Val Serves Hick a Cold Dish That Has Nothing to do With Revenge

Hick is back to being Val's knight in tarnished armor. He'd better enjoy the status while he can!

Friday was windy, windy, windy! I needed to go to town for groceries before the weekend crowds. The Pony is coming out Sunday, and Hick is going to grill steaks and bratwurst. I knew a big storm was coming later in the evening. Big, because it was going to be violent, but not long-lasting.

I got the best handicap parking space at Save A Lot, next to the cart return, where nobody could park too close and block T-Hoe's door. It was a chore getting inside, even clinging to a cart/walker, because those winds were gusting at 50+ mph. Normally, I would have stayed home. But I needed the meat from Save A Lot, which has limited parking on a weekday. Weekends are not made for Val's Save A Lot shopping! Turns out there was an issue I had not anticipated, but that's a story for another day...

I bought the groceries, putting the meat in a box that the employees so kindly pile up front under the bagging counter. We have a new dog who does not respect my grocery bags when I place them on a chair on the side porch. No way was I going to tempt her with bags of steak and brats! I can't carry groceries up the steps. It's hard enough dragging myself onto the porch. I knew Hick wouldn't be home. Friday is his day to shoot the bull with his cronies until 5:00. I wanted to be home before then, when the winds were going to pick up.

While in town, sirens were going off everywhere. Not like a tornado siren. First responder sirens. Police. Ambulance. Fire department. Probably four different incidents during the hour I was there. I didn't see smoke, so I figured the wind must be causing problems. On the way in, I had seen five different areas with fallen limbs on the road. Good thing they were small. That's my biggest fear from the wind, having a big one fall on me in T-Hoe.

I got the groceries into the house with minimal yelling at the dog. I see that as progress. Hick had sent me a warning just before I left for town, telling me to be careful of the wind blowing T-Hoe's door shut on my legs. I made sure I parked facing down at the Gas Station Chicken Store, so the wind kept that door open, though making it hard for me to close. Val may not know world geography, but she knows north, south, east, and west, and the direction a storm comes from!

With the upcoming BBQ, I was not planning to cook on Friday and Saturday night. Any excuse is good enough for me! I'd bought some deli fried chicken on Thursday at Country Mart. Hick was having that with mashed potatoes and bread/butter. Yes. I offered him salad. He declined.

We discussed the forecast. The violent weather was supposed to reach our area between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. Then be gone. 

"I'm going out to check my new generator and make sure it works. Just in case we lose power."

Hick got this generator from a guy for $350. He spent his own money on it, but is being reimbursed by our household funds paying the two electric bills for his SUS2 and SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Stores) until it is recouped. He has $42.42 left.

Anyhoo... I had just sat down with my scratchers when Hick got home around 5:15. I told him when I got to a stopping place, I'd get his supper ready. I can't stop in the middle of a crossword ticket, because I forget how many words I've uncovered. It takes 15-20 minutes per crossword. That's why I like those scratchers. They take a while.

"It's probably going to be around quarter to six. It won't take long to warm up the chicken. And the mashed potatoes only take 1 minute after the water boils." (Hick likes his instant mashed potatoes. Roasted Garlic flavor.)

Indeed, at 5:45 I turned to holler and ask Hick if he wanted me to set out the Hawaiian Bread, or the Brioche. He didn't care. Turns out he got Brioche, my executive decision, because of the use-by dates. However, before I could stand up to turn on the oven, 

OUR POWER WENT OFF!

"Dang it! There goes your supper! I guess you can eat cold chicken, but no mashed potatoes. Oh, no! I don't want all that meat to go bad! I just bought it!"

"Maybe they'll get it back on pretty soon."

"You know they won't! We're always end of the line. 59 people aren't that important."

"It could be anywhere between here and town. Maybe more than just us."

"Did you call them?"

"No. Somebody will."

"Unless they all think somebody else will!"

"Val. That's what smart meters are for. They tell them when and where the outage is."

"Smart meters are to control our energy usage!"

"Yeah, that's probably right, according to my buddies. They're like you. But still, they'll know where the outage is."

"I'll get your chicken, and your bread and butter. At least you can still see to eat now. And I can probably scratch another ticket or two. It'll be dark in an hour. I need to find my little flashlight. I can't flush, right, except for once? And I can't get water? I'm going to fill my water bottle up with ice right now."

"After I eat, I'll go turn on the generator. So you can have lights and your computer and TV. It'll run the refrigerator and the well pump. But you can't use the stove or microwave, and you can't do laundry, and it won't run the air conditioner or furnace or water heater."

"Okay. All I need is lights and flushing and water and my computer and TV!"

After supper, Hick fired up the generator. He had gotten gas for it a few days earlier. The dogs barked at it, but the lights and my vital necessities came on. I'm so glad Hick bought that generator. The old one has needed the carburetor rebuilt for several years now. Something Hick CAN do, if he wants to. It was pretty old. All four tires on it had dry-rotted. So it was harder to move from the garage to the porch.

We got a lot of use out of that old generator. Genius was around 10 when he was helping Hick turn off the main breaker, then turn on the breakers that we could use off the generator power. The Pony is not good with stuff like that, but Genius and Hick were a good team at restoring partial power.

We got an email from the electric company that 327 customers were without power because of damage from a tree. The expected restore time was 7:30. At 6:45, we got another notice that it was back on. So Hick went out and turned off the generator. Came back and tried the main breaker. Yes! Our electricity was restored! I'm sure Hick missed having Genius here, to do one or the other tasks, while I stood in the door, hollering when to try the power. Ahh... good times.

We were very lucky to get our power back so quickly. It meant we could watch the news to see the storm track. We were also lucky that the temperature was in the 70s, and we didn't need heat or AC. We were extremely lucky that the storm missed us to the north by about 20 miles, and that another missed us to the south by about 10 miles. The Pony was also in that safe swath. I'm so glad we got that tree down that was beside his house when we bought it. Several tornadoes went through with those storms. Turned over semi trucks, took off roofs, tore down power lines, collapsed brick walls. We were exceedingly lucky to be in that sweet spot, with only a brief power outage.

For a few days, Hick will be my hero!