"Don't know what you got till its gone"
By brendalee
@brendalee (6082)
United States
July 30, 2007 4:02pm CST
Thats the name of a song that has been going through my head lately. The reason for this is because I found out how true that is. Yesterday at about 5:30 pm, our power went out. Ok, its Sunday,the electric company doesn't shut anyone off on Sunday. No storms or high winds. Maybe soneone hit a pole somewhere. But after checking with neighbors, it seems we are the only house without power. Hmmmm, wonder why. Well, I still don't really know. Luckily, my boyfriends uncle is an electrician. First he thought it was the main breaker out under the meter. But you can't find the part you need at 7pm on a Sunday night. So we went all night, 17 hours to be exact, without any power. I won't even go into the agony that I went through and am still going through. So they replaced the breaker and not everything came back on. Half of my inside breaker box is dead. I have partial power now and we have to be very careful of what we run so we don't blow the breaker again. Right now I only have one fan and the computer on. I have no running water because I have a well that is powered by a pump which is powered by electric, so that means I can't flush the toliet. How wonderful that is.lol. Well, back to the story, my BF and his uncle went under the trailer because thats where the electric lines run. No problem there. But there is a section of the lines that we can't see. They are buried under ground. Yep, you guessed it, my BF is out there now digging up the yard. He had to take today off from work as well as tomorrow. Thats going to hurt. Tomorrow we are getting the new line at a cost of about $150. But, I have to find something good in everything. Its my way of keeping sane. Even though I was miserable thinking of all the things I didn't have, I got to spend quality time with my BF. That was nice. So, I would like to say....please take the time to appreciate what you have because many times we don't know what we got till its gone.
8 people like this
12 responses
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
30 Jul 07
I have no idea how I stayed sane.lol. I really missed the computer and the fans. It was quite warm in here. I'll be losing power again tomorrow when they fix it completely.
@Thoroughrob (11742)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I really hope that you have gotten things taken care of. It is horrible how we depend so much on certain things to live. I am glad you can make something positive out of such a mess, although I would almost bet that your BF would rather be working than to be digging up the yard.
1 person likes this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
1 Aug 07
Yes, the power is back on completely. He still has some digging to do but he is going back to work tomorrow. They decided not to dig up the old line, instead they disconnected it and just attached a new one. But it has to be buried. The trench has to be 18 inches deep and he had quite a way to go with it. His son has been helping him. I am just so happy to be able to flush the toliet.lol
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
31 Jul 07
I had to learn the hard way not to take everything for granted. But everything is fixed now.
@Penguinsangel (3498)
• United States
31 Jul 07
Oh gosh honey. how awful. I so feel for you. We had the power go out on us late one night a week or two ago and oh my god it was miserable because of the heat. I am so sorry and hope it gets completely fixed soon. AT least you know what is wrong and hopefully will get it fixed on tme.
Its weird how much you get use to certain things and don't realize how much you rely on them until you can't use them.
1 person likes this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
31 Jul 07
Its all fixed now. Its a good thing too because we are expecting a stretch of hot weather.
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
1 Aug 07
I hear you- I’m sorry you guys lost electricity- and on the weekend- Eekk. That stinks- We have lost power a couple of times and it isn’t fun- but it is usually with storms and such- I hope it gets fixed fast- so that you can flush your toilets and shower- Man it is in the 90’s here- I hope not there. Good – looking at the positive side of things- Hope your problem is fixed quickly.
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
1 Aug 07
It wasn't too warm outside when we lost power but I live in a trailer that I call a giant sardine can and it gets real hot in here. We have real small windows and most of them don't have screens, thanks to my cats.lol. Its going to be real hot this week so I am glad it is finally fixed.
@naadia (828)
• India
31 Jul 07
mmm...we are now become so much dependent on this electricity and other appliances...we have to adjuts with other alternates to this stuffs whe power gone...last month me too got same problem because of the heavy storm and rain!we lost power for 1 full days.i found that we all are back to past(i thought i am in a time machine)ie no cell phoen ,no tv nothing...entire colony without power...!!!!
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
31 Jul 07
There are people in my community called Amish that don't have electricity and they don't drive cars. I could never live that way. I think I would go crazy.
@ElusiveButterfly (45939)
• United States
2 Aug 07
I know whatcha mean! We complain about the heat of the summer, and then winter hits. Whine.
@jennybianca (12912)
• Australia
31 Jul 07
This is a terrible nuisance for you. We certainly don't appreciate the value of electricity until we loose it. We occasionaly get power black outs due to storms. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if wee didn't loose powr today, as we have very strong winds, almost gale foirce.
When I last lost power, due to a storm, I fortunately hgad the gas bbq out the back, which has a seperate element. So I was able to heat up water for coffee.
You are right about the toliet. We can only use a bucket.
But if you have to pump water, you wouldn't even have that option.
Is your well accessible the old fashioned way? Do you have a rain water tank?
I use candles for limited lioghting when there is no power.
Good Luck.
1 person likes this
@brendalee (6082)
• United States
31 Jul 07
My well can only be run with the pump, its all deep underground. But its ok now, my power is all back. I was so excited to flush the toliet.lol.
@shambuca (2524)
• United States
1 Aug 07
That is so true and thanks for reminding me- I have been annoyed with my husband lately- he has been crabby and nasty towards me, but he works in heating and air conditioning and is out in the heat all day so I can't blame him for being crabby but sometimes I just take it personally and I shouldn't. So last night he was hunting for something different to eat (snack food) he says to me there is nothing to eat in this house...I said there's tons of food- he smiled and said yea but nothing I want. So I asked him if he wanted fast food, McDOnalds, Burger King, Taco Bell???..........He jumped up and said Taco Bell.....so at 9:00 pm last night I was running out for Taco BEll to make him happy--- when he was done he was happy and in a better mood.. that made me feel better and realize that we just need to take time to do things for one another, to appreciate each other, because you don't know what you've got till its' gone.
1 person likes this
@yanjiaren (9031)
•
10 Aug 07
Hahaha that really made me laugh lol..I know exactly what you mean..for me it is that blasted umbrella song ella ella ella under my umbrella..and for us it has been quite apt in the U.K as it was pissing down with rain for around three months solid and we flooded really badly here in my sister's house lol. I needed more than an umbrella tokeep me sane..now it has eased off a bit and we have some sunshine hahah.
@CoffeeAnyone (3210)
• Canada
27 Aug 07
Good point. So easy to take things for granted. I appreciate your electricity story. I was at a wedding this weekend and the power went out just before the main dish was about to be served. We were without power for about an hour. All went off just find though and didn't put a damper on the celebrations on one little bit. I think we were just all so happy for this wonderful couple they no one cared less if they got to eat at all. Plus most were happy the power didn't affect the bar! LOL
1 person likes this
@teapotmommommerced (10359)
• United States
2 Aug 07
You are right we tend to take things for granted. I do appreciate my electrictiy. It has been around 100 degrees I do appreciate the air conditionair. I do know about having an electic pump. When we lived in the county, when the PG&E would go out we had nothing not even water. We could not cook, or flush the toilet. Now in town I have a gas stove, and city water so I can flush. Good luck with your power being off.
