Progeny Power Problems

Our House This Morning

I knew yesterday was going to be a weird day when I looked out my office window in the afternoon to see a truck fully engulfed in flames. The fire department eventually showed up and quickly doused the now towering inferno but I’m fairly certain nothing much survived except the driver. The day was already notable because my Favorite Panamanian accomplished a long distance drive all by herself, something that scares the hell out of her. The BRS was all the motivation she needed though to make the trek up to New Hampshire ahead of the storm. She actually sounded a little cocky later in the day recounting her drive.

Truck on Fire Seen from my Office Window

Back Deck This Morining

Snow Coating Everything

Driveway Before Clearing

This was a really weird, powerful late winter storm. It snowed all day long in Worcester with no appreciable accumulation on the roads. As soon as the sun went down Mother Nature dropped the proverbial hammer with a wind driven heavy snow that built up at a remarkable rate. Keene Friend wisely chose to bunk at our house last night instead of attempting the drive back to Keene. I woke up this morning to over sixteen inches of snow coating everything. It was definitely the biggest punch this winter has thrown so far (at least while I wasn’t on a tropical beach). It was cool having Keene Friend to assist with the driveway this morning since the heavy snow bank at the street was a real bear to clear. He broke it up while I attacked it with the machine.

The BRS Doesn't Seem Concerned

Mom and Dad Can Handle This

I'm Going to Snooze

My problems pale considerably compared to both ends of the geographic span of my immediate family. Our power lines are all underground so our house still had power. Neither my daughter in New Jersey nor my son (and his mother) up in New Hampshire were similarly lucky. Both of them lost power over night with the complicating presence of very young granddaughters as well. I got a late night text from my daughter saying she had just managed to get the FBR to sleep and was exhausted. She doesn’t think power will be restored until Saturday at the earliest.

Conquest in Progress

I Got You Dad

And Dad is Happy About it

My Favorite Son encountered a similar scenario at 2:45am when his power went out. Since they’re on a well that meant they lost their water supply at the same time. They have no idea when the power will be restored but he’s out this morning looking to buy a generator. They have a close friend nearby who does have power and the BRS along with her mom and abuela are there right now until my son can get heat restored. Today marks the one month birthday for the BRS as she is now four complete weeks old. She is showing a troubling tendency to mark milestones with cataclysmic intensity.

Out Playing with Riggins this Morning

I was heartened when arriving at work to find several emails from colleagues around the nation. Apparently CNN was reporting from Worcester last night talking about how severe the snowstorm was and how it paralyzed the city.  In the background several of my buses were seen running. We kept the bus service running as long as humanly possible and only quit an hour before we were scheduled to stop. My drivers are my heroes today.

I finished reading another book by David Drake yesterday, Ranks Of Bronze, where he transports an entire Roman legion into space to fight for an alien trade guild against galactic foes of a similar technological level. As always Drake excels at depicting the close quarter combat.