Cold... so cold! (those without power)

[cks511]

I voted NO so my power will be on LAST...LOL

[Steve]

Mine came on at 9:00 AM Friday.

What really saved me and kept my house inhabitable during this ordeal was the gas wall furnace in my den.  It is natural gas, gravity type wall furnace that needs no electricity (thermocouple for thermostat operation) and is powerful enough to heat my 400 sq. ft. den+.  It is vented to the outside with a flue through the roof.  I left the doors to the room open and it helped to partially heat the rest of the house too.  The temperature in my home never dipped below 59 degrees during my 4.5 days without electricity, thanks to my gas heater.

[tulsacyclist]

Our power came back on last night around 6PM.

What saved us was the generator hooked up to the blower on our heating system. We were able to keep most of the house around 70 w/ no problem. =] Also able to run a TV, few lights, freezer, etc. It worked out good and even tho it was ~$500 it was well worth it to keep the wife and baby warm! We also spent a couple nights with different friends who had power before buying the generator.

[tulsa1603]

After getting a nice weekend away.I got to fly in after dark last night.  It was interesting to see the pathces of dark, but by and large the city was lit up like normal. I'm in Florence Park, and I still don't have power, and probably won't until the end of the week.  My electrician fixed my meter on Friday, but my block still doesn't have power, and they have to connect me to the line still...  Ugh, what a Christmas.

[rwarn17588]

In my part of Red Fork, my power came on Sunday night, then winked out again for four hours Monday morning (feeder line went down).

We were OK. We use a woodstove for primary heat anyway, and have a gas hot water heater for doing dishes and showers. Add battery-powered LED lights to the mix, and we were pretty comfortable.

My biggest regret was not being able to watch any NFL games.

[midtownnewbie]

Still waiting...  Could today be the day???

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by midtownnewbie

Still waiting...  Could today be the day???

BTW, the psoklahoma.com map is misleading.  

It shows Florence Park as 95% on.  No way.  Same thing with Florence Park south, on the other side of 21st, which is completely dark.

[cks511]

This is day nine for me to be without electricity and still waiting. I've learned a few things:

1. I can make a tasty pan of coffee using my one pan and the basket from my perkolator. No disaster will ever force me to drink instant. ICK!

2. Smoke alarms will wake me up in an instant. My neighbors replaced their candles with the flashlight I gave them. Geesh.

3. If you dial 411 to get to the power company's customer service, you will be connected to a real person. I've talked to a real person every day. In fact I'm going to do it now, be right back. BINGO, successfully talked to a person and resubmitted my outage, I'm going to be famous!

4. A pomeranian is the best foot warmer.

5. Make sure you have a common area for your stuff. Losing your keys in the dark sucks. Now is not the time to put them in a spiffy new location.

6. I too can look like a transient.

7. I too can smell bad.

8. They do not make battery operated hair dryers. Why?

And the most important thing I have learned?

I can no longer go naked onto my front porch, the bush that shielded the view is gone.....oooops, hello Mr. Jogger. Don't ask.

I'll keep you posted.

Maybe today.

[Friendly Bear]

quote:Originally posted by cks511

This is day nine for me to be without electricity and still waiting. I've learned a few things:

1. I can make a tasty pan of coffee using my one pan and the basket from my perkolator. No disaster will ever force me to drink instant. ICK!

2. Smoke alarms will wake me up in an instant. My neighbors replaced their candles with the flashlight I gave them. Geesh.

3. If you dial 411 to get to the power company's customer service, you will be connected to a real person. I've talked to a real person every day. In fact I'm going to do it now, be right back. BINGO, successfully talked to a person and resubmitted my outage, I'm going to be famous!

4. A pomeranian is the best foot warmer.

5. Make sure you have a common area for your stuff. Losing your keys in the dark sucks. Now is not the time to put them in a spiffy new location.

6. I too can look like a transient.

7. I too can smell bad.

8. They do not make battery operated hair dryers. Why?

And the most important thing I have learned?

I can no longer go naked onto my front porch, the bush that shielded the view is gone.....oooops, hello Mr. Jogger. Don't ask.

I'll keep you posted.

Maybe today.

A long-standing public policy decision to allow a proliferation of traffic control lights at cross streets BETWEEN major intersections added immensely to the difficulty of just getting around Tulsa during the power outage.

With the electrical outage, the traffic jams suffered at every major intersection without traffic control, were COMPOUNDED by non-functioning traffic control lights on side streets BETWEEN the major intersections.  

East 71st Street was especially bad, between Riverside and Garnett.  I'm sure there are many other unsatisfactory experiences to relate.

How many traffic control lights are located on that 7 mile long major arterial?

[cks511]

31st and Riverside is still out as of this morning.  41st and Riverside came up yesterday.

[tulsa1603]

They're working on College and Evanston in Florence Park....which should get the regular people on those streets back up.  People like me, who had meter damage, might have a few more days.  I'm shocked that PSO still can't give me an estimated day, considering that they are down to 6,000 right now!  It's been 10 days!!!

[sgrizzle]

I'm sure they have an idea, it's just a lot of work to get that information to you.

[midtownnewbie]

We're still without power...  We hope it comes back on today.