Friday, August 27, 2021

Lagniappe


Well, no curry here tonight. The power went out right after I hit "publish" and we were having a toad-strangling downpour, even though the lightening and thunder had passed. I called Duke Energy and got a sweet lady on the line and we chatted for a few. She said, "Just take it easy and you'll have your power back on in awhile." I said, "No problem. I'm going to play solitaire and listen to a podcast," and she said, "That sounds lovely."

So I did that for quite some time and I ate some second-rate supper and finally I called Duke again to hopefully just get a recording of an update but no, I got the same lady and we chatted some more. She was so nice and told me that her AC had gone out last night and that tomorrow she was going to go kayaking with her dog. We ended it with her telling me that I should have my power back on soon and wouldn't you know- a truck pulled up right by the house and I had to go out and take a picture because by then I was fully invested in the whole situation. 

I talked to the ZZ-Top bearded guy who was on the ground while his partner was up in the bucket and he was so southern that I could barely understand a word he said but I'm certain they were very polite words and I did understand him when he said, "You should be back on in a minute," and when I offered him and his partner water or coffee, he politely refused saying that they were fine (I think that's what he said) and I said, "Well, y'all are my heroes" and he thanked me and I came back inside and the power came back on almost immediately and then he knocked on my front door to make sure that everything was back on. I thanked him again and he said, "Call us if you need us," and I said, "Oh, I will. Be safe, y'all," and he said they would, and off they went into the night. 

It's been an adventure and all has turned out well and I feel a little bit better about humanity than I did before, strange as that sounds. 

 

18 comments:

  1. Well...you certainly would not get a lovely lady to chat to if you call an energy company here! A 20 minute wait and a recorded message if you were lucky!!
    Just looked up Hurricane Ida, and it looks like it will definitely miss you...thankfully.

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    1. I couldn't believe I didn't get a recording. I think it was because there were so few of us out that they didn't go to the trouble of automating the response.

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  2. Frances' power company and mine have the same etiquette during a power failure--none. And I love when the message says to check their website...

    Glad you had some actual service and your power restored.

    (And then there is %&*# blogger...it has taken me 15 tries to post this comment without getting that damn Whoops error message)

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    1. No- that's how my phone calls to the power company generally go. I really don't know why I lucked out so much.
      And yes, it pisses me off when they tell me to check the website.

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  3. I always have good experience with the power guys in person. The ones who go out and do the hazardous work are lovely. The office staff not so much. But we do have a very good emergency texting setup with the power company.

    Anyway I'm glad your power's back on and you made good use of the downtime.

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    1. Yeah. The guys who work from the trucks are just amazing. Twice in a little over a week now I've been reminded of that.

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  4. No power = no A/C, right? That would be so uncomfortable! Not sure how we survived summer when I was a kid and we didn't have A/C. I do remember having box fans blowing right on us as we tried to stay cool.
    Glad you got the power back. Hope your weather calms down a bit and you stay safe.

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    1. The rain we had last night brought the heat down so it wasn't too bad. Not bad at all, really. I was comfortable.
      I remember those box fans! When I was a child my mother put one in my brother's and my room and set it right in the middle with it facing up to the ceiling. The theory being that it would circulate the air. The hot air. We lived!

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  5. That's as good a power outage experience as I've ever heard. I do think you set the tone.

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    1. I think I just lucked out and got nice people!

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  6. That whole story is evidence that when you're kind to people, the world is a better place all around. You could have called them up and been grouchy and awful, but instead you turned it into a positive experience. What are the odds you'd call and get the SAME WOMAN the second time? Is she all alone on the evening shift?

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    1. You know- that could well be, Steve. I do wonder how many people they have on the evening shift.

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  7. You certainly set the tone there and good things came of that. Glad all is well.

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    1. It was, all in all, a quite pleasant experience.

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  8. Wouldn't it have been funny if you'd offered him coffee and he'd said something like "that sounds great, thank you kindly" but you hadn't understood because of his accent and had gone in and locked up for the night!!!

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    1. Oh god yes. But I could tell from his tone alone that he was gratefully refusing. Plus, I did understand when he told me they had to go pull another truck out of where it was stuck.

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  9. did you get to test out the new generator? if we get a raise with our new contract I SWEAR TO COD we are getting a generac!!!

    xxalainaxx

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    1. Would you believe it's still not completely hooked up?
      So no. Dammit.

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