"jmcquown" >, if that's their real name, wrote:

>Just got a call from Damsel (Carol). She and Crash are at a motel for at
>least the next couple of days. The fusebox in the basement decided to do a
>melt-down in the middle of the night. If Crash hadn't awakened... well
>let's just say the basement was thick with smoke but it hadn't made it
>upstairs yet nor was anything yet in flames. They and their pets got out
>safely. The power company has shut off all power to their house until
>further inspection can be done; it appears they will have to have it
>rewired.

And now, through the miracle of modern technology, we're back online!

Thanks for letting folks know, Jill.

I asked the ringleader of the fire fighter's gang that showed up what would
have happened if Crash hadn't awakened. He said our house would have
burned to the ground. He's also going to give the City Electric Inspector
some good-natured shit. He was here on February 28th, and slapped his
sticker of approval inside the door of the fuse box.

It was determined by the electrician to be Just One of Those Things. The
main fuse had gotten a little loose and one thing led to another. When
Crash went down there, it was in the process of melting. The wonderful
electrician just left. We have a brand-new, big circuit breaker box, and
heat! We have heat! When we came over here yesterday, the inside
temperature was 61. This morning, it was 51. Now it's a balmy 68. I feel
like frolicking nude after being so cold for so long, but I don't want to
frighten the neighbors.

The Red Cross came and arranged for lodging for us (the lack of heat and
the stench of burning electrical stuff prevented us from staying home the
past two nights), gave us some "Clean-Up Kits" (toiletries so we wouldn't
reek from the fumes), and a homemade quilt for each of us that are ours to
keep. I will always cherish these tangible reminders of the goodness of
other people when we needed it the most. Those quilts are priceless.

The motel is not one that I would recommend to anyone. When we came home
from there yesterday morning, our unheated house was a lot warmer than our
room there. I was also pretty excited to find a roach bait thingie with
one of our dog's teeth marks in it. Oh ... we considered stealing the
ice bucket and tray for glasses and stuff and returning them to Day's Inn
and the Ramada. Yup, this was a high-class joint.

First thing I did when the power was restored was to check the meat in the
freezer. It's all hard as a rock. Whew! I've been fretting over all that
meat the entire time we were without power. There's a whole ham, a turkey,
a huge slab of brisket, and a bunch of roasts and stuff. Thank goodness.
I honestly thought that we were going to be roasting/grilling everything
and freezing the cooked meat. I'm relieved. It's better when the stuff is
freshly prepared.

In the past 36 hours, I've had 5 hours of sleep (not all at once). I'm
gonna go through my e-mails and take a lonnnnnnnnnnng nap!

Thanks for all the good wishes. We appreciate your kindness and concern.

Carol