Thank goodness…

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Let’s just say it’s been an interesting time since Thursday afternoon…..

  • Thank goodness for scheduling of blog posts…..and that the last couple were pubished on the correct day and at the ‘correct’ time.

It was a lovely day on Thursday, fine dry and sunny. Yes, the ones I like. The wind was blowing so washing was out on the line early…..only it didn’t stop ‘just blowing’ but turned nasty late in the afternoon.

  • Thank goodness I got it all in early or I’d have had a hard job getting it off the line…or blown away doing so

An early dinner was made, lights started flickering, I could see stuff flying down the street, I’d just turned on the gas heater to warm up the lounge room and then there’s this huge bang. Lights out and the spot where the motor is sort of exploded.

  • Thank goodness we weren’t actually close to it. Thank goodness I knew where the candles and holder’s were and more importantly where the big torches were.
  • Thank goodness we have mains gas……meaning we could at least cook, boil water and if need be keep warm by lighting the oven
  • Thank goodness authorities keep in touch via SMS so we were sort of kept up to date regarding estimated ‘turn back on time’

Problem was power is above ground here in my area; a tree (well more than one) had dropped and felled our main line on the road I featured in Sunday’s post.
Nature has a way of showing us who’s the boss and we weren’t the only ones in this predicament. There are only so many linesmen so many SES crews and so many people affected.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/driver-killed-by-tree-child-fighting-for-life-as-wild-storm-batters-melbourne/news-story/52efedf6460589e5a804245ab3835b07
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/wild-weather-more-than-130-000-homes-without-power-child-hit-by-tree-20200827-p55q1f.html

  • Thank goodness I didn’t rehome those big jam pans, because they proved really handy for boiling larger quantities of water. I‘d been using a small milk pan for hot drinks plus a larger saucepan to cover the inconvenience of no hot water for dishes so having them when the ‘boil water advisory’ came through meaning all water had to be boiled before use I didn’t have to panic. I can’t imagine how much bottled was bought by people in all electric homes.
  • https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-28/yarra-valley-water-users-told-to-boil-water-after-storms/12605930

Had to negotiate road blocks to get to a son’s home….thankfully stage4 ‘stay away from other houses’ was lifted for those affected and their families. Keeping the freezer door closed meant everything was okay…except for The Golfer’s box of ice creams. There was no way he was going to forfeit a brand new supply of 24 Magnums so he deposited them into son’s freezer and left our mobiles and iPads there being recharged.

  • Thank goodness for having unaffected family close by, and not having to worry about being fined for breaking the restrictions. We played it the right way (he took them down/ I picked them up) no hugs or kisses, we kept our side of the bargain

Fast forward Saturday evening and the crews are gradually making their way down the street.
This is now going to be a very non technical description…….each house has a power line from the cable running along the street, each line has a ‘safety fuse box’ before the live electricity is actually delivered, each ‘fuse’ had blown (not little bits of wire they used years ago but little gadget type things) so they all had to be renewed. The linesman was connecting ours and the meter box sort of went bang, very loudly, with a big bright fizz, enough for the little fella to come out with a few choice words swear very loudly 😊.
After a long wait the main switchboard, main switch, surge diverter and circuit protection were replaced so it was well after 11pm before our electricity supply was connected and the lights are back on again!

Here it is Monday morning and it’s surprising how much better you feel after a long hot bath and a couple of good nights sleep free from worry. All we have to hope now is the weather holds……living in an old house means lots of unexplained cool breezes…..and having no living room heating means I’ll be feeing it ……hopefully when the heater serviceman arrives on Friday (yes we had to wait that long) he’ll have the correct part and we start a claim with Ausnet’s insurance company.

  • But then….Thank goodness we do have an electric heater which we can use in the back bedroom come ‘office’. It’s a small room, there’s a couch in there so I can read or watch the compact tv while The Golfer plays around on his computer……all cosy and warm!

Oh dear I really didn’t mean to write this much to basically tell you …..a huge storm went through…we had no electricity for a couple of days and more….and now it’s back on!
So did anything interesting happen to you last week? 😊

18 thoughts on “Thank goodness…”

  1. touch wood, we haven’t had any huge storms this winter, which put power on your number one list – of “lets’ get my house going first” – it’s good that your “lockdown was adjusted” for you.

    up until last Friday, Auckland was on tenterhooks whether we would move down a level, but to some normalcy and it did last night in the small hours 11.59 we are arrived a new stage which is apparently known as L/2.5 – the rest of the country at L/2 but it’s better than it was for the last couple of weeks. The big community cluster that evolved is still evolving but apparently the “ring fence” is all good…

    the only difference I have to contend is mandatory wearing of masks on public transport – I’m usually a great user of said system. And not mandatory wearing a mask when you leave the house, I’m still working on that one…and I do have some, but want to make better ones – baby steps

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    1. The mask wearing still remains a bone of contention here in Australia. More ‘young ones & thugs’ are protesting about that and the whole lockdown/virus affair.
      And different states have different ‘rules’ according to their needs. It’s going to be a while before it’s all over Cathy so yes it’s acceptance and baby steps for all of us

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  2. The power goes out here pretty often when we have heavy rains and landslides but the repairmen are excellent and the longest we have been without power has been eight hours. Enough to be a bother as if Leo has no light he cannot get around, so, like you, we have the big torches to hand…and we cook on gas.
    When we moved to France many years ago I was surprised to see hobs with two gas rings and two electric ones. Yes, said a lugubrious salesman, it;s for when the power goes out….

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    1. Sadly there are still households who are still wanting/needing help. Like during bushfires there’s only so many ‘bodies’ available to do the work.

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    1. Not having any power I’ve no idea what it was like elsewhere Andrew. The wild weather went on during the night but the damage was done well before then.
      How was it in the city

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      1. Yes saved just in the nick of time – it’s back here now waiting patiently in our freezer…..the right time might be later today😊

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    2. I shouldn’t say I’m glad you liked it Joanne but once I started talking’ I just couldn’t stop 😊Oh yes the young lad had my thanks

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    1. Yes Cathy, all is working again…..but there’s another severe weather – damaging wind warning out for tonight/tomorrow. Thankfully no sheep grazier warnings like we’ve had recently (little new born lambs don’t do too well in bitterly cold weather)
      Keeping the local glaziers in work? Wonder how many others in the neighbourhood had house calls 😊

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  7. I’m glad to you are okay and weathered that bad storm, Cathy.

    A very scary time, and it is so sad that little boy got killed. I don’t understand why, though, the father took those kiddies out for a walk during the storm! It makes no sense to me.

    Keep taking good care. 🙂

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    1. Taking very good care Lee – although there’s more on the way according to the BOM. Severe weather warning….damaging winds….but temperatures going up to 20°….in September!

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  8. Makes you realize how much our modern lives are connected to electricity and how little we have in the way of back-up or alternatives. We get hot water from solar panels here but it really only works in the summer – when the last thing you want is a really hot shower! However, my word can it get hot when the sun does shine on it. I suspect a better insulated tank might mean some warm water in winter too but we only rent the apartment so modifications won’t be attempted.

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