State Of Emergency

If you're within viewing distance of our local TV channels, you already know that our Governor and Mayor declared a State Of Emergency here in the city and state.  Day 3 of the State Of Emergency is drawing to a close, and we've got Day 4 to look forward to.  Thank goodness the power is back on at The Compound, but we still have no power at work.  The office has power thanks to a gigantic natural gas-powered generator out in our parking lot but the factory is still down.  From the news reports that we're hearing, the city is saying it could be 10 to 14 days before power is fully restored to the 'Ville. You can't throw a rock without hitting a home or business that doesn't have power. I'm not sure there's enough batteries in the state to keep all of the lanterns and flashlights going. 

On top of dealing with no electricity, we have to deal with gas stations being either closed because they have no power or out of gas.  Yesterday evening, it was pandemonium in the area when gas stations ran out of gas.  I'm almost ashamed to admit that I waited in line for half an hour to fill up last night.  But I needed gas so I didn't have much choice.  I could have made it to and from work today, and at one point I decided to say screw it all and just call AAA and have their Rescue Ranger come to work today to bring me 3 gallons of gas.  Instead I drove to about a dozen gas stations before finding one open and still selling gas and filled up the Blazer. 

Schools are still closed tomorrow, and will probably be closed at least the rest of the week.  I have a feeling our factory will still be closed the rest of the week as well.  But we've been muddling through the past two days thanks to battery-powered lanterns and flashlights out in the Shipping department.  In fact today, the Purchasing department issued out a new Ray-O-Vac flashlight to anyone who wanted one.  But even with flashlights it's still as dark as a cave out there in the factory.  And to add insult to injury, our phone lines, email and internet was down today so we had no communication with the outside world except through our cell phones.  I told a co-worker today that now I know how the Amish people feel.