Well, like much of the East coast we spent this week preparing for hurricane Irene. Ok wait… that’s not entirely true. In true form, hubby & I spent much of the week discussing preparation for hurricane Irene and only on Friday did we begin to take any action. (We live at the Jersey Shore and while many towns around us were on mandatory evacuations, we are far enough inland that we could stay in our home.)
Earlier in the week I started asking hubby when he would be going out to buy our french toast supplies. Because it seems like that’s what everyone buys when there’s any sort of major weather occurrence. I can only assume that having eggs, milk & bread allows you to make french toast during a storm… and that somehow french toast makes everything better?! Like most last minute morons we were scrambling on Friday afternoon to pick up a few supplies. Which by the way, was about 3 days too late to get any bread, water or batteries. Guess, we’ll have to make our french toast from hamburger buns, which is the only bread we have in the house!
Anyhow, after we battened down the hatches, stowed away our outdoor items and secured our grill & shed, we then proceeded to break one of our own storm windows. ‘Cause why leave it all up to Irene when we can get a head start on breaking some of our own stuff!? So now, as we get the tape out and we’re attempting some sort of ghetto repair, and hubby’s cursing his way through the project, I realize I need to leave because…. what’s better to interrupt hurricane prep than a work event.
So, off I go to attend to work.
Not long after I’m gone I get a phone call from hubby.
In his infinite wisdom he says: ”You know, I was thinking and if the electricity goes off, our sump pump is going to stop working”.
To which I wisely reply: ”I suppose that’s true.. it does need power to work”.
And then he brightly says to me: ”I think we need a generator”.
To which I reply: ”HAHHAHAHA AHAHAHA! ” Then, when I regain my composure I say to him “Are you high?’
And he replies: ”Why?”
I simply can’t believe we are having this conversation so I try to hit him with a dose of reality and I say: ” That’s funny babe, you do realize it’s Friday before the hurricane and that much like batteries & water, stores have been sold out of generators for DAYS! We obviously should have thought about this days ago”.
Now… if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember our horrible basement flood earlier this year. A normal couple would have taken this as a learning opportunity to always consider what might happen if the sump pump stops working…. BUT – apparently not hubby & me!
So, back to our conversation.
Hubby says: ”Well, I’m going to try to find one”
I say: ”Good luck hon, I truly hope you are successful, but I’ve been watching the news and there have been lines of people everywhere awaiting emergency shipments, so I won’t hold my breath”
And then I get back to my work thing and hubby goes on his mission.
Would you believe me if I told you that hubby drove over to Home Depot on a whim and arrived there are the EXACT-SAME-MOMENT that some elderly couple was returning a generator they bought because it was too heavy? I kid you not. Hubby promptly bought this generator (under the evil stares of other shoppers) and snuck it over to the car… the entire time waiting to get jumped by other jealous Last Minute Sallys in the parking lot!
So, as we sat snuggly on our couch watching countless hours of hurricane coverage on tv Saturday evening, we were prepared when we lost our power at 11pm. …. We got up quickly, grabbed the hamburger buns and started whisking eggs…… Ok, No, actually we watched the water rise around the sump pump for about 45 minutes (hoping maybe we didn’t need to open the $850 generator – YIKES!) and then decided we had no choice. It did take us quite some time to assemble the generator under flashlights, in the dark, in the garage, and to jury rig a solution to actually get the electricity into our basement while keeping the generator a safe distance from our home and not letting any of the rain or wind into the house. It was quite a sight, but by 2am we pumping out water and ready to call it a night.
All I have to say is, Thank God for hubby’s timing at Home Depot or we would still be cleaning up water and damaged items from our house. I’m happy to say that we survived and were very fortunate with virtually no damage to anything. Some other homes around us were not so lucky with flooding and fallen trees. My heart goes out to anyone who had severe damage or sustained any injuries from Irene.
And who knows….. maybe next time we will be more prepared…… or, then again, maybe not……………………
In case you are interested… here are a few images from some towns & friends nearby
Spring Lake Boardwalk
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