Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Thanks PG&E


El Cotoro spent a cold and dreary New Years day this year, thanks to a fallen branch that brought down a power wire. Our neighborhood - 165 houses - was without power for a day and a half.

A day and a half is not a long time, but it was long enough for us to transfer our "most perishable" food from the refrigerator to a cooler packed with ice. Long enough for us to experience "Internet withdrawal." Long enough for us to spend an evening huddled in front of a fire to keep warm. Long enough for us to wrap our tropical fish tank with blankets and hot water bottles to keep the fish alive. Long enough for us to appreciate (and play with) those fancy LED flashlights in our emergency kit. Long enough to realize that reading by candlelight (or even LED light) is not easy.

A day and a half is not a long time, and many people went through much, much worse over the past year. Still, it gave me a greater appreciation for the thousands of people who gave up their holidays to work, nonstop, in cold wet weather in order to restore basic services to their community.

Thanks, PG&E!

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