Destruction and Mayhem!
Over the weekend — specifically, Friday afternoon through late Saturday — our area experienced one of the worst autumn storms anyone can remember, with driving rain and winds gusting 80+ MPH (130 km/h). Invariably, the electricity went out within less than an hour of of the storm's start, as several large trees fell across the main transmission lines to our city, and literally snapped several massive utility poles with the force of it.
One of the primary problems... just one of MANY! photo credit
Life in the Dark...
We're pretty well prepared to survive these kinds of events, with a good stock of food, water, propane cooking, battery lanterns, candles, backup power paks and so forth.
The key word there is "survive," mind you... because approximately 26 hours without electricity and Internet (aside from my phone) meant 26 hours of involuntarily missed work, when you depend on the online environment for some semblance of a living.
What most of the roads looked like...
Severe weather event or not, the current economic climate has not been kind to us... and this period with little to do other than reflect made me realize not only how much we are "scraping bottom" these days, but how many of our friends are in the same boat.
"I'd offer to help, but all we have are the loose coins between the couch cushions" is less and less of a flip joke, and more and more of a reality.
The other day, I ran into one of our neighbors — who is in his 60's and has been semi-retired for several years — now stocking shelves at Safeway because he and his wife can no longer make ends meet, due to rising costs of living and declining income from their small home businesses.
Slim pickings, everywhere.
And so — Monday morning — I looked at incoming bills and charges and little to meet them... and (quite literally) decided it would be prudent to collect all the loose change from jars around the house, get them all rolled and counted... and taken to the bank.
We need that $219.00!
Spare change...
On reflection, it's not the first time I have had to round up spare change just to get by; in fact, it has happened multiple times across my 60+ years on this planet. Didn't think I'd end up doing it again, this late in life... but there ya go!
Not really complaining, though... mostly observing.
"Choices have consequences," the old truism goes. I was quite free to choose not to be driven by ambition and an eternal quest for material success... and the consequences of that has often been a life that scrapes the bottom of the barrel.
Including rolling up loose coins to get by!
But hey, at least we have some, right?
Downed trees and branches on our street...
Gratitude, Regardless...
In the end, what can I do but be philosophical about it all? Thankfully, there was no damage to our house, and we are privileged that we can say that we have a house.
Meanwhile, it has now become Monday, and I am working to catch up for lost time... and taking a few moments for a blog post!
But first, I need to take all those coins to the bank!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great rest of your week!
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Created at 20221107 15:08 PDT
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Yup, same here. The last few months have been pretty tight due to higher utility expenses. Hoping now I am past that it will ease some.
Utilities are up, insurance is up... because homeowner's insurance is based on value and the assessed value of our hous is up 20% from last year, due to the crazy real estate markets, and supermarket staples are sharply up. It's not a workable equation...
Caches of pocket change have saved my bacon a few times. I know the feeling.
I find it to be a poignant reminder to all those who dismiss small amounts as "too small to bother with."
It brings to mind the contrast between the widow's mite and a certain podcaster who sneered at small donations from poorer supporters as an insult to his greatness, too.
We also had lots of damage to tree, cottages, houses, etc when Fiona blew through here a few weeks ago. The cleanup is still going on. Luckily no damage to our house but many trees uprooted.
“A penny saved is a penny earned.” 😊