Rain, Rain, Rain down on me

WE got a bit of rain yesterday. Between three and five inches of rain. How much rain is that? Enough to wash out and puncture the natural gas supply line that supplies our town and one other, which means...no natural gas.

No hot water. No gas for the stove. No showers. No washing dishes. No cooking. At the earliest, this will be resolved tonight, although I'm seriously doubting that it will happen that soon.

Now, no showers I can live with. We can heat enough water in the micro for sponge baths and even hair washing, if need be.

No washing dishes I can also live with. We can scrape them very well, and again heat enough water in the micro to give them a good scalding to make sure we don't attract any vermin or other assorted ickies.

No cooking. That is an issue. See, we've planned for a power outage. In the winter, you can shovel out a snowy area and set up the grill and you're good to go. Generally, even when it snows, the humidity is still relatively low. The wetness doesn't sink into everything until it begins to melt, and even then it's not the pervading humidity that comes with a good monsoonal rain, which is what we're having now. When it snows, you get mud. You don't get mud because your house has turned into an environment suitable for growing rare orchids.

In Southern Colorado in the Spring, and in August, we get what's called Monsoonal flow. This means we will have three or four days where everything is just drenched. We spend that time bleaching everything, because the wetness just sinks in to everything. I have known people who left a window in their car cracked during this time and opened it afterwards to find a patch of mushrooms growing in their back seat.

That means the grill is wet. The charcoal, stored inside, is damp. WE do have a small portable propane grill, but this raises the issue of where to use it. We don't have an area outside protected from the rain. It doesn't have a cover like most grills, so I can't use it in the rain.

So, breakfast today will be....umm, not sure. PBJ is a possibility, but we will have to go to the store first as I don't have enough bread for that. We are hitting the store at their opening time to stock up on paper plates and silverware. I have some, but not as much as I should have, planning as I have for an extended power outage and not a gas outage.

Lunch will be something out of a can that I can microwave or sandwiches.

Dinner is a mystery at this point. Last night we did TV dinners that I had saved for a fire night. We did have two calls (including the gas line rupture, that we were stood down from), but I was in the middle of cooking dinner after they had calmed down when I noticed the flame on the stove was really little. I called the county dispatch center, because when we were first toned out, I assumed the line, due to its location, was a transport line, not a supply line. I should have realized that it was a supply line, because we were told that witnesses reported a strong smell of gas, and the fake smell that is added to natural gas is not added to gas in transport lines, only supply lines. The dispatcher then notified me that there were plans in the works to shut down gas to the town of Aguilar.

So, dinner...who knows, we'll figure it out. After all, I'm a prepper. Even though I prepped for the wrong event LOL. Corn dogs and pot pies anyone?

Wow...

Has it really been over a month since I've posted?

Well, as you may have guessed, things have been rather busy here.

Larry took his EMT-B National Registry test yesterday. We find out his results on Friday.

My work is going about the same-plus I'm writing more again (although obviously not here). I did finally finish the department's web site (http://www.spbcfpd.org), and then I helped our new grantwriter put together two AFG grant applications.

And the kids-ah, life is good. Aimee is finishing up her Junior year. She got a 25 on her ACT (I still scored higher than her!), Saren is playing with the high school band, Nikki just had a great field trip to the zoo where she petted a snake, Roan is registered for preschool and Aria's verbal skills are improving every day.

OK, off to check the work email!