[SOC] Lessons from Isabelle

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   Things I learned since Hurricane Isabelle
     (Article in a North Carolina paper.)

* Coffee and de-frozen pizzas can both be made on a BBQ grill.

* No matter how many times you thoughtlessly flick the switch, 
  the lights don't work without electricity.

* My car gets 23.21675 miles per gallon, EXACTLY. (You can ask 
  the people in line who helped me push it.)

* Kids can survive 4 days or longer without a video game 
  controller in their hand, amazing to say. 

* Cats are even more irritating without power.

* He who has the biggest generator, wins.

* A new method of non-lethal torture--showers without hot water.

* There are a lot more stars in the sky than most people thought.

* TV is an addiction; and the withdrawal symptoms are painful.
  One day at a time, brother!

* It sure is QUIET around here at night! (Except for the generators;
  and they all go off around midnight.  And except for whatever it
  is that walks around in my attic very late at night.)

* A 7 lb bag of ice will chill 6, 12 oz Budweiser's to a drinkable 
  temperature in 11 minutes, and still keep a 14 lb. turkey frozen
  for 8 more hours.

* There are a lot of dang trees around here!  (A bit fewer 
  than before, but still plenty available for next time!)

* Flood plane drawings on some mortgage documents were 
  seriously wrong.

* Contrary to most Hampton Roads natives' beliefs, the speed limit 
  on roads without traffic lights does NOT increase.

* Just because you're 45 doesn't mean you can stay out as late as 
  you want. At least that's what the nice Hampton cop told me
  during my curfew violation stop.

* Crickets can increase their volume to overcome the sound 
  of 14 generators.

* People will get into a line that has already formed without 
  having any idea what the line is for.

* Police and firefighters become irritable after 15 straight
  18 hour days on duty.  Be extra cooperative with them.

* When required, a Lincoln Continental will float: it doesn't 
  steer well, but floats just the same.  For a little while.

* Tele-marketers function no matter what the weather is doing.

* Cell phones work erratically when land lines are down, but 
  only as long as the battery remains charged.  Fancy phones 
  that need wall-warts to work---  ---don't.

* 27 of your neighbors are fed from a different transformer 
  than you, and they are quick to point that out!

* If my store sold only ice, chainsaws, gas and generators... 
  ...I'd be rich

* The price of a can of soup rises 500% right after a big storm.

* The ATM is down.  I have $14.  My wife has $3.  The kids have 
  zero.  That little glass jar with loose change is empty.

* Your waterfront property can quickly become someone else's 
  fishing hole.

* Tree service companies are under appreciated. These are fine,
  hardworking people.

* I learned what happens when you make fun of another states' 
  blackout.

* Drywall is a compound word, take away the 'dry" part and its 
  pretty much worthless.

* The supermarket can't swipe my MasterCard.

* I can walk a lot farther than I thought.

* Bicycles can carry cargo.

* Sitting around the fire, just talking with my family, and
  working together to get through all this is sort of enjoyable,
  actually.  Maybe the power will never come back.

  We can hope.

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