Hi All - my power has been on since late January 1998. I was without power at my home for 2 weeks in early 1998. It started on the 5th or so of January. I did not have an alternate source of heat, other that electric. I pulled my gas bbq close to my back door, and every morning boiled two pots of water - one to make coffee, and one to do my bird bath. lol. What surprised me, was that as I got colder, I was also more reluctant to leave my home. My friend Sarah invited both me and my puss to come to their home, but at that time they had a kerosene heater in their kitchen and were about to illegally install an 'airtight' unit in their basement fireplace. Since my ex was helping them do this, I would have been said to be in a negative place, to object, or nay-say. I had to call a mutually dear friend to do the nay-saying. btw, the above two things are the biggest cause of deaths in ice/extreme snow storms. People try to heat with heaters that need to operate outdoors, ie: kerosene heaters, gas bbqs - they asphyxiate. Or they illegally install wood boxes in regular fireplaces. This, 1st of all, negates any fire insurance you might have. Also, it increases your risk of chimney fires, as the fire from these are much hotter, causing flue fires. I was at home, reading books by candle light, with my gloves on, and and my lovely Midnight in my crotch - sorry, that's the way it was....anyway, Sarah kicked her DH, and he got timeshare on a generator. He put in onto their High Efficiency gas furnace early every am, and then went around all day, house to house, to put heat into other homes. Because they were on city water and gas hot water heater, Sarah filled every thermos we all owned every am with coffee, cause she could put power from the generator to that plug. OK, Murray could do that. So, Sarah and I could go to work, as our offices, 15 or so minutes from home, had power. Murray spent his touring the generator around. One day, I realized that the grocery store in my mall - which still had power, mind you, had bread ovens. Now the trick here is that they had the heat anyway, they could cook my dinner - so I bought a 5 lb. lasagne, and asked them to put it into the bread oven, in time that I could take it home at 5 pm. You have to remember, that this area had almost never lost power, so had trouble relating. It was the best meal ever. sarah pulled some garlic bread out of the now freezer - the cooler on the back deck- and toasted it to go with the lasagne. We then retired, the 3 of us, to their bed upstairs(OK, minds out of the gutter), where we watched 'The Fugitive' on the TV from their cabin cruiser, with opera glasses, as it was attached to a 12V battery. And that is how I survived that Ice Storm of '98. Nancy. Oh yeah, by the by - a good way to know if your freezer has been compromised: put 6 ice cubes into a small baggie. If they lose their shape, you've lost your food. Again, btw, Nell - this is winter as we know it here. If we are not prepared, shame on us!!!

I just want to tell you THANKS! for the awesome job you did on my page! It looks so cool, I love it!! I won't forget you in the spring =) Thanks a lot! I recommend you to anyone!

These are great, Diane! And oooh, a chance to have a peek at little Jake again. :-)

A writer who did not rest on his laurels. Read a few of his books, saw most of his TV series and a couple of his plays. Rare the day when you cannot find somewhere a re-run of his TV work.