Fall, News

We’ve Got the Power, but…

89 Comments

On Thursday, the electricians came, and after spending most of the day here, they replaced the damaged boxes and got the electricity back to the way it was before the lightning strike. Hello, washing machine, dryer, vacuum cleaner, oven. So nice to have you all back. Goodbye, microwave. Thank you for the many long years of service. Your replacement will be arriving soon, and I certainly hope the new one is as sturdy and reliable as you were.

In theory, all should be well. In reality, we discovered our water heater was another causality of the lightning strike and surge. For the past week, it had been heating erratically, and yesterday it stopped working entirely. This means no hot water unless we heat it on the stovetop. The water heater will soon be checked to see whether it can be repaired or needs to be replaced. Yet again, thank goodness for our homeowners insurance.

Despite being a bang of a month, September has brought some pleasures.

Item: Most evenings, the weather has been mild enough for drinks on the patio. This time is soon coming to an end, and we are trying to squeeze as much time on the patio as we can.

Item: Because of the excessive rain, most of the nasturtium seeds I planted didn’t germinate, but the ones that did are oh so pretty.

Item: There were enough tomatoes for a final harvest, which means more tomato sandwiches for lunch this week. Although the tomato yield was way down from previous years, Juliette—the variety I planted—performed valiantly in the face of too much rain and not enough sun. But, Juliette’s time is over, and after harvesting the tomatoes, I pulled the plants.

Item: Our new whole house power surge protector has the Whovian name “Bad Wolf.” Protect us from future power surges, Bad Wolf!

Odds and Ends: We found a new place to play trivia on Monday nights, which is a great way to start the week. On Saturday, we will be meeting friends at Absolem’s, and on Sunday, we’ll be heading to Freeport to a brewery to celebrate Clif’s birthday.

Will we have running hot water by then? Who knows? But we’ll be following Bill & Ted’s excellent advice: Party on, dudes.

Note: This is an old trailer. The movie didn’t play this summer. But the trailer was a short and snappy way to feature  the excellent Bill & Ted.

 

 

 

 

89 thoughts on “We’ve Got the Power, but…”

  1. Happy early birthday to Clif! A new surge protector for the whole house? Wow, sounds somewhat expensive so I hope it works well. I can still remember one of my professors bringing in a fried motherboard from her computer (that wasn’t on a surge protector at all when a bad storm hit). Such a terrifying thing to have happen. Glad your appliances (most of them anyway!) are back in service.

  3. Wow – that lightening strike really spread its wings and hit a lot of expensive stuff. Yes, thanks for home owners insurance, but maybe Mother Nature could also slip you a rebate or something. 🙂 The early mornings and evenings are definitely getting cooler. I hope your patio stays open for several more weeks.

    1. Yup. Just found out it will cost $3,000 to replace the hot water heater. Holy cats! Again, so thankful for homeowners.

      The patio will indeed be open for a few more weeks. We spend as much time out there as we can before the cold weather sends us inside.

  4. Happy to hear your have electricity restored, and hope the hot water situation gets resolved soon. Having been without for 3 weeks earlier this year I understand your situation and don’t envy it.

    Hope Cliff has a very happy birthday when it comes, and lovely nasturtiums.

    1. Thanks, Barbara! It looks as though the hot water tank will be replaced today. No fun to be without hot water or electricity, but we are coping.

      Thanks for the birthday wishes for Clif. We love celebrations of any kind.

  7. Uh oh, out of the frying pan into the fire?? It’ll be nice (or boring maybe?) when things calm down. Glad your power is restored. Where is the Bad Wolf installed? Is it part of the breaker box? Sounds like a smart choice. Enjoy Clif’s birthday and your remaining tomato sandwiches, too. We’ve said farewell to this summer, for sure.

    1. Thanks, Ginny! Bad Wolf is installed right by the breaker box. Yes, a very good choice, I think. Thanks for the good wishes. The weather forecast looks perfect, too. Yes, farewell to summer but hello to beautiful autumn.

      Another subject…I received the seeds. Thank you so very much. I will be planting them soon.

  8. What I enjoy about your posts is that you keep the sunny side up no matter the gloom. This is very inspiring Laurie. We can go days sans water and or electricity in my part of the world and so I empathise with you all the way!

  10. Wow, this sure serves as a lesson to us all as to just how much damage a lightning strike can cause. Yikes! I’m sure glad it finally got fixed, water heater excepted. What a time! I love how you find all the positives! 😊💕

  11. Laurie, I agree with Jane; you’ve found the positives in an otherwise trying month. I’m glad to hear that most of your appliances are back in working order. It’s so easy to take things like electricity and hot water for granted until we don’t have them anymore. Your nasturtiums are lovely (one of my favorites) and three cheers for tomato sandwiches. I’m glad you’ve still got a bit of summer left in these early autumn days.

  12. Sorry about your electric troubles. If you have to replace your water heater, you might consider a heat pump water heater. I bought one for my other house and was most satisfied with it. You can get a state rebate on it.

  14. Wow – that’s a lot of stuff going on in that little house in the woods. I hope you are soon totally back to rights.

    In the meantime, enjoy those gorgeous nasturtiums.

    1. Yup, lots going on. September came in with a bang, that’s for sure. But the weather is oh so fine. And luckily our dishwasher is on a different system, so we have hot water for most of our cleanup. As my Yankee husband would say, could be worse. 😉

  15. With everything else restored, and a new water heater on the way, you’ll soon be on an even keel again. You know me: I’m culturally ignorant in many ways, so I have to ask — what is a Whovian Wolf? My first association with the name was the Wolf who was going to huff and puff and blow down the house of the Three Little Piggies!

    A happy birthday to Clif! It sounds like you have an entirely pleasing weekend planned; I hope the weather is perfect for you.

    1. Phew, what a September! Bad Wolf is an entity from the science fiction television show Dr. Who. “Whovian” refers to the show and its fans. I am sure you won’t be surprised to learn that my nerdy family and I are big fans. 😉

      1. Of course! I never watched the show, but now that I think about it — wasn’t Dr. Who the one who used a phone booth as a transporter or something? I’ll go have a look at the Wiki!

      3. We’ve just seen trailers previewing a new (3 part?) Dr Who mini-series, in which David Tennant reprises his role as the Doctor. He’s my all time favourite Dr Who, so this promises to be a big treat. I imagine the series will find its way to you before too long

      4. I lost track of the series after Colin Baker finished his stint, but I think Patrick Troughton, Doctor #2 was my favorite of the first six Doctors. Loved those motorized salt and pepper shakers, the Daleks, too! 🙂

      6. Oh yes, the Daleks, love ’em! I remember as a kid in the 60s,, hiding behind the sofa when they first appeared on screen. Exterminate!

        Patrick Troughton was my favourite of the first wave of doctors. I loved his slightly playful style and his twinkling eyes. David Tennant brought an extra dimension to the character when his time came – real depth, I suppose you’d say – and Jodie Whittaker was wonderful as the first female incarnation.

        Doctor Who is timeless in my eyes…which is just how a Time Lord is meant to be, I guess!

  16. I am glad to hear things are back up and running, and hopefully you will have hot water again soon. You may yet find other things that have been damaged in some way, but not until you need them. I am not sure what you are using for heat. Sometimes wires and sockets can take a hit.

    Tomato sandwiches sound good! Nothing like a home grown tomato. 🙂

    1. Thanks, Lavinia! I hope we don’t find any other damage, but you never know. Fun song! Love those homegrown tomatoes. In fact, there just might be a tomato sandwich in my future for lunch today.

  20. Wow, it just goes to show what a strike of lightning can do! As you said, thank goodness for home insurance.
    At least you are protected by Bad Wolf, surge detector…they’ve got you covered!
    Yes, such good advice, “Party on Dudes!” especially on Clif’s birthday.

  21. Sounds like good progress. However wretched it must have been for you, I guess it would have been a whole lot more ghastly in the depths of winter. Lucky escape, maybe? 🙂

  23. Having problems is not good but then problems with solutions are not that bad. Kudos to you and the gang for passing patience tests. Hurrah.

  24. That strike did a lot of damage! Not easy having 5 adults in the house and limited power. I hope the water heater and microwave are replaced soon so that normal life can be resumed fully. I imagine that to the insurance company the surge protector is cheaper than having another claim on the same scale.

    I’m glad there have been some good things as well.Like you I love nasturtiums – so easy going and cheerful.

    1. It sure did! Not sure if our insurance will cover the surge protector—they will only replace the equivalent of what we already had, and we did not have a surge protector. No matter! We decided to get it anyway. We hope never to go through this again. And, yes, five people in the house with limited power was a challenge. With the exception of the microwave, things are more or less back to normal, and soon the microwave will be replaced.

      1. I’m sure the surge protector will give you some extra peace of mind and be worth having just for that even if you never get struck again. An incident like this makes me realise how dependent we are on electricity and how hard it is to ensure that we can live without it if we need to. However I am sure your family were also a great support and help while you got it all sorted out.

      2. The insurance did cover the surge protector. Now, onto the hot water heater, also $3,000 to have installed. Yikes, everything is so expensive. Yes, we are very dependent on electricity. And as it is the energy of the future—or should be—that dependency will only grow over time.

      3. I am just glad you also have your wood boiler (furnace) so that you can be warm even if you have a power cut. I hope everything is working soon. I too am amazed by how much prices for repairs have risen – scary when we are on slim budgets.

  26. Hope the hot water heater arrives quickly and the Bad Wolf protects everything in the future!! Enjoy those wonderful fall days on the patio, more trivia trophies and having electricity!! Happy Birthday Clif!!!🙂

  28. I hope your Bad Wolf box will be as powerful as that storyline. Rose Tyler is my favourite companion. Wishing Clif a very happy birthday weekend and good luck to you all with the running hot water.

  29. Glad to hear that your power is completely restored and your hot water heater replaced. I’m sure you luxuriated in that first long hot bath or shower! Are you getting the Canada wildfire smoke over there, too? So strange to see the sun as a murky gray orb in the sky. And we’re missing out on the glorious sunny fall days. But … better smoke than fire.

  31. Happy Birthday to Clif! I love that you are being protected by Bad Wolf. Your tomato sandwiches sound yummy and those tomatoes are such a cheery red. I wish my Tom was here on this rainy day to watch that silly Bill and Ted movie with me. It would be a perfect distraction from any troubles. I am always sending love.

    1. So very good to hear from you. I have been thinking of you. When we mourn, it is often the little day-to-day things that we miss the most. Fingers crossed that Bad Wolf protects us from future power surges.

  32. That power surge played havoc with your home, Laurie. I’m sorry that the trials aren’t over yet. But soon. Thank goodness you didn’t have to deal with this in super cold weather. I love tomato sandwiches. Enjoy them!

  33. So glad the electricity has been restored Laurie and fingers crossed the water heater will be sorted soon. The tomatoes look very yummy and a happy belated birthday to Clif too! 🎉

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