Well, hello strangers! I wanted to make sure that you all knew that Irene didn't blow me and Ray off the planet. In fact, she sorta blew herself out, at least when it comes to Rhode Island. We had pretty minimal rain and gusts of wind that were not too bad. Even the storm surge was milder than expected.

The result is that we lost two pretty good sized limbs off of one of the trees in our yard. They made a pretty good SNAP and CRACK when they went, but that was not so bad, considering. Ironically, it was off the tree that we have dubbed "The Tree We Can't Kill." We have tried to cut back the tree numberous times, even stunting its trunk at one point, only to find it growing back with ease. We assume she'll recover from this shock with just as much ease, taunting us with her attraction to ants.

The worst of the situation was the electric power problem. Irene did something interesting she came through. There seems to be some debate as to the reasons, but she pretty much took out the whole statewide power grid. I have heard that it might be due to the fact that the regions nuclear power plants were taken off the grid to prepare for the hurricane, and the strain of the air conditioners and other use were too much as the storm really kicked in. it forced the feeder lines to the state to fail, blowing out at least 20 substations sprinkled throughout the state.

We lost power a little after 8am on Sunday, which was actually before the worst of the storm, which was only a tropical storm when it hit, rolled into the area. Some parts of the state were lucky enough to recover within hours, but they proved to be the exception. The Providence Journal had a big banner headline on the topic. It awas accompanied with this graphic:

In case you are wondering, my town is Burrillville (top left), and I work in Cumberland (top right).

Ray and I got practice at living without power for two days. I couldn't go to work because the library had no power. He was supposed to start work tomorrow, the original first day of school, but that has been pushed off now, until September 6.

I actually did a lot of reading ... I finished 4 books. I will have to catch up reviewing those in my old blog. Hopefully, that will get done tomorrow. Each night, we used the remaining battery in my laptop to watch a DVD. it worked out pretty nicely. It was definitely life with a slower pace.

The Providence Journal is reporting that only 28% of the state is still without power as of now (dinnertime on Tuesday).

So, overall, we fared pretty well. I know I can't complain too badly. We could have made out a lot worse. I will have to wait until tomorrow morning to hear if the library is still without power. At least, that will be a lot easier with electricity.