September 23, 2003 - permalink

Still in the Dark

After a beautiful Friday, then a warmer Saturday, and a muggier Sunday and a rainy Monday, I am ready for my air conditioning to return.  A Vepco truck pulled down Albemarle street on Sunday.  I've not seen any signs of them in my neighborhood since. Virginia Power has committed to restoring power to 75 percent of its customers by Thursday. With half of the area still without power, that means that Richmonds who are still in the dark have an even money chance of getting power by Thursday.

Being without power does make you appreciate some things.  I went to the Laundromat next to Ellwood Thompson tonight...and enjoyed it.   I could read a magazine after sunset in full light.   Also, I was out of my dark house.   With fall starting last weekend, there is now slightly less than twelve hours of sunlight during the day.   I get about an hour or so before I go to work, then another hour and a half at the end of the day.   Without artificial light, the first half hour of dawn and the last half hour of sunset don't provide that much light through the largely north facing windows on my house.   The home furnishings industry would go under if people stop using artificial light; you don't care much how the inside of your house looks if you can't see it most of the time.   I am also tired of candles.   I not longer seek mood lighting; give me a bare incandescent bulb or even...gasp... fluorescent light any day.

I have found a place to charge my laptop, which now makes it a fantastic device — I can access the Internet and watch DVDs now — for up to four hours a day.