Yesterday around 3:00PM the power to my entire neighborhood went out. I called the power company and was assured it would be back on in an hour or two. They said it was caused by the frozen rain storm and was a normal maintenance repair.
Five hours later it was dark and the temperature was dropping pretty quickly. The power company help line had been so over-run with calls that they switched it to an automated voice dialing system and no operators would be made available.
By midnight the temperature in my house had fallen below fifty degrees and my wife was unwilling to go to a nice hotel because she did not want to leave our kitten in the house by itself. She suggested instead that we get cozy in bed and try our best to keep each other warm all night.
I want to thank the State of New York and the power company they negligently operate for what proved to be the absolute best Valentines Day gift I could have ever asked for.
