We lost power for 21 hours - 11pm Friday to 8pm Saturday. Saturday morning around 6am, I went out, disconnected the garage door from the automatic lift, fixed the sheer pin by flashlight and blew out the rest of the snow. By 9:00am I got Gene up and out and we were safely ensconced at the local Caribou Coffee shop, not without getting stuck in unplowed snow a couple times.
Next, I went out to set up the generator on the back patio while Gene built a fire in the fireplace. It took a number of pulls to get the thing started in the blowing cold, but I won. Plenty of firewood for the fireplace, and enough power to run the fridge, the Internet, one TV and a power strip for charging phones, tablets, portable lights etc. I had to light the gas stovetop with a lighter, but at least we had hot water for tea and hot chocolate. Dinner Saturday night was takeout from Panera Bread, no way was I cooking in a dark kitchen. I stopped on the way to fill up the gas can, so we'd have enough to get through the night if need be. Luckily, we got our power back at about 8pm. By 10pm the generator and all the extension cords were put away, but I was having no luck reconnecting the garage door. I cried UNCLE! again, and I was finally in a much needed and much appreciated hot bath.
Monday morning came along and I was able to make my own coffee, after which I went out and greased up the garage door frame and travel rod. Once I did that, I gave the door a bit of a push up to click it back into its housing on the travel rod. Boom! Garage door fixed. But, after blowing all the snow out Saturday morning, the temperature dropped below zero Saturday night, stayed in the single digits on Sunday and Monday as well. We have some drifting snow that needs moving now, but the snow blower was iced up hard. It started no problem, but the auger would not spin. Gene set up a space heater in the garage and let it run for 5 hours or so on Monday, it worked to degree, but we still needed some focused heat at the impellor blades. After an hour or so with the heat gun, we started her up and the auger spun as it should. I cried UNCLE! a third time after it was back in working order. The drifts are not bothering anyone, and it's going to stay Arctic for another week or so.
Merry January, indeed!
