Taking the little things for granted...

[Running Mommy]

Like for instance.. POWER...

Lastnight we returned from a FUN trip to Moab (more on that later) late (11 P.M. ish) and to our horror the power went out at 12:23 am. It was a very WARM night to say the least.
I woke up around 6:30 and the power was still off. My horror was magnified when I called the power company and was told it would be 4:00 PM before they expected the power to be restored!!
Now in most climes this would be a mild inconvienece. In Phoenix Arizona this is a health issue!! It was 111 here in Goodyear today!!
To the credit of the power company they were offering free dry ice and the regular bagged variety up at our residence club. There were also paramedics on hand for any medical emergencies.
Mid afternoon they drove around the neighborhood blasting a message about the emergency.
Of course the 4:00 pm time estimate came and went. Then we were told 4-6 and 6:00 pm came and went, and finally 6:30 to 7:30. 18 hours later, the power was finally restored.

Apparently a major line was vandalized, and it was on a remote hill so it was hard to get crews up to it. The IDIOTS cut 4 support lines and the pole came down. My guess is they were looking for copper.
As I was attempting to make some sort of dinner I thought about how much we have come to depend on power. And how people lived before A/C- or as they called it back in the day "refrigeration"... We really are spoiled and take things for granted.
I also thought about how fragile our power grid really is. A few punks were able to knock out power to 5000 homes for 18 hours. And not only power, for a time it took our water system down as well. The pumps run on electricity. Also my land line phone didn't work, and I have an old fashioned kind??
Kind of scary.. Not just in how much we depend on electricity, but also in how easy it is for someone to take down a major line.
All I know is I should have stayed in MOAB!!

The one funny thing... We made the news. But of course none of us had power to watch it!! lol

[Laterider21958]

This is happening in our state of South Australia too. It seems due to the high price of copper the theives are concentrating on breaking into electricity sub-stations and removing wire. It is a highly dangerous activity, resulting in lots of work for the electricity company and, of course, they have to recoup the extra cost of replacement and man-hours from somebody. Guess who? If anybody sees this happening they should report it.

Recently theives have been focussing on new homes being built also. They have been stealing copper pipe and even the water meters and are selling these to scrap merchants. You would think that it would be fairly obvious to merchants that people rolling up with this stuff aren't getting it legally.

As for power cuts in the hot weather. Here in our area we are lucky and don't seem to experience this very often. Adelaide suburbs seem to have rolling cuts when the demand for power if more than what can be supplied when breakdowns occur due to weather extremes etc. I know lots of people are very vocal when this occurs.

When talking to an elderly person during the summer, she said that way back when there were no airconditioners, they used to use wet flannels and towels to get relief. (Read - naked but for a towel!) I've tried it when we had a heat wave for days and days, and it is quite effective. (We have no ducted aircon it our house.) It is very effective when combined with using a ceiling fan, but ceiling fans don't work when there's no power!

[RoadRaven]

It seems due to the high price of copper the theives are concentrating on breaking into electricity sub-stations and removing wire.
They have been stealing copper pipe and even the water meters and are selling these to scrap merchants.

Really???
Wow... we have several coils of copper wire just lying about the place. When i need to tie something up outside, or make a quick repair to a fence or gate, I just go break a piece off and use that.

Hmmm.... maybe we're millionaires and don't even realise it

[Crankin]

There have been several incidences of copper theft around Boston, one of which resulted in 2 deaths. That was in a power sub station in one of the towns I used to live in. Two guys broke in and zapped themselves when trying to steal the copper. Some monuments of historical significance have been vandalized, also.
RM, I feel your pain. I lived through a couple of shorter power outages in Phx in the summer, with 2 little kids. Spokewrench is right. The valley did not used to be so hot. It used to get cooler at night (before I lived there) like it does in Tucson. Several people I knew in college actually experienced sleeping outside on the porch, with the wet sheets being blown by a fan. This was the first type of evaporative cooling. We had a "cooler" on our first house, along with the AC. It saved a lot of $, but I found it expanded all the wood in the house because of the moisture and it was hard to open and shut doors! We used it in April and May and Sept./Oct. but a lot of people I knew grew up with only a cooler and no AC. I can't imagine that. You are right, it's a health hazzard and definitely worse if we lost power here in the winter, where I could light the fireplace!

[HappyAnika]

As Robin and Spoke said, PHX used to not be so hot, and it would cool off at night. The population didn't take off in the valley until A/C became commonplace in the 70's. All that asphalt, concrete, stucco, and landscaping rock soaks up all that heat, then releases it at night. When I lived in Tucson, my A/C died, my dog and I went to stay with a friend at his parents' house. They lived out toward the base of Mt. Lemon and I loved going out there at night because it was so cool in the less densely populated area, it was actually pleasant to be outside.

It sucks being there when the A/C goes out. Everything gets hot, candles get mushy, you wonder about medications that say "store between 65 and 85 degrees F" . . .

[Mr. Bloom]

And how people lived before A/C

I'd say that air conditioning made summer time living in Phoenix possible... Even dry heat is hot!

Around here, the thieves are going for the copper in Air Conditioning units themselves. Usually choosing churches (since small churches have their units idle during the week)...costs about $10,000 to repair.

[Zen]

I don't have AC in the jeep or in the house, don't need it up here in the hills.
Yee ha!

As for the rest of those "little things", we are disgustingly spoiled. The next time you're at the grocery take note of the amount of choices we have in things like spaghetti sauce, soda,snack crap, and fresh produce.
People in developing countries are thankful to have safe drinking water and a mosquito net.

[Brandi]

I am glad your prower finally came on i can imagine trying to sleep when it is so hot and not even having a fan. Did you use wet wash clothes? I have done that and it has helped.
I personally like it when the power goes out cause I get into camping mode. But our power seems to go out inthe winter. Then it is freezing....wait I like this too cause then my husband and I snuggle. Hehehe!

[maillotpois]

We live in a redwood forest and every winter there'll be a wind storm that knocks out power - sometimes for a week! We finally got a generator last winter. It's probably not as bad a PHX in the summer, but NO CA in the winter gets pretty cold. Having a generator was a huge help - just having a few lights on makes things better - and we can run our fridge, our fish tank and now our heater since we had it hooked to the main house line last month.

[spokewench]

Phoenix did not used to be as populated and as full of ashphalt as it is now. It did not used to be as hot as it is now. However, it was still hot. I hear old timers stories about everyone slept out in their backyards, with wet sheets wrapped around them for the evaporative cooling effects. Back then, you might have even gotten to know your neighbor a little better than you might have wanted to!

[mimitabby]

some of us are afraid to move to climates where you cannot survive without a/c!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I hear old timers stories about everyone slept out in their backyards, with wet sheets wrapped around them for the evaporative cooling effects. Back then, you might have even gotten to know your neighbor a little better than you might have wanted to!

I remember as a little girl in New York City it was so hot and humid sometimes my brothers and I sometimes slept out on the ancient iron fire escape- 6 stories up! It was a bit startling for a moment when you woke up floating 6 stories over the ground I don't remember if my mother knew we were doing this. No wonder I still have the occasional falling dream...

[bmccasland]

RM - as a former Phoenix resident, I feel your pain. Wet towels and sheets help. Finding shade and lying still like a lizard is about all anyone wants to do. Got to admit over the years I think my camp stove has provided more meals in a non-camping situation. When I worked on a research project in the bottom of the Grand Canyon we often covered ourselves with wet sheets to feel comfortable enough to go to sleep.

I had neighbors that "rode out" Katrina - went 3 weeks without electricity. Fortunately when I came home, 3 weeks after the storm, the electricity had been restored to our neighborhood the day before. I like camping, but not in south Louisiana in August.

Copper theives - around here they attack homes under reconstruction, and steal urns from the cemetaries - the ones living people leave flowers in. Now you have to produce ID at the recycling yards. One of my colleagues lives in a double-barrel shotgun (duplex), and heard water running.... the theives had stolen the pipes from the other half of the house, which they were working to restore. Idiots get so brazen that they block both ends of a block, complete with orange cones, guys with flags and safety vests, while the rest of the "crew" is breaking into homes. At least we get to keep the National Guard down here until after hurricane season.

[RoadRaven]

We had a power cut two nights ago

18 year old had just started making dinner... using electricity... panic call to me, and we had pizza hut and chinese for dinner instead.

Power came on half way through our candle lit meal, and fortunately his rice pudding he had made was able to be cooked and that was delicious.

But you are right. At the moment we have no way to make food hot without power - not even a bbq!

[IFjane]

I don't have AC in the jeep or in the house, don't need it up here in the hills.
Yee ha!

Wait a minute, Zen......I'm sure it gets hot & humid in Fredneck, too! You're just a hop and a skip up Rt. 15 from me...