Last Monday I was in surgery and no, I’m not the doctor. I was the unconscious one. It was elective and the surgery went well, so I was discharged on Tuesday and sent home to recuperate. And all was going about as expected until Thursday. I had a call in to my doctor with a question and was awaiting a call back. But mid-morning some hinky stuff started happening with my power. Lights winking mostly. I wondered what was up, but didn’t think about it until I discovered the fridge wasn’t running. With all my post surgical food inside! But the outlets and lights were working in my bedroom so if only I could get someone to pull the fridge out, maybe I could run an extension cord until things got fixed. A neighbor helped me get the fridge out of its super tight space, but when plugged in, it wouldn’t run. Still had lights in the bedroom. So, then my neighbor, thinking on his feet, headed up to his place and returned with a little dorm fridge, which we plugged into the bedroom outlet. Yay! It was on. He had to leave for an appointment so I was going to move my essentials into the little fridge, then put the rest in the wagon and drag them down to his garage where he has an extra fridge.  Shortly after he was gone, the power went out completely. No wonder the doctor hadn't returned my call!

I get on the phone with the power company to discuss my problem. In the meantime, another neighbor threw a long extension over the fence to plug in the fridge, and to my astonishment, it worked. Apparently the outlets were not getting full power and the fridge won’t operate on just some power. One headache solved – I don’t need a new refrigerator. But I still have no power. The first rep I spoke with from the power company told me I needed an inspection before they could restore power. I pointed out that I’ve had power since the storm and this problem is new and is in their equipment. This argument was repeated a number of times. I’m beginning to thing, “WHY ME?” Like I need this right now! Finally I pulled the surgery card, explained that I’d just had major surgery so if I sounded a little desperate, it was because I was having trouble coping. The man put me through to his supervisor. She logged into my meter and realized I should be getting power and dispatched a linesman.

The repair man finally showed up at 5:30. Isn’t that always the case? We’ll be there between 9 and 5 and they show up a half hour after the window. Anyway, he quickly found that yes, the problem was with power company equipment. It was a short between the pole and my house and it was fixed in minutes. THANK GOD! And the repair man! My power is on again.

I’d like to say the saga ended there, but it was quickly discovered that the microwave apparently did not fare well with the power surge before the power died completely. My first neighbor showed up shortly thereafter having noticed that I had not brought my excess food up to put in his freezer. He and his wife were concerned and came to check on me. On discovering that the little dorm fridge was no longer needed but that the microwave was dead, he came and carried the fridge away and returned with a little microwave. One of these days, when I’m feeling stronger, I’ll go shopping for a new one. In the meantime I have to say,