Back on the Grid

Its so crazy how dependent we are on electricity and other modern conveniences. We got our power back the Saturday before last, while we were in Austin. I was so happy that all I wanted to do is zoom back into town and see it for my own eyes! We got our cable and internet back a few days later and oddly enough just yesterday I was skimming along and saw the True Life show on MTV. It was focused on Living Off the Grid. In their case it was really off the grid as they had to shun ALL modern conveniences. We still had a gas stove, hot water, clean running water...they went totally off all that. It made me think again how this was hardly a desperate situation, comparatively, yet all of us treated it as such.

So back to life as usual. But before that, let me recap. Dave Boyd's memorial was rescheduled a week later. It was a nice ceremony. Sad. I swear they wanted to make sure everyone had a moist eye in the church--they placed Dave's Salsa Dos Niner bike up front with a lot of his gear. Just seeing it there without him was rough. It was a huge turnout--a testament to Dave's far-reaching touch. The announcement of Team iMOAT was made...in Memory Of A Teammate--Dave Boyd. I was quite amazed that none of the HART group organized anything afterwards. Mo and I just went back home to our power-less house.

The next day I decided to get out of the house and ride around town. The trails around town were trashed--the Tuesday before I decided to do a brick and couldn't even go a couple hundred meters until I had to bushwhack! Good thing I knew the park so well, otherwise I'm sure I would have been lost after a while. So instead I rode downtown to check out the building damage. They had cleaned up most of the mess already, but you could still see the remnants of Ike. I also got a chance to check out the new Discovery Green--pretty cool! Will have to come back here again sometime on foot.

Another week started and still no power. Everytime I drove back home from work and saw that downed transformer in the ditch still, I died a little inside. I felt especially bad for Rock who was visibly panting more because of the absence of AC. I ran the Memorial Loop a couple times during the week--was more fun now without lights. It seemed to disorient the normal users of the trail, but I instead bobbed and weaved through everyone. That Saturday was supposed to be our engagement party, but we still had no power, so we cancelled. Still dont know when we can have it. Anyway, instead I went for a morning bike ride to clear my head. Took the TC Jester trail. This was the first time I had ridden it entirely. I chuckled when it just abrubtly ended right before Tidwell--I was on my road bike so I had to be careful through the rough. I rode to Jaunda and Nick's but it didnt look like anyone was stirring, so I continued on. It was a nice, cool morning. Finished my ride by stopping by Starbucks for a sip of jo, then headed back to tinker in the garage.


Mo was getting antsy in the pantsy again, so I agreed to head to Austin. I also had sold one of our Eliminators to Deb, so we went and delivered that to her. That same day we for the first time saw some utility workers in our neighborhood, so I was thinking this would probably be the day. The USCA Championships were going on in Bastrop that same weekend, so we stopped by along the way to see Deb and Mike--she was racing all weekend so it would be doubtful we would get a chance to hang out for long. After saying hi, we drove into Austin and crashed at her place. That's when we heard that our power was back on--I then only had one thing on my mind. We had a simple dinner at a local mexican cantina then headed to bed early.

Next morning we went for coffee and breakfast and then took Rock to Redbud Island. Boy, did he love it! I was amazed that he actually came back after he ran off chasing other dogs. We spent about an hour or so there and then I decided we should just head back home. We were going to say goodbye to Deb when we drove through Bastrop, but she was already done with her race and was heading back to Austin--she saw us on the way back. As we creeped back through our neighborhood, I cringed to look and see if that damn transformer was still there...it wasnt! As we pulled up to the house and I got out, I heard our alarm beeping, so I knew we had power! Yippee! I proceeded to plug everything back in. Good times again.

Went for another run that week and the lights were still out on half of the Memorial trail--made adjusting to the darkness a bit interesting. Saturday was the Race for the Cure 5k. Weather was a bit better than last year, but I ran a worse time. I'm definitely out of racing shape. Oh well. Good thing I'm retired. LOL. Hung out a bit then headed home so that I could catch up on my tv shows--yes, cable was finally back on as well. Later that night we went over to Whit and Aarons for a grill out. Was good for the most part.

Next morning was our photoshoot with the Warship. It was a bit warm, but it was still fun. Such a professional! Can't wait to see the finish product! Nothing much else happened that day except taking Rock to the dog park and then cleaning up the house. Things are pretty much back to normal. Gotta figure out the next goal. Suggestions? And don't say PQ!!