Ice Storm 2009: Part 2

I know it seems like you've been waiting eons to hear part two of my ice storm adventure. I apologize for the delay. Life got in the way. Now, when we left off, I had fallen and blacked out, gone to Trish's, then returned home to an apartment with no power. I woke up the next morning freezing. I sat around for a little while and soon got a call from Alison. She said that she, Trish, and Soni were going to Wal-Mart and asked if I wanted to come. The warmth of Wal-Mart was too good of an offer to pass up. I even forgot momentarily that I HATE Wal-Mart. So I washed up in ice cold water, shed a layer of PJ pants, and waited patiently for the girls to pick me up. As soon as they walked in the door, I felt like a Jew during the Holocaust whose hiding place was just discovered. The girls ran in talking over each other in panicked voices. "We need water, batteries, pillows." "Sarah, you need lots of blankets." To which I replied, "...ummm....I have blankets...lots of blankets." Suddenly they start grabbing everything...water, food, my pillows and blankets.

"whoa whoa whoa...why in the heck are you taking all my stuff? Are you gonna save any water for me? I NEED those blankets." "We thought you were coming with us..." "Um yeah, to Wal-Mart. I wasn't aware that going to Wal-Mart required mass amounts of supplies. I'm staying here. It's like camping." With that, they dropped my things, called me nuts, and got in the car. Apparently ice = crazy drivers. I'm not kidding. We almost died a couple times because other people were being stupid. Every time a car would come close to us, Alison would yell "WHOA!!! WHOA!!!" It was pretty scary. Trish said it best, "I was so scared I accidentally farted!"

I assumed that our trip to the old Wally World would be a leisurely experience with plenty of time to pick up the essentials, get warm, and just enjoy being in a place with electricity. I was wrong. As soon as we walked in the door it was like an Iraqi freedom mission. We split up into groups of two. Divide and Conquer. Well I was looking for a car charger for my phone, so I went back to electronics with Soni who needed to look for something in the camping equipment. The other two were getting groceries. As soon as we met up, they were ready to roll. Thank God Wal-Mart is a crazy store and they have batteries and food in random places throughout the store. I felt like I was shopping for my life in those few moments on the way to the check-out. I needed food...desperately. We had very little in the apartment. I managed to snag a couple boxes of Pop Tarts and a bag of Chex Mix before hitting the registers.

We checked out, and then decided we needed a hot meal. Well, every fast food restaurant had ridiculously long lines in their drive thrus. Yeah, that was to be expected. So we got into a fight over where to eat. They wanted Hardees...I was thinking the one over by Taco Bell. I was wrong. They meant the one off the other exit. Ok, fine. Let's go somewhere else. Someone got the bright idea to go to White Castle. I gave a hell no on that one. I'd rather eat my pop tarts and chex mix all day than go there. So somehow we ended up at Red Lobster. It was good except for the fact that Alison and Trish both worked there and knew our waiter. They both gave him a HUGE tip so I felt I had to give a good one too. Oh well, I got a discount because Trish still works there.

By the time I got home, it was getting late. I sat in the car listening to the radio and attempting to charge my cell phone. The guy on the radio was saying that hundreds of thousands of people were without power in Kentucky, particularly in the Richmond area. We had been hit BAD. Old ladies were calling in asking if any of the shelters were delivering hot meals to the elderly who couldn't get out of their houses to go to the shelters. People were calling to report downed trees and power lines. For something the I wasn't too worried about, this thing sure caused a lot of damage. I was infuriated by a woman who called in to the radio station. This is what she said (in a THICK Kentucky accent), "Hi, we still got power but I was wonderin' when the cable's gonna be back on. We don't got nothin' to do without cable." I WAS LIVID. Thousands of people without power...without HEAT...and this woman was worried about the freaking cable. Gosh. Well, the radio guy said, "Ma'am I don't really know anything about the cable. I think everyone's main concern is restoring power to those who don't have it." Realizing her mistake, the woman tried to cover it up, "Oh, did I say cable? I meant electric." Ugh...that made me sick.

After sitting in the car for about an hour, I decided to go inside since it was starting to get dark. Clutching my precious flashlight, I went inside, lit some candles, and made up a little bed on the floor. I was still terribly sore and didn't want to move. Dad called to check on me. For some reason, he was concerned about my nose getting cold. He asked if I was going to wake up every few hours to make sure my nose didn't get frostbite. He also told me that if my nose (or any other part of me) got too cold during the night, I should just go to the hospital and sit in the emergency room to get warm. Gotta love my Daddy! When it got dark, I ate Chex Mix and Pop Tarts by candlelight and listened to my MP3 player. Around 8:30, I decided that there was nothing else I could do. I went to sleep. I was pretty warm tucked under all those blankets. At around 10, I got a call from Alison saying that Trish's power had flickered on and off again but if it came on again they were coming to pick me up. I politely declined saying I was nice and toasty in my little bed on the floor and that I was already sleeping. I think I should mention that I didn't sleep upstairs for 2 reasons: 1) I was too sore to go up and down the stairs and 2) There was a big gap between my window panes in my bedroom so downstairs was a lot warmer than my room.

The next morning, which I believe was Thursday, Alison and I decided we didn't want to go "camping" anymore. We wanted a warm bed and warm food and we desperately needed a shower. That morning, our Moms and my Dad started Operation Bring Our Girls Home. This was a HUGE operation. My mom called Kentucky Utilities to find out if they had an estimate on when the power would be back on. She was also vigilant about watching the news and the weather channel. Elaine, Alison's mom, was in charge of getting information on road conditions. She called the police department and explained our situation. They informed her that there were a few slick spots between Richmond and Maysville but if we drove slowly we would be ok. My dad was in charge of telling us how to get our apartment ready for the power to come back on. We turned off our heat, unplugged our appliances, packed some refrigerated items to try to salvage, and hit the road.

The rest was pretty uneventful. I went home, showered, and enjoyed the warmth of my parents' house.

Here are some more pictures from the ice storm.