Power out?

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:10 pm

I thought I'd just throw it out there - though I'm sure those without power probably may not be reading this for a while. ](*,)

Erica and I live on the Sammamish Plateau on Pine Lake. The Plateau got hit really hard Thursday night and will be down for a while. They're working to fix the main areas/grids first, then are starting on the "branches" of those main lines. We're on one of those branches... a very small branch.

So we missed most of the 2nd half of the Hawks "loss (you're welcome to use your own term)" and spent the evening enjoying a fire and reading by candelight. Then we slept DOWNSTAIRS listening to the trees fall... BIG, old trees many with 2-3' diameter trunks.

I spent Friday morning cutting the tree trunks that we across our driveway into sections and rolling them to the side of the drive (anyone need free firewood?!). The power company came out to see what damage was done and what crews would be needed. I asked them if we'd have power in a few days, they said "no." I asked if we'd have it within a week... they kind of laughed and said, "not a chance." Then I asked if we'd have power before Christmas... they shook their head and said "you'll have to talk to Santa on that one... and from the looks of your outage issue, you haven't been THAT good this year."

SO after emptying the fridge, packing everything we needed and all our valuables into the cars, we came to Mom and Dad's house in Mill Creek where they have power equalling heat & light along with hot water from gas, a fridge and freezer that work, a washer & dryer that work, and a few extra cozy bedrooms to sleep in! It's amazing what we take for granted and how spoiled we are!

Have other people relocated? Is everyone doing alright? Remember - free unlimited firewood too! You split it and haul it away! OR, if you've always wanted to build a log cabin, I've got your free raw materials!!! PM with your phone number if you want it.

Dogboy · Post by **Dogboy** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:38 am

Sounder, we are in the foothills outside Buckley and are also still waiting for our power to come back on. This is the longest we have ever been out in the 15 years we have lived here. The Inagural Day storm back in '93 (?), we were only out for 40 hours, while a friend of mine who lives in Kenmore was out 7 days. We manage quite nicely though. Got the computer fired up by generator (sat TV, lights, woodstove fan also), plenty of warmth from the woodstove, and have our fifth wheel running off our old generator for showers, any cooking that I can't do on the bbq, etc. I hope everyone else is doing OK, and hopefully we all get power back before X-mas. Take care, Chuck W.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:59 am

My sympathies Doug...

Amazing how dependent we are on power and the technological conveniences it fuels for just the basics of life!

We had trees down and several telephone poles sheared off within a few blocks of us, so I'm amazed that we actually got power back yesterday.

A good 5,000 watt plus generator wired into the essentials of your home is IMHO a necessity for those who live "in the country" or in new developments. All those trees and green that make it nice also mean power losses and since there aren't a ton of people around you it pushes you down on the priority list for hooking things back up... simply a numbers game. We have family on the Key Peninsula that expect to be without power 7-10 days.

Time to take a few spare scuba units and invest in an installed, wired in generator... ](*,)

Pringster · Post by **Pringster** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:05 am

Best wishes to your family Sounder. I truly hope you can and your family can enjoy Christmas at home. The most important thing we have is our health and our family's health. Without that...we couldn't enjoy the rest.

Wow, Chuck...nice to know of a fellow diver in town. I must admit we got our power back early morning yesterday as we live in Copperwynd. You must be close to a friend of mine. He lives up the hill on Sheets off Ryan in behind Buckley.
But sounds like you're hangin in there pretty well...hope you get power back soon.

I'd love to dive with you sometime...heck we're almost neighbors!

Brian

Pinkpadigal · Post by **Pinkpadigal** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:25 am

Went diving this morning with coachrenz and Dogboy and his son, and my friend Mark at Titlow. Next to the rec center, a powerpole was shattered and there was wires laying in the street. Kinda scary.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:42 pm

Hmmm... walking out of the sound dripping with salt water next to downed power lines...

Yeah we're totally fine. We actually have two large generators and lent them to our neighbors. My folks have these great machines - they wash your clothes, make heat, help you see when it's dark, and show football games!!! Amazing!!!

I did get down to NWSD yesterday during their sale - also being run by the graces of a generator and had a nice time. I got all-you-can-eat nitrox for next year! Woohoo! Also picked up a cool new back-up light - the Princeton Tec "Surge" which is a sweet light! I'm a big fan of Princeton Tec and LOVE this little guy - 7.5watts 3.5 hours burn time on 8 AA's. It's plenty bright for signaling and for use as a back-up.

Sounds like power is starting to come on in the main areas of the plateau... but we're still at least a week out per the power company. Perhaps it'll be sooner as the crews want to be home for Christmas. Seems novel to be sitting on the couch, with the lights on, watching the game, using my lap top with wireless internet... while my house sits dark and cold. $\:D/$

Glad to hear everyone's doing well!

RSdancey · Post by **RSdancey** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 5:19 pm

http://web.mac.com/rsdancey/iWeb/RSDanc ... /Blog.html

Post by . » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:46 pm

My sympathies on your predicament. I guess I'm fortunate living in a more urban area. My power only blinked a couple of times.

GillyWeed · Post by **GillyWeed** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:50 am

Sounder...

Glad to know Mom and Dad were there for you.. We were without power until late last night. Just in time for Survivor haha.. That was almost 72 hours. I really did the happy dance when it came back on. I hope that you do get to be home for Christmas.

Take care,
Holly

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:29 am

I still have about 6 tons of free firewood available. You cut, you haul. Or, if you want to take up chainsaw carving I've got plenty of raw material for you.

BbbleMkr · Post by **BbbleMkr** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 12:31 pm

Five days into it and they tell us to expect power on Saturday. My husband, daughter, schnauzer, lovebird and I have "lived" there since the outtage. We have wonderful friends and family who have offered their homes up, but I've been reluctant to leave.

With each cold night, that reluctance is slowly wearing away. The lovebird is off to a friend's home. (I thought she would die the first night, but the could just seemed to make her stronger. She's all Hulked up.) The daughter has made her way to her friend's home. ("But Mom, I can't look at MySpace without power! Why would I stay here?") The schnauzer is coming to work with me and the husband is leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow. I'd like to stay, but I don't see me staying there alone until Saturday.

I'm not a baby, I'm really not. I like to camp and am unafraid of re-wearing clothes, cooking on a grill (or fireplace), and being cold. What I don't like and am having a difficult time with is my home being, virtually, uninhabitable. It's the place where I re-charge and get centered. It's my "hearth" where I spend private moments with my family and my thoughts. It's my wa--the place where I achieve peace, harmony and balance.

But right now it's just a cold, messy, deserted place where no-one wants to go because it's miserable and dark. It's not itself and neither am I.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 2:45 pm

Delaina, Why are you still there? Erica and I are at my folk's house in Mill Creek and they're going out of town so the house is empty... and warm. The invitation stands: 206-919-5545 If you won't take it, please go get a hotel! It's too damn cold to be without heat! Where is home for you?

Got an update on our power situation - still out, still dark, still cold, still quiet... still have lots of free firewood! All indications point toward not having power for Christmas, but New Years should be one hell of a party with lights and heat and everything!

Looking at the bright side, we aren't hosting Christmas dinner!!! $\:D/$

sparky · Post by **sparky** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 6:59 pm

power went out here as well got it back next morning but the DSL is still down im not on here much till we get DSL back dont want to tie up my phone line with crappy dial up besides need to keep line open incase im called out for the URT

hope to be back on DSL in a day or two

Sparky

bnboly · Post by **bnboly** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:27 am

We moved because we lost power every time there was a big storm - This time while we had our home built we had PSE install a 7.5K natural gas standby generator with auto switching. We really have become dependant on our TV and internet for entertainment. Our son lives in Bellevue and just got his power back.

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 6:47 am

So am I the only one watching the power crews out at night fixing the transmission lines, and looking with envy at some of the lights those guys use? If only I could waterproof one......

Jake

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:00 am

you mean the ones with the head that is the same size as a basketball?! Yeah, I thought about that too. There is a company that installs UW lights on private yachts, shining HUGE light into the water... if you were night diving under your boat, it'd be like diving at high noon.

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:22 am

Yeah, they had that one, and they also had one about the size of a softball that looked like it was probably a 100Watt HID. Very cool. Of course dragging the battery pack to give more the a 10 second burn would get tiring.

Jake

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 8:59 am

Just set up a hookah rig for your light... a 100' cord from the battery floating on the surface to the light head! $\:D/$

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:18 am

Somehow I think I'd be draggin a boat behind me.... Those things seem to use a lot of juice.

Any word on your power Sounder? Hear's what PSE says about me right now....

Woodinville area
Restoration efforts are progressing throughout the Woodinville area, one of our hardest-hit communities. Crews have concentrated on restoring power to the circuits in the Hollywood Hills, Paradise Lake, Cottage Lake and Bear Creek areas. Much of the Woodinville business district has power. Restoration efforts will continue through the weekend.

This is the one that kind of makes my hopes sink - "Restoration efforts will continue through the weekend."

And the worst part is I can't dive due to an ear infection. Arrrgh!

Jake

Sergeant Pepper · Post by **Sergeant Pepper** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:42 am

There is really not very good disemination of information. I have also been without power since late Thursday. We are still in our place. Friends have been kind enough to let us shower, though I have still only had 2 in almost a week now. Everything in our apartment is electric, so no hot water. I kept fish alive all weekend, and finally gave up and took them to the pet store who promptly raked me over the coals and gave me nothing for them, I can only assume because they are fully aware of the situation

We live in Issaquah, and our power came on Saturday for about 3 minutes and promptly went off. I have a feeling we were supposed to have power, and plenty of morons left all of their electronic devices plugged in and turned on, and when the power came on a local transformer blew.

Everyone around us has power, and I mean everyone. We are quite literally a dark spot (our apartment complex) in the middle of a bunch of people who have power. Me and the fam are doing ok, but we have family coming in for Christmas, so the situation is becoming very mentally as well as physically draining.

Add to that the talk radio discussions this morning about PSE raising rates to pay for the repairs, and I could just about scream.

OK, thanks for the vent. Can't wait to go diving again.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 10:45 am

Sammamish Plateau
Restoration of the heavily damaged distribution lines here likely will continue until Wednesday or Thursday, but final restoration in scattered locations, including Pine Lake, Klahanie, Beaver Lake, and Sahalee, may not be complete until sometime this weekend. Crews are focused on repairing local distribution lines to restore everyone's power as quickly as we can.

Translation: we're screwed through Christmas.

They won't get to us until the main grids are up, then they work down in order of priority. Having a good-sized chunk of land is really nice except that we only share a line with one other house... and (as they should) they serve priority areas first (like grandma's retirement home down the street from us... which we appreciate immensely), then highest populated areas down to the little guys like me.

We're totally fine though - as Bob will confirm, my parents are awesome and and laid back folks with plenty of warmth to share from themselves and their house... and there's a standing invitation for anyone who is tired of sleeping in the cold.

Did I mention I have LOTS of free firewood available? ](*,)

Nwbrewer · Post by **Nwbrewer** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 11:15 am

My wife and I are incredibly lucky to have lots of family in the area with power, and that no trees hit the house. My neighbors to the north were not so lucky. Two houses behind mine with trees buried in them, and one house where they lost two vehicles, but no injuries, which is the really important thing.

However, like Sounder I also have a lot of firewood to remove. ](*,)

Power through my neighborhood is buried, so hopefully as soon as the main lines are up, we'll have some power.....

Stay warm everybody.

Jake

BbbleMkr · Post by **BbbleMkr** » Wed Dec 20, 2006 12:01 pm

Doug, you and Erica are wonderful.

Thank you so much for your offer. I'm done with my little pity party and can now appreciate how well off we had it. No big property damage and no-one was hurt. I had to toss everything in the fridge out and live in a cold house, but that was easy compared to what a lot of other folks went through (and are still going through!). I'm just going to work on keeping these lessons close to heart.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

Delaina

Sudie · Post by **Sudie** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:56 am

Hansville is slowly getting power but we won't until after christmas. The lines went down on the access road and since there are only 6 homes fed by it we are stuck until all other major areas are served. We cut down the trees so we could get out and just drive over the lines as it's the only way in or out.

Cats and dog are fine, we borrowed a little generator for running the freezer in the garage, and we have wood heat. In many ways it's like little house in the big woods.

Christmas is at our house this year so we have decided on loading up the pit BBQ with apple wood and doing ribs and chicken with the easy to cook trimmings. we venture out to "the city" to gaze at the bright lights and buy more lamp oil and propane.

Power is only important when you want to surf the net.

Sounder · Post by **Sounder** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 10:45 am

WOOOO HOOOO!!! POWER IS BACK ON!!!

I ONLY HAD TO WAIT A WEEK!!! $\:D/$

Northwest Dive Club

Power out?

Power out?

Wrote about this on my blog....

Still without power.....

Power is finally on!