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| Photo Courtesy of Mother Jones |
When I woke up yesterday morning, it was evident that Sandy was not playing. I was in the house alone with my dog because the Stud had been called to work the day before, and he was stuck in New York. As the wind whipped against my windows, I remember praying that they didn't come crashing in. Q was pissed because I wouldn't let him sit in the window like he normally does, so he had an attitude. All day I stayed indoors...me and Q. And all day I made a point to keep my laptop, both cell phones, and my iPad charged just in case we lost power. And then the rain came...and it lasted all night.
I was sitting on my sofa blogging and watching DVR'd episodes of the Wendy Williams Show when the power went out at 8 PM....shit! But I was ready! I had all of my electronics charged and I had my flashlights within reach. I hopped in the bed, turned on my iPad, and started reading a book I had downloaded earlier in the day. I informed the Stud and my parents that we had lost power, and that I was going into electronic preservation mode. I was asleep by 10...and so was Q.
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| Photo Courtesy of NYDailyNews.com |
I woke up the next morning, and went outside to see what Sandy had done overnight. There were trees everywhere! Including on top of houses and cars. A mess! Fortunately, no one was injured in my immediate neighborhood. I went back inside and attempted to contact the Stud and my parents, but my cell phone had other plans. My phone was beeping red and only had about 10% battery life left. Not a problem! I hooked up my phone to my fully charged computer so I could get some more juice. After charging for about an hour, my parents called and urged me to find a way to their house in Brooklyn. The problem with that was that all of the combinations of bridges and tunnels that could get me to Brooklyn had been closed due to the weather conditions. I promised my parents that I would go out to my car to check the news to see when those crossings would be open. I let my cell phone charge for a little while longer, and then my computer died...great!
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| NYC Taxi Cabs Under Water...Sheesh! |
Now that my cell phone was charged, I thought it would be a good idea to return some text messages to let folks know that I was okay...no dice! My cell phone refused to send the messages. So then I decided to make a few quick calls...nope! No calls would go through. Now what? Well, I grabbed my work cell phone and thought I would send emails...fail! No service! I was screwed...so I took a nap.
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| The Verrazano Bridge...My Ticket to Brooklyn |
When I woke up I realized that I had not been in contact with my family in about 3 hours, which I knew would cause panic. Mainly because my family is the type that watches the news all day and night whenever something like this happens. As such, anything that was happening in any part of New Jersey was happening to me. All of it! It really wasn't...but if it's on the news, then my family thought it was happening to me! Just as I was about to call my parents to let them know that I was not buried under water or a tree, I realized that both of my cell phones were about to die. They had been roaming for three hours and, let's face it, the battery life on smart phones suck! So I went out to my car to charge my electronics. While I was sitting in the car, I turned on the news to see if the bridges and tunnels heading into Brooklyn had reopened...epic fail! The news station was all static. I guess Sandy messed up 1010 WINS, too. So, I tried my work phone again, and I had service! I searched the Internet to see if any of the crossings had opened, specifically the Verrazano Bridge that connected Staten Island and Brooklyn...nope, still closed! Ugh!
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| Image of LaGuardia Airport...Courtesy of the Stud |
I decided to drive around a little bit while my electronics were charging to see whether the streets were clear and to plot my exit route. It was then that I saw all of the damage. There wasn't much flooding in my neighborhood, but there were trees and damage everywhere. Also, all of the street lights were out, and the folks in New Jersey refused to drive properly. After driving around for about 45 minutes, I headed home. My electronics had been charged to at least 50%, but that didn't matter to me...I was getting out of New Jersey!
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| Q and I were out! |
I ran in the house and haphazardly packed a suitcase, including all of my electronics that had been failing me since last night. I used my work phone to check the crossings again...the Verrazano Bridge was open! I packed up Q's belongings and food, and we were out! As soon as I made it across the Goethals Bridge and crossed into Staten Island, all of my electronics started going off. My personal cell phone, my work phone, my iPad...with tons of messages! Including messages from the Stud and my parents trying to figure out why I hadn't answered my phone or returned any messages...they were worried (they love me!). I made it to my parents house in about 35 minutes...me, Q, and all of my electronics.
The moral of the story: Sandy - 1, My Electronics - 0!
Writers Note: While I may poke fun at my experience during Hurricane Sandy, I realize that this was a devastating storm that affected many people in a more serious way. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected in any way by Sandy.
