Last night, there was a scheduled building-wide blackout for some electrical work to be done here. The notifications had been up since I moved in, so I was trying to be as prepared as possible. The power outage was scheduled Friday night at 10pm to Saturday morning at 10am. My concern was mostly being without TV and coffee in the morning..... However, the building management issued instructions to prepare, so I felt I should try to be ready. Thursday after physio, I made a trip to Future Shop to buy some rechargeable batteries for a solar powered lamp that I brought from home (because I had experienced the Big Blackout in the GTA in 2003). This was a good start for my "bug-out" kit, I thought. I also purchased an external rechargeable battery pack for my iPhone and iPad, because even though TV and Internet would be down I thought I could survive by reading my book on the iPad or playing games. In my adventure to be prepared for the blackout, I foolishly did not think to bring an extra O2 tank (sometimes my
No Fear attitude gets me in a
pickle)..... Driving back from the store, I found myself in rush hour traffic. Usually not a problem heading back into downtown, it also happened to be a Maple Leafs game night. There is a bit of construction going on along the Gardiner Expressway and a shortcut street I jumped on to get me past the hockey fans took me directly into a one way path to the front doors of the ACC, which also currently happens to be the main entrance to Union Station (while Front St. is closed for renovations to the station). I was surrounded by cars, buses, taxis and streams of pedestrians who move for
nothing! There was much cutting in front and honking going on, but I took some deep breaths and smiled as if I didn't want to panic and scream. Time stood as still as the vehicles around me as I wondered how I get myself into these things? Patience and deep breathing paid off and finally I inched back toward York St. I saw my opportunity and scooted through the walkers to a clearer street. Upon arriving at my parkade, I realized it was another place NOT to be at rush hour. The lanes down to the fifth level parking are narrow and cars are heading both ways. I had just received a rolling walker at the hospital that day to aid in walking with my heavy O2 tank so I unloaded it out of the car and pushed my way to the elevators on the last of my oxygen. I was never so glad to be in my own home away from home! Friday morning as I prepared for the power outage, I realized I had bought AAA batteries instead of AA, my new rechargeable battery was not charging properly and maybe the only useful part of my adventure the night before was finding a Tim Horton's drive-thru to pick up my Tassimo coffee discs. In the afternoon, I headed over again for my physio. On the way home at 4pm it was already getting dark and drizzly cold. I was greeted by building staff who wanted to know if I had full O2 tanks for the night, filled my bathtub with water for toilet flushing, if I had enough warm blankets, letting me know they would be patrolling the hallways all night and were on call if I needed to call for help anytime. Dutifully I got to my apartment, filled one bucket with water (how much would I need to flush in one night?). I made sure my O2 tanks were full and went to bed to watch TV and read. The announcement came at 10pm that the power outage could happen anytime. I watched TV until midnight, fell asleep and when I woke up at 9am, there was power! I enjoyed my coffee and only knew the power had been off because clocks were flashing...... Its good to be prepared but I was sure glad I didn't eat that whole carton of ice cream to save it from melting!!
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