How I spent my day with no electricity.
By The Horse
@TheHorse (206223)
Walnut Creek, California
April 8, 2024 7:05pm CST
I went to the Social Security office this morning after the power went down.
Before that, I had cleared my balcony of many of my balcony plants, as the lady in the apartment office had told me that they would be working on my balcony railing today. That took about an hour. The table and chairs were moved to the exact middle. One chair was thrown out.
On the way home from Social Security, which took only about 45 minutes once I found the place, I stopped to get a burrito to go at one of the many "taco joints" on Monument Blvd .
Then I stopped at the Dollar Tree (are they really going out of business?) got some basic stuff, like aspirin, toilet paper, and a mat to place on my air conditioning unit. I also bought some plastic planters, as I noticed this morning that some of my succulents are outgrowing their planters.
After working on "He's a Pirate," a fun song from Pirates of the Caribbean with Johnny Depp on my (Martin) guitar, I settled in and took a siesta (no sleep--I just played random stuff on my guitar). When the power wasn't on by 3 PM, I decided to start working on my balcony table and chairs. I generally sand them down every Spring and apply some oil to keep them looking (and feeling) fresh. This Spring I'm using boiled linseed oil. It is supposed to protect well.
Sanding and oiling isn't as much fun without Horse Jr. there to help me, but it was still satisfying.
Finally I went to Safeway to get some kitty food for The Queen. I may head to an Open Mic in an hour or so. My bluegrass buddy Tom and I played some tunes yesterday at his house. I am listening to classical music on my main stereo now.
I'll attach a photo on my first work on the table. Some surfaces (two, I think) are sanded and oiled, one is sanded but not oiled, and the next is still all grey and uneven.
How was your day? Did the eclipse affect you in any way? I am still here so far as I can tell.
22 people like this
19 responses
@Dena91 (15907)
• United States
9 Apr
I don't believe that all the Dollar Trees are closing, just ones that are under performing or where there are ones close to one another.
Sorry that your power was out. Your day was full.
Only a partial eclipse here. Here is a photo a friend posted from our county at 3 PM this afternoon.
6 people like this
@ptrikha_2 (45543)
• India
9 Apr
@Dena91
Nice photograph !! So it means you would have seen partial darkness outside your house?
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (58020)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Apr
I watched it from the kitchen window. We didn't see much, but it was still a fun watch.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (58020)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Apr
@TheHorse Yes it did. Not anything like those within the totality range, but it was noticable all the same.
@iKONICNoona (3998)
• Philippines
9 Apr
Wow you have a day well spent . You have accomplished a lot! Good time management I must say. I did not see the eclipse in my part of the world. Its so hot here in my country its summer but the hot index is so much even in the evening its so hot and humid.
2 people like this
eclipse couldn't be seen here therefore, i had a very ordinary day
@changjiangzhibin89 (16541)
• China
9 Apr
You did a great job on your table ! I just have a sort of succulent.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18957)
• United States
9 Apr
I had a headache yesterday. It wasn't because of eclipse. I did see some of it with a homemade cereal box viewer. We only had 80% with cloud cover.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (18957)
• United States
9 Apr
@TheHorse one cereal box with taped white paper inside on the bottom. On the top one end with aluminum wrap and the small hole. The other end opened.
@TheHorse (206223)
• Walnut Creek, California
9 Apr
Heh. I was wondering if anybody would notice that. I put it there on purpose. It's a cook. A neighbor in Montana made "sculptures" out of horse shoes and whatever other metal objects he could find. I have a cowboy sculpture here as well.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156804)
• United States
9 Apr
You got a lot accomplished. I am still here too after the eclipse. It got pretty dark during the period of totality. Have a good day.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (206223)
• Walnut Creek, California
11 Apr
@LindaOHio Sounds like fun. I cannot say with certainly that I was not affected by the eclipse. But there were confounding variables.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156804)
• United States
10 Apr
@TheHorse I watched the coverage on the Weather Channel since I didn't have the special glasses. They had people stationed in Texas and all the way up to the northeast, following the path of totality.
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (45543)
• India
9 Apr
OMG !! How can you survive without power?
Don't you have power backups?
Years of power backups meant that here in Indian cities we had Diesel operated (and now CNG - Compressed Natural Gas) operated (albeit noisy) Gensets or big, medium or small Invertors.
Of course, they come with costs but for many they are essential here, especially for the Shops and offices.
No impact of Eclipse here.
I did see it affected a big part of North America.
@sabtraversa (12995)
• Italy
9 Apr
That's a lot! I think it would have taken me a whole week, this planned power outage was a blessing. Or is the eclipse the one deserving of praise? Like you know some interdimensional portals were opened... maybe you entered the productivity one. You might be here and there at the same time. 
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (73642)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
9 Apr
I didn't see anything of the eclipse, Just spent my time working on my PC,
@LovesEverybody (1784)
•
10 Apr
I was in my room on the computer which looked away from my bedroom window so I didn't look outside the house directly from 2 p.m. to 4:35 p.m. when the eclipse was over as I was petrified of it. I do things unintentionally and was afraid I would accidentally look up even though I was in my room
I was angry because I am usually starting to get ready for bed at 3 p.m. and I was late for bed!
have a great day!
