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July 2005

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Power and Heat - July 26

Just about the time I was finishing supper tonight, the power went out. I was tired enough to take a nap, so I did just that, after calling the power company's automated reporting line. And I woke up a few moments before the power was restored. Good timing on that!

Several years ago, a friend gave me an LED flashlight, a small one that has a really powerful beam. In the package was a lanyard, which my friend said he wasn't sure I'd get any use out of, since we both thought I'd be attaching the light to my key ring.

As it turns out, the lanyard has come in handy quite a few times now, most recently tonight. As soon as the power went off, even though it was still light enough to see in the apartment, I decided the best place for the flashlight was on its lanyard around my neck. And there it stayed, ready to be switched on if needed.

I had thought when the power failed that the cause was perhaps too much air-conditioning demand on the system. I found out later the cause was a gas fire behind a local nightclub. The fire burned the insulation off a major power line. No one was injured, and except for the power line, there was no damage.

Though the power outage was not related to the intense heat, the heat can be blamed for a few things. I actually heard myself saying I wished it would snow this afternoon. Younger Partner looked at me in horror, knowing how much I hate snow and wondering if I had suffered a heat-induced mental breakdown.

I went on to explain that 99 degrees at 6:00 p.m. pretty much guaranteed that any falling snow would melt, and that we could use the cooling. He agreed with me.

Mother Nature, however, wasn't listening.

Text © copyright 2000-2005 Becky