I was looking out the window earlier today, admiring a bright red cardinal against a backdrop of blustery snow (it was 70 degrees F yesterday 😯 ) when the power went out.
The internet and cell service go out here regularly, but the power rarely does. We’re constantly switching mobile companies because our house is in a strange dead zone (minus Christopher Walken, sadly).
Once I realized the power wasn’t going to flicker back on right away I started pacing, thinking of all the things I couldn’t do without power.
That means:
no internet,
no television, no telephone, no heat, the refrigerator/freezer would become a problem after awhile,
no washer/dryer or iron (a real shame 😛 ) and if this dragged out all day then I was going to have to manually lift the garage door when I went to pick up my son from band practice too!
Notice my priorities: internet and television come before heat and food.
Hmm, what to do, what to do?
Normally I can spend hours with my head in the clouds, yet tell me what I can’t do and I’m suddenly as antsy as a smoker going cold turkey! I could easily peruse my bookshelf, but I didn’t want to start a book that I would just abandon when the power came back on. I was planning on vacuuming the stairs and doing some laundry, but now it looked like housework was off the list.
So what did I end up doing?
Moving all of the living room furniture around.
Half way through my unusual aerobics the power came back on, so I vacuumed under and behind everything before I finished moving it all into it’s new configuration. This is normal behavior for me: only do what needs to be done and then in a fit of passion, go above and beyond what’s really necessary.
Take away something and I suddenly feel like I have to have it! Tell me not to do something, and I eventually find myself doing it. I have to be careful with this stubborn trait of mine, because sometimes it can go horribly wrong.
Do you have a stubborn streak too?
Do you generally find it a hindrance or a motivator?
Nowhere in Particular RA 
Oh yes, I’m contrary as hell. Order me not to do something, and I have to do it. Tell me I can’t, and I’ll show you. Boss me around, and you’ve never met anyone more uncooperative. Stubborn is an understatement!
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that’s me as well. and yet it still baffles me that my husband can’t seem to remember this about me! while my mother totally uses it to her advantage 😉
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I really don’t like someone telling me I can’t do something. Also, every time I’ve lost power it scares me to realize how dependent on it I am. And I totally get worrying about internet and television first! We are in a state of emergency (blizzard) and I’m just happy I have internet and power!
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when I was a child we regularly lost power for days at a time and it was nothing, now though I start to panic! aside from me just being impatient & spoiled ( 🙄 ) I’d feel better if we had a regular fireplace w/some wood on hand, instead of our propane one 😐
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No, I don’t recognize anyone I know in this post 🙂 nope nope nope nope nope
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it’s a very uncommon trait 😛
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I really love this. And yes a bit of this is me also. Tell me I can’t and suddenly I want it more than anything. 😦 So creative here with the gifs! Sir Guy and the “unaffected” peasant woman – that’s hysterical! I don’t recall that bit, but it may have been when I was…um…zipping through moments that did not contain Sir Guy. (Shameful Sir Guy hunting)
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that gif cracked me up when I first saw it, but I had no idea what I would ever use it for! 😀
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Perfect use!
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No, this isn’t me either 😉
I second Crystalchandlyre’s comment about the gifs, too. Best excuse ever for Lucas eating doughnuts and the Monet eye roll is as good as the popcorn taxi response to the cage fight question 😉
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I love the gif makers, they make taking things out of context so much fun! 😀
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Good thing that our brains do not depend on electricity. I love that cinema in my head. Really, it totally passes the time, is always with me, doesn’t take up any space, costs nothing – and does not run on fossil fuels. Having said that – am glad that you are on the grid again, because I do like your gif-illustrated posts and would miss them if the gods of electricity were against you…
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one of my fav scenes in the “Shawshank Redemption” is when Andy gets thrown in solitary confinement. after he gets out, one of his fellow prisoners asks him how he survived, and Andy said he had music to keep him company. the prisoner took him literally until Andy explained that it was what he already had in his head that kept him company; no one can take that away 😎
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I know exactly this panic without power, with the added problem of no water. It’s almost as big a problem as no RA 😉
I also won’t be told what to do. Or not do.
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living in suburbia, we’ve gotten used to going to the store for everything that we need or calling a professional to fix it for us. when we visit our parents, my “city kids” get to see a way of life that includes modern conveniences but doesn’t *need* them; they still live off the land in a lot of ways.
other people’s desires and perceptions, etc. is something that we have no control over; I like control 😉
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