- Joined
- May 18, 1999
- Messages
- 15,395
A week ago yesterday we had just gotten up and Barbie was just finishing up my breakfast when the lights flickered a couple of times and everything went dark at 5:30 a.m. I figured it was the same deal that the five houses in a row we share our power with and that it was probably a temporary thing, little did I know.
Our house was still toasty warm and I told Barbie to light the burners on our cook stove and turn them on low so as to help keep it warm until the power was restored like we've done many times before.
We have a Carbon Monoxide sniffer and a Smoke Alarm/Carbon Monoxide sniffer combo because I am quite paranoid about Carbon Monoxide, again little did I know.
We made it through the day just fine and since Barbie had been in and out all day she wasn't affected but a little before 7:00 p.m. I started getting a headache and got concerned so I told Barbie to call the local volunteer fire department, which she did.
They were her inside of five minutes, great response time, and after running a couple of air checks started ordering us out and out we went!
It wasn't the Carbon Monoxide that was high but the Carbon Dioxide!
We were both concerned about our dog Ace but they said he would be fine and that the house wouldn't get below freezing that night and they were right.
I had the presence of mind to have Barbie bring my pillow and foam wedge I use too sleep on and that saved my arse that first night!:thumbup:
The next day I remembered our foam pad about 3" thick and that saved me the rest of the almost a week. But also the next day I lost a huge built up area on one of my front teeth, fortunately it hasn't hurt me yet but something will have to be done soon.
Another thing we have to do after the first of the year when we get back on our cheaper prescriptions is find and purchase a good Carbon Dioxide Alerter and replace our Carbon Monoxide units as they are both way to old and out of date. I thought they lasted virtually forever but 'tain't so. I understand that a good Carbon Dioxide alerter runs about $65.00 but I haven't checked on them yet.
Also looks like we're going to have to spring for a new phone system as well as our cordless gave up the ghost during the cold spell, house plants were looking sorta spindly as well.
Methinks we'll go back to the old AT&T Brand Phones again as the old ones lasted virtually forever and it seems like the last fifteen years we've had to replace our phone system every five years.
Barbie made periodic trips to our house, (we were just maybe eight doors down from our house and we could see it from the Rolling Hills Community Center with the Rolling Hills Fire Department right next door, helps lower our insurance rates.
) three or four a day to check on Ace and the temperature in the house. She would light the burners on the cook stove during a couple of the trips with the back door open a crack so as to prevent anymore fume buildup. The coldest it got on the hall thermometer was 43 degrees, which wasn't all that bad.
Ace made it just wonderfully and even staying alone from about 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. the next morning never made one mess in the house, Ace was a very good puppy!:thumbup:
The rest of the week was spent pretty much the same way. Since my routine and system was messed up I didn't feel up to par most days and slept a lot but then we were up a lot in the middle of the night too.
The guys from the fire department were running on pure adrenaline and were half crazy to begin with so they were using humor and lots of it too keep from breaking down.
I don't know how they did it but I was young once and had a lot of extra stamina to go around back then so I really do know how they did it.
The coffee pot ran 24/7 and the coffee flowed in rivers it seemed! It was a lot of fun joining in on their camaraderie and really "getting" one of the younger guy's goat! Corry was a born comedian and always had what he, and some others, thought were very humorous comebacks. I finally had to chime in and tell everyone that Corry was simply a "Catfish" and when they asked the meaning of that I told them, "It's simple, Catfish is something that's all mouth and no brains." so Corry now has a new nickname at the fire house. LMRRAO!
Later on I had to tell everyone that, "Corry was a prince among men." but that I couldn't tell them why with ladies and children present but it dealt with inches and/or the lack of one and a king and a queen. Corry very much visibly "puffed up" when I said that little knowing what was coming. <VBESEG>
I told a couple of the guys in private and when they got Corry alone with a bunch of guys they told him the meaning.
Corry's inflated state was rapidly deflated but all in great fun.
Our house was still toasty warm and I told Barbie to light the burners on our cook stove and turn them on low so as to help keep it warm until the power was restored like we've done many times before.
We have a Carbon Monoxide sniffer and a Smoke Alarm/Carbon Monoxide sniffer combo because I am quite paranoid about Carbon Monoxide, again little did I know.
We made it through the day just fine and since Barbie had been in and out all day she wasn't affected but a little before 7:00 p.m. I started getting a headache and got concerned so I told Barbie to call the local volunteer fire department, which she did.
They were her inside of five minutes, great response time, and after running a couple of air checks started ordering us out and out we went!
It wasn't the Carbon Monoxide that was high but the Carbon Dioxide!
We were both concerned about our dog Ace but they said he would be fine and that the house wouldn't get below freezing that night and they were right.
I had the presence of mind to have Barbie bring my pillow and foam wedge I use too sleep on and that saved my arse that first night!:thumbup:
The next day I remembered our foam pad about 3" thick and that saved me the rest of the almost a week. But also the next day I lost a huge built up area on one of my front teeth, fortunately it hasn't hurt me yet but something will have to be done soon.
Another thing we have to do after the first of the year when we get back on our cheaper prescriptions is find and purchase a good Carbon Dioxide Alerter and replace our Carbon Monoxide units as they are both way to old and out of date. I thought they lasted virtually forever but 'tain't so. I understand that a good Carbon Dioxide alerter runs about $65.00 but I haven't checked on them yet.
Also looks like we're going to have to spring for a new phone system as well as our cordless gave up the ghost during the cold spell, house plants were looking sorta spindly as well.
Methinks we'll go back to the old AT&T Brand Phones again as the old ones lasted virtually forever and it seems like the last fifteen years we've had to replace our phone system every five years.
Barbie made periodic trips to our house, (we were just maybe eight doors down from our house and we could see it from the Rolling Hills Community Center with the Rolling Hills Fire Department right next door, helps lower our insurance rates.
) three or four a day to check on Ace and the temperature in the house. She would light the burners on the cook stove during a couple of the trips with the back door open a crack so as to prevent anymore fume buildup. The coldest it got on the hall thermometer was 43 degrees, which wasn't all that bad.Ace made it just wonderfully and even staying alone from about 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. the next morning never made one mess in the house, Ace was a very good puppy!:thumbup:
The rest of the week was spent pretty much the same way. Since my routine and system was messed up I didn't feel up to par most days and slept a lot but then we were up a lot in the middle of the night too.
The guys from the fire department were running on pure adrenaline and were half crazy to begin with so they were using humor and lots of it too keep from breaking down.
I don't know how they did it but I was young once and had a lot of extra stamina to go around back then so I really do know how they did it.
The coffee pot ran 24/7 and the coffee flowed in rivers it seemed! It was a lot of fun joining in on their camaraderie and really "getting" one of the younger guy's goat! Corry was a born comedian and always had what he, and some others, thought were very humorous comebacks. I finally had to chime in and tell everyone that Corry was simply a "Catfish" and when they asked the meaning of that I told them, "It's simple, Catfish is something that's all mouth and no brains." so Corry now has a new nickname at the fire house.
LMRRAO!Later on I had to tell everyone that, "Corry was a prince among men." but that I couldn't tell them why with ladies and children present but it dealt with inches and/or the lack of one and a king and a queen.
Corry very much visibly "puffed up" when I said that little knowing what was coming. <VBESEG>I told a couple of the guys in private and when they got Corry alone with a bunch of guys they told him the meaning.
Corry's inflated state was rapidly deflated but all in great fun.
