Brownout

I flip on the bathroom light switch and am surprised by the weak orange glow from the three clear 40 watt globes above the mirror. The florescent light by the shower doesn't come on at all. I quickly turn them off again.

We had bad thunder bangers last night and again early this morning. We often lose our power here in Yellow Springs when that happens. But I have never had a situation where it appears that we have half-power or maybe less. I wonder if it is just my house or the whole town. I am worried about the appliances. I am sure that no power at all is better than just a little power.

I sniff the air for the smell of smoke. There is none. I call the police non-emergency number and the dispatcher answers. I recognize her voice. It is the tall auburn-haired, doe-eyed beauty I met yesterday, when I went there to do the police reports for the newspaper. Their computer was down then. So, I decided I would come back in the morning. Now this...

“The whole village is experiencing a brownout,” she says.

I go around the house unplugging most of the major appliances I think can be harmed by low voltage. Amy is up and boiling water on a portable gas burner. She is supposed to go to Miamisburg for a bank managers meeting, but she decides to stay in town to be sure there are no problems with the vault or the alarms at her branch. She leaves and I am at a loss for what to do next.

I hunt down an old transistor radio, put in a new battery and scan the airwaves for some news. Trees are down everywhere and there are scattered outages around the Miami Valley is the little news I can get. No mention of us. I can only pick up a few stations and now they are all playing music or talking about Jesus. I get 90% of my news from the Internet and the other 10% from television. I am at a loss. What would Jesus do?

There is no coffee. I can't even boil the instant decaf I found hidden away in a cabinet, because the gas cannister on the burner Amy was using has run out.

The power goes all the way out. I am relieved.

I have a vague notion that I should go to the police station. I have a noon deadline on the police report and time is wasting. I dress and drive through town. The usual characters are on the bench in front of Tom's Market. I yell at them, “Get a job!” They yell back.

“It's over on Snipe Road,” my friend Walter calls to me.

“That's Snypp,” another one corrects him. “They're working on it.”

Across the street, in front of the darkened Emporium a dozen people are standing around with paper coffee cups. They must have a gas stove, I think, making a mental note to stop there when I get done at the police station. I am blocking traffic. I move on.

The police station looks like a minor run on a bank. People have gone in person to inquire about how long they will be without power. Of course, no one can predict.

“Is there any chance I can work on the police reports?” I ask my new friend.

“The power is out,” she says.

I can see from the bright lights in the dispatch area behind the glass that they have generator power. I assume she means there is no power for the computer that I need to use. I have been dispatched. I am at a loss for what to do next.

I suppose I should go over to the newspaper, but first I stop at the Emporium. Walter is there.

“There's no hot coffee,” he says. “All they have is iced coffee and decaf. They have run out of hot coffee.”

“I think I'll make a run to Tim Horton's” I tell him. “Wanna come?”

Like the Springer Spaniel I had when I was a kid, he is always ready to go for a ride.

“Let me check to see if Amy wants coffee,” I say and head for the bank.

Walter plants himself back on the bench while I take orders from Amy and her employees. The list is substantial. On the way to Fairborn, I get a call on my cell phone. She wants me to stop at the Five Points branch and pick up some forms.

Back in town, I drop in at the paper. Diane is out of town and Lauren is in charge. The lights are out and the computers are down. She seems to be at a loss for what to do next.

“What's the latest I can get the police reports to you?” I ask.

“Four o'clock,” she says. “Does anyone know how long it's going to take to get the power back up?”

Dee brings her a breakfast burrito wrapped in foil. It's hot.

“Where'd you get that?” I ask.

“The Emporium,” she says. “They've got gas.”

“Hot coffee?”

“No, just cold.”

I take a sip from my Tim Horton's, satisfied that I made the right move. But now I am at a loss for what to do next. I decide to go home. The battery in my laptop is fully charged. Of course, the wireless is down, so I decide to write this.

And now for some solitaire.

(The YS News reported the next day that the brownout started at 6:30 am when lightening struck a power substation on Snypp Road. Full power was lost a couple hours later. Power was not restored until around 2:00 pm.)