For the first time since 1996, we here at Logical Expressions, Inc. had to take an unscheduled holiday. On Tuesday night, we had a tremendous windstorm. We were reading, and then the lights went out. So we gave up on reading and went to sleep.
As is so often the case with power outages here in the sticks, they tend to go on for a long time. Only the Priest Lake area seems to have longer power outages than we do. Being remote has its downsides.
We are aware of this risk, so after the first big outage we experienced (four very long days), we bought a back-up generator. It isn’t a very good one, but it can power our refrigerator and our computers. So for the last 8 years, even when there’s no electricity, we here at Logical Expressions, Inc. have been able to work. Until Wednesday that is.
After we woke up to the absence of power, James went out to start the generator. It lives in a little hut next to our house. The generator hut has a roof to keep snow off and sides you can remove when you need to run the loud, stinky machine.
After dealing with the spiders, wasps and other creepy crawlies lurking in the hut, James checked the generator’s oil level only to have a gas and oil mixture gush out. The gas and oil aren’t supposed to be mixed, so no generator for us. That means no power and no work for me. He carted the device off to the repair shop, and I declared a holiday (being President has its rewards).
I packed up our perishable food and took it to a friend’s apartment in town. Amid many fun excursions around town, I discovered that the Flower Farm on Selle Road was having a half price sale. So many plants later, I returned home. The generator is still dead, but the electricity is back and I have a lot of very cool new herbs and flowers. Life in the sticks is good once again.