Sunday, November 04, 2012

:-) :-) :-)

I guess the title of my earlier post was foreshadowing the day to come. We just got our power back!!

Daylight on Day 6

Thanks to daylight savings time, I saw daylight for the first time since Tuesday! My poor eyes didn't know what to do. Yesterday after work I decided to meet up with the New York City Clemson Club to watch the football game. It was a nice distraction for a little while, but I was exhausted and only made it to halftime. As I was getting ready to leave, I played the pity card on the bartender and procured a cold beer to enjoy once I got home. I had my own candle light Bugles & Beer party while I boiled my 8 pots of water  :-)  

Parts of Hoboken are returning to service, but we did not fall in the areas that got power back yesterday. That leads me to believe it will be a bit longer. Dan is not sure when he is heading back to Hoboken, but his work has been very flexible with him under the circumstances. 

More devastating pictures if you want to check them out.

I am tired, wondering why Mother Nature is sending another storm our way on Wednesday, and missing my family. We will all make it through this, but it is tough. Tomorrow will be 7 days without power

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Day 5

After my rant about the marathon I was happy to see that yesterday afternoon someone finally came to their senses. So, I feel justified in my ranting.

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Work all day, once again boiled my 8 pots of water, diluted with cold water to get enough warm water for a sponge bath if you will. I was able to charge our laptop at work and pick up a free Wi-Fi signal at home for as long as the battery lasted. Read a little bit in bed with every blanket in the house piled on top of me and don't think I moved an inch before I woke up too early. It was more than painful to break the blanket seal and allow cold air in. I could have laid there all day. But I was up, washed my hair and headed to work where I can at least plug in the hair dryer.

This is an intersting link that shows some before and after pictures in areas throughout New Jersey.

And the below pictures made me smile  :-)  They are at Nana & Piperes so I would not be surprised if this was at breakfast

Friday, November 02, 2012

Thoughts on Day 4

Let me first say that these are my thoughts, not influenced by work and honestly I don't know how anyone at work really feels about this. But when I sit at work all day and hear how employees can not get to work because there is no gas in their car and employees who are at work can not make it to the field because there is no gas, contractors from as far away as California are being flown in, their trucks loaded on military planes, and there are no hotels within 80 miles of NYC. FEMA is assisting with setting up mini camps at 3 locations throughout the city, each housing 1000 contractors. But have no dear, the marathon will go on. Starting in Staten Island that has been torn to pieces and still has 53K customers out of service. I just don't understand how it is a good idea to divert police resources to clean the marathon route, hold pedestrians back from the route, hand out water, etc... It really frustrates me to no end. Release their hotel rooms to the people that could use them, give the water and snacks to those who need them. Am I alone with these thoughts, what do YOU think? Hello, McFly, anyone out there? I posted a few links to articles below, I'm sure there are plenty of others out there.

Daily News Article
New York Post Article 
New York Times Article

After working yesterday I headed home, donned my head lamp flashlight, and began the daunting task of cleaning out the fridge and freezer. It aggravated me how much money I was throwing out and made ne question why we went grocery shopping before the storm. When we prepare for the next storm we will certainly prepare differently. Guess it wasn't that important to get milk for the girls 2 days before the storm hit. Why do people but bread, milk, and eggs when a storm is coming? 2 of the 3 got thrown out last night. I took out 6 bags of food alone, down 3 flights of stairs in the pitch black. All the while wondering why I didn't just open the fridge 2 days ago and at least enjoy a beer while they were cold. After all that work, I figured I at least deserved a bath so I took the 4 biggest pots I could find in the house, filled them up and boiled some water. After 8 trips back and forth bringing the water to the bathroom I had enough hot water that I could mix with cold water to have a lukewarm sponge bath. You gotta do what you gotta do, right? The hair washing is done with my head flipped over the tub in the mornings and then I dry my hair as soon as I get to work.

That is all for now - hope everyone enjoyed Halloween. I'm sure Claire would love to play if anyone is around Massachusetts. She will be there all of next week through November 10th.

XOXO

Here is a picture from one of our mini camps

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Amazing Pictures

These pictures, all of them taken in Hoboken, give me chills.

Hurricane Sandy Day 3

The days go by and the disbelief is really starting to set in. Seeing the pictures of Hoboken really open my eyes to the devastation that has taken place there. So far I have only been in Hoboken in the pitch black and I have yet to venture off the main street while driving. Dan posted this picture on twitter, it's where we grocery shop. and this article details some of the devastation in Hoboken. The National guard rolled in yesterday to perform some rescues and help people out. If you watch the Today Show you probably saw Natalie Morales reporting live from Hoboken. I'm not going to lie, watching those videos give me the chills and bring tears to my eyes.

The reality of this event is starting to set in. Our employees are having trouble getting to work because there is no gas to be found anywhere and lodging is limited. Waking up in the cold is no fun and the thought of taking a cold shower is sometimes unbearable. This morning I just flipped my hair into the tub and opted to skip the shower. Once I get to work I plug in the hair dryer and resume the feeling of semi-normalcy. And to think I have it better than most. Last night I drove home a few employees who also live in Hoboken - they had not been home since Sunday. They were more than grateful and I drove them in again this morning. You now need 3 people in the car to enter Manhattan between 6AM and midnight. The one street in Hoboken that does have power has set up sidewalk internet cafes so people can charge their phones as needed.