<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">
<div class="gmail-adn gmail-ads"><div class="gmail-gs"><div class="gmail-"><div id="gmail-:19e" class="gmail-ii gmail-gt"><div id="gmail-:19d" class="gmail-a3s gmail-aiL"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">After 28 and a half hours without power, the lights just came back on.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">Actually
I knew from past experience it would be a long grind, because I heard
the transformer on the pole in front of a house three doors down from my
own blow up with a bang as I was online Monday morning. As when that
has happened before, it affects only a small number of houses so it gets
a low priority during widespread storm outages. My analysis is that
the amount of snow falling at that moment was so great that water got
into the innards of the transformer. The winds were not all that
heavy.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">It
is a good thing that I had recently gone over to Staples to buy a whole
bunch of batteries of all different sizes because I was in the process
of getting all my flashlights working again -- I had come to realize
that none of them were working at that moment.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">This
allowed me to fire up my Tecsun 660 radio. I had acquired that radio
for the sole purpose of locating line noise but had used it very
little. No thanks to the lousy Chinese batteries that came with it that
they had all gone bad anyway. Fortunately with new batteries it came
back to life and I was able to learn from WTOP that compared to the
100,000+ outages reported by power companies in VA, PEPCO was reporting
only 5000 outages. As that number crept down finally to 400, I noticed
four or five bucket trucks and three or four supervisors' pickups
beginning to line my street. Fortunately it had been plowed already by
Prince Georges County. It took them another three hours or so but
finally the lights came on. Within 10 minutes I received a phone call
from PEPCO asking me to press "1" if I had lights.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">Normally
I maintain my thermostat at 68F. My brick house is pretty well
insulated so by the time the lights had returned the indoor thermometer
read 51F. I do have a small space heater in my bedroom but of course it
runs on electricity! I survived by sleeping under two heavy quilts and
wearing my outdoor jacket whenever I was up and around.</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">I
consider myself very lucky that I was at home at the time the storm
hit. My amount of suffering was insignificant compared to what the
folks on I-95 between Alexandria and Fredericksburg suffered, or even
those who happened to be driving on or near the Wilson Bridge at the
time. <br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">73, Fred, K3ZO <div class="gmail-adL"><br></div></div><div class="gmail_default gmail-adL" style="font-size:large"><br></div><div class="gmail_default gmail-adL" style="font-size:large"> <br></div></div></div><div class="gmail-adL">
</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-gA gmail-gt gmail-acV"><div class="gmail-gB gmail-xu"><div class="gmail-ip gmail-iq"><div id="gmail-:19f"><table class="gmail-cf gmail-wS" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-amq"><br></td><td class="gmail-amr"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-nH gmail-bkK gmail-nn" style="width:1253px"><div class="gmail-nH"><div class="gmail-nH"><div class="gmail-nH gmail-ar4 gmail-z"><div class="gmail-aeI"><div class="gmail-AO"><div id="gmail-:3" class="gmail-Tm gmail-aeJ" style="height:590px"><div id="gmail-:1" class="gmail-aeF" style="min-height:400px"><div class="gmail-nH"><div class="gmail-nH" role="main"><div class="gmail-nH gmail-g gmail-id"><table class="gmail-Bs gmail-nH gmail-iY gmail-bAt" role="presentation" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr class="gmail-xHfw3"><td class="gmail-Bu gmail-bAn"><div class="gmail-nH gmail-if"><div class="gmail-nH gmail-aHU"><div class="gmail-nH gmail-hx"><div class="gmail-nH" role="list"><div class="gmail-h7 gmail-ie gmail-nH gmail-oy8Mbf" role="listitem" tabindex="-1"><div class="gmail-Bk"><div class="gmail-G3 gmail-G2"><div><div id="gmail-:19b"><div class="gmail-gA gmail-gt gmail-acV"><div class="gmail-gB gmail-xu"><div class="gmail-ip gmail-iq"><div id="gmail-:19f"><table class="gmail-cf gmail-wS" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="gmail-amr"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail-nH"><div class="gmail-l2 gmail-pfiaof" role="contentinfo" style="padding-bottom:0px"><div id="gmail-:193" class="gmail-aeV"><div><div class="gmail-ajd"><a target="_blank" href="https://drive.google.com/u/0/settings/storage?hl=en&utm_medium=web&utm_source=gmail&utm_campaign=storage_meter&utm_content=storage_normal" class="gmail-aiF"><div class="gmail-aiG"><div class="gmail-aiD"><span dir="ltr"></span><span dir="ltr"></span></div></div></a></div></div></div><div class="gmail-aeU"><div id="gmail-:192"><div><div class="gmail-ma"> </div></div></div></div><div id="gmail-:190" class="gmail-ae3"><div><div class="gmail-l6"><span id="gmail-:197" class="gmail-l8 gmail-LJOhwe" tabindex="0" role="link"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><br></td><td class="gmail-Bu gmail-yM"><br></td><td class="gmail-Bu gmail-y3"><br></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div></div>