Observations

[Diane Amberg]

Thanks Larry. Our hurricanes can be very bad and difficult to track, but we have plent of warning, if people will listen. Wilma, where in OK was the earthquake?

[Wilma]

Close to Enid.  There was another shaking about 9:00 yesterday morning and I didn't feel either of them.  Some people here in Howard did.

[Diane Amberg]

There was huge one in Chile too. 8.2 I read. Sounds like mother nature is adjusting her girdle.

[larryJ]

There are days around here that are peaceful, or maybe something exciting happened in town or maybe just boring.  Yesterday was not one of those..........almost disastrous.

Around 7 PM, we experienced a power outage.  This is not unheard of, but doesn't happen often.

Let me preface this here...........In this tract of homes, I have three neighbors, one to each side and one behind me.  We are all connected by block wall fences.  In my case, the wall behind me is somewhat higher than the side ones.  This is due to the varying levels of back yards, his being higher than mine.  There is no alleyway.  Above all this are the electrical lines directly above the walls that separate neighbors backyards.  These are standard lines meaning the lower ones carry lower voltage electricity and telephone lines as well as cable lines.  At the top of the poles are the two high voltage power lines.  Got it?

After the initial power failure, there was a brief period of a few minutes before the power kicked back on again.  A few minutes later, it happened again.  My wife happen to glance out the back window overlooking the patio and started screaming fire....call 911!  I grabbed a phone and we went out into the back yard to see where the smoke was coming from.  It was a fire of sorts in our neighbor's yard behind us.  Now, the block wall is really high for us which requires climbing onto a smaller retaining wall to see over the bigger one.  At this point I was calling 911, giving the address of the house behind us.  30 seconds later I could hear the fire engines leaving the station which is a half mile away.  My wife was on the retaining wall but couldn't see what was burning.  It sounded like a electrical pump for a spa or Jacuzzi was malfunctioning and spitting sparks and flames.  There appeared to be nobody home, but some man who lived on the street back there had managed to get up on the roof of the house to see what was happening.  We were yelling at him asking what was burning, but whatever was burning was noisy and he couldn't hear us.  The firemen arrived and made us leave the yard and go to the street in front of our house.  By this time, there were two fire engines, one a hook and ladder truck and three police cars.  Another fire truck had gone over on the street behind us.  As we got to the street, I turned around and there were four firemen on my roof ready to chop and tear anything they thought was a problem.  No hoses, just axes and shingle rakes. 

What happened?  The two high voltage lines are spread about ten feet apart.  This means that one is over my side of the block wall and the other is on my neighbors side.  Fortunately, and I thank the Good Lord, one had broke and landed in my neighbor's yard, not mine. Three power company trucks had arrived and were on the street behind us.  So at the beginning, it never occurred to us to look up at the wires.  We just thought it was some kind of electrical pump or something. 

By this time, the whole neighborhood was out in the street.  We don't get this much excitement and besides, nobody has power.  At that time, my phone rang with a recorded message from the power company that there had been a power failure in my neighborhood affecting 1,100 customers and an estimated restoration of power by 8:30.  Thirty minutes after that I received another recorded message from the power company that the restoration of power would occur around 4:30 AM on Thursday (today). 

So here we are.  No lights, no TV, no computer......what do we do?  We could go shopping.......nah.  We could talk....nah.  We totally forgot about dinner.  R.A.M.B.O. and Sir Charles were going bananas at the front door which was open but the screen was closed.  They were having a fit with all the people and the fire men. 

We were given the okay to go back in the house and I rounded up our flashlights and a few utility lights.  At this point, of course, I am using my portable O2 bottle as the O2 concentrator is electrically powered.  When we did finally go to bed just before 11, I attached a full bottle which would give me six to seven hours of oxygen.  Throughout the night I could hear voices of the guys working on the power line.  At one point, they must have been in my back yard as the dogs who were caged were barking.  Around 4:10 AM, I heard a noise and noticed that our ceiling fan was beginning to turn and the digital clock on the dresser was flashing.  I didn't get up though until around 6 AM.  I always make my coffee the night before in a programmable coffee pot so it is ready when I get up.  Of course, that wasn't going to happen so when I got to the kitchen I had to make the coffee.  Then the phone rang and it was the power company recording telling me that power had been restored around 4:10 AM and "thanks for your patience while we solve the problem" speech. 

What a night!  Oh well, we are none the worse for wear.  Our emergency supplies were right where they were supposed to be and there was no damage done to our property. 

Whew!

Larryj

[Judy Harder]

Praise the Lord.
I don't like the fact you have no escape route out your back. So glad all is well.

What caused the malfunction? Did a transformer blow? Scary for sure.

[larryJ]

Judy, it was a broken wire with one end landing in my neighbor's yard and the other end in the yard next to his.  I have lived here for 40 years and have never thought about having to leave the place out the back.  I guess I am just used to it as it is.  Besides, it is easy to get out through the front and there are ways to get out in the back if I want to climb a wall.

Larryj

[Diane Amberg]

I'm sure glad it was all nothing more than, uh, "entertaining." Live wires are nothing to take lightly, even the lower ones. I assume there were no injuries to anyone. Good for you for knowing the house number of your neighbor to the rear. Most people don't.

[Warph]

Thank the good Lord you and your family are safe, buddy.  I live at Arizona Traditions here in Surprise, AZ.  http://azthoa.net/page/27152~479885/Welcome-to-Arizona-Traditions

We had almost the same situation you experienced two blocks from my house 6 months ago.  One house burned to the ground and the two houses on each side of it had some damage.  Luckily the people in the house that burned to the ground (in there eighties)were on a Med. cruise at the time and no one was injured.  They have since rebuilt.  It is amazing how fast a stucco built house will burn.  The Fire Dept. is a quarter mile away and were very quick to respond but, to no avail.  The house was gone by the time they arrived.

       

[Diane Amberg]

Oh my. What actually set the houses on fire? Wires down that spread on dry materials, or broken wires that fell directly on the houses somehow, or what. That's really a shame.I'm glad nobody was hurt, but what a shock to come home from a cruise to no house.

[larryJ]

It's been a while.  Our granddaughter's softball season ended last Saturday.  The youngest (5-year-old) and her team won the championship for their division.  The 9-year-old's team came in second place.  That day was a long one with the first game at 10 AM, the second at noon, and the last one at 2 PM.  It was a warm day and I managed to sit next to a woman who had a large umbrella for the last game.  I won't miss running the girls back and forth to practices and games, but I will miss watching them play.  They have a lot of fun.

Speaking of warm days........we have hit triple digits this last week.  Combine that with gusty winds in some areas and the wild fire season begins.  At last count there were nine separate fires going in San Diego County to the south of us.  I think there might have been one or two small ones closer to us in Orange County.  After today the temperature will drop down to normal levels (70-80 degrees) this next week.  I don't know of any fires close to Bonnie, but I hope not.

Our schools will end on May 30th this year.  A few of us who have children in Kindergarten and upper classes had formed a "tree club."  There is a huge oak tree in front of the school and because Kindergarten gets out earlier than the other grades, we set up our lawn chairs and gab while waiting for the older ones.  The younger girls like to play under the tree while we wait.  I don't keep in contact with the others during the summer so the tree club will be seeing its last days.  Next year, with both girls getting out at the same time, there won't be a tree club.

My wife's cousin has been away in Chicago for two months visiting and helping a friend.  She will be coming home today.  She does a lot around here and I have had the responsibility of doing all that while she was gone so I am glad to see her come home.  Besides, on Monday I have to go to the hospital for a test which will involve an overnight stay so having her home will be a big help.

Larryj