Reminder: Power is a wonderful thing...

Last night, the power went out twice, once for an hour and a half and again a few hours later for about five minutes.

Each time, clocks had to be reset. Fortunately, nothing was recharging.

The first time, I called the electric company. She was very pleasant and let me know it wasn't us. It was a circuit breaker. She gave me an approximate time of repair and offered to call back. Standard procedure, I know. The whole neighborhood was affected. It's kind of funny seeing people coming out of their houses and checking with each other with a nod.

What helped make the whole thing less stressful?

I programmed the emergency number to the electric company into my phone. No needing to look it up anymore. I use it maybe once or twice a year. It's worth not having to struggle to find the number in the dark.

What else helped?

I have four flashlights and a candle in my room. There's the square, clunky old plastic traditional flashlight. I usually use it to find things in dark corners. I also have a lovely lantern with an LED light in it. I hate the blue light, but it was great for walking around a dark house. I have a little flashlight, smaller than a pen. I used it at first to locate everything. It also has the blue light I find annoying for my eyes. I switched to my little reading flashlight. And I had extra batteries, just in case.

It was a lovely evening as I enjoyed guilt-free reading, especially since I'd added several thousand words to my manuscript already.

This does not, in any way, imply I wouldn't mind it happening again. I prefer having power, thank you. Even so, it was pleasant knowing I knew what to do and how to do it.

Thanks God!