to UPS units on each of the computers and network devices, I invested in a generator a few years back after a multi-day power failure due to a pretty bad ice storm. We were one of the last to have power restored.

Ever since the generator purchase, it hasn't been needed! Only need to fire it up on occasion to make sure it is ready just in case the big blackout happens again.

Alas, there have been a few short term outages since the major one, but never more than a few minutes, and the UPS units took care of things without a hitch.

This AM KGW TV reported that somewhere a power pole fell taking several trees with it.

You are welcome. Now ask yourself why you aren't sharing your internet connection as well.

Btw, we has a couple 5-second outages here (two blocks east of you) around 3 a.m. or so. I am guessing that's what took you out.

Now ask yourself why you aren't sharing your internet connection as well.

How about "Because it would be illegal"?

Very strange. If I hadn't seen it on the news or heard about it here I wouldn't have known anything happened. I think the entire thing gave the downtown area a pass.

No trees, no problem.

Storm prep includes a little home ground coffee in the freezer. We have a gas stove and a French Press - nothing like hot coffee after a wind storm or ice storm. We have even been known to tote teapots of hot water to the neighbors. Luckily, missed any power outages this time around.

One street here only w/o power from 2:30 AM, in SE Portland near Mall 205. This street is always the first one to go for some reason. Power not on yet.

I purchased a DC to AC inverter for the car. Can grind my own beans, charge the cell phone, but not much else.

I have a propane and several white gas appliances with which to cook. But I do have power.

I keep a rotary phone on tap just in case

Of course the power companies could have buried your power lines years ago like they have done virtually everywhere since the 1980s. But expecting them to actually upgrade an antiquated power grid would require that someone at the Oregon PUC do more than cater to the utility companies and the sorry pols that appointed them.

Dave A., there are a lot of other things that need fixing in Portland as well, like not running train tracks (freight) at street level and disrupting car traffic during peek times (esp. SE Division area and on South of Powell). But that's no one's pet project and as long as no developers or kiddie policy wonks care, it will continue to be ignored.

The Safeway on Ave. A in Lake Oswego lost all of their refrigerated and frozen inventory because they compressor and generator were blown. We went to pick up milk and waffles last night, but there were none to be had there. But Albertson's sure was busy.

You have a fireplace! When our power goes out(generally during ice storms, we use ours. There are enough trees on our little lot to keep us in a decent supply of dry wood from the periodic trimmings. As we do a bit of camping, we have stoves (our kitchen one is, sadly, electric - and the only appliance we've not got around to updating as yet).

Nothing like a warm fire, a good book, and hot coffee/tea/chocolate.

If you follow Mark Nelson's Channel 12 weather blog (and/or attended the weather geek pizza gathering Saturday afternoon), you would have known a windstorm was a possibility overnight.

I didn't prepare for this storm, but when it looks like an ice storm is in the forecast, I'll put a couple of thermos' of coffee or hot water together, just in case. Probably even more critical for an ice storm, since one might not be able to get to the neighborhood store or Starbucks.

Why do I love the idea that there is a weather geek pizza gathering in town somewhere?

What is the difference between a Climatologist and a Meterologist?

It seems that a Climatologist is one engaged in the meteorological study of climates and their phenomena.

Meteorology is the earth science dealing with phenomena of the atmosphere (especially weather) and most sources define a meteorologist as a specialist who studies processes in the earth's atmosphere that cause weather conditions

I asked myself, does that mean that Climatology is a study area that falls under the general major category of Meteorology, confined to weather prognistication?

There are Bachelors Degree programs offered in Atmospheric Science and Meteorology at various universities and colleges. However, you can get a Climatology degree online and until VERY recently universities did not teach "climate" as a stand-alone degree, so now most folks claiming to be climatologists have degrees in other types of Earth sciences.

Pretty fascinating.

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In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 26
At this date last year: 15
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
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