One little Power Outage

activerain.com what to do when you see a downed power line

      We lost power tonight.  After a little rain shower, a branch fell on a power line and pulled it at just the right angle to cause a short.  After the third or fourth time the power blinked and the transformer buzzed, some stupid, stupid , stupid neighbor went outside in the dark and pulled on the branch.     He is going to be very upset when he finds out Progress Energy plans to charge him for some of the damage.  The fire department was called for the hot line on a chain link fence and I called the power company.  

Here are some of the things I learned from a little power outage:

I was the first to call the power company from my street and it took me ten minutes to find the paper on my desk where I have the power company's outage number.  hmmmmm!

The fire department was in the immediate vicinity when they got the call about the downed power line.  Apparently there are a lot of accidents in the area when it rains so the trucks position themselves around the area and wait for a call...hmmmm!

The neighbors don't even have flashlights.
I counted ten of eleven houses had not one flashlight.
The neighbor right next door had one oil lamp, no flashlights.  
Three homes had a single flashlight.  
None of them had solar garden lights, .  
The neighbors we are closest to, have children and no source for heat without the power to cook a meal. (she asked was it safe to grill hot dogs over the oil lamp).  (NOOOO!!!)
They didn't know the water in the hot water heater would stay hot until used.
She left the kids alone to go to town to get instant dinner. (with a burning oil lamp)
It is instantly hot when it rains at sunset.  SO, many of the children spilled out of their houses to play in the streets and tussle in the sprinkling rain with a power line down, in the dark.
As when there is an accident or fire trucks or police in the neighborhood, adults start walking the area looking to see the latest news.
I was approached several times about why my house looked brightly lighted.  I have solar garden lights.  I took them inside and set them throughout the house when the lights went out.  It's a good thing I didn't need the generator.  I got a feeling they were judging me in a bad way.  
   
     It is a good thing that we never powered up the solar house lights or broke out the propane stove or made dinner and listened to the I pod or watch a movie on the fully charged laptop or did I ever mention I have a battery backup power strip for the PC? 
 No?  
     Well, I didn't mention it for a reason.  We were without power for an hour and ten minutes and the neighbors started to get ugly after an hour. 

     I learned a lot.  I will continue to prep in the shadows and keep my mouth shut.  I will keep an eye on the neighbors and the neighborhood and if the need arises, I will bug out of here first!