Juiceless

Tomorrow we're to be without electricity for a while. A power-company subcontractor will be carrying on with pole-replacement and moving all from the old poles to the new ones. There will also be an attempt to bring nonreplaced poles back to something approaching plumb. The nearest transformer is even nearer and much, much larger. Apparently we're to get a tri-strand single-leadin to the meter, whatever this stuff is called, replacing the three separate kinds of old, brittle wire that dropped from the pole to the service panel or meter. Everybody else has long since had one. Back when we had more trees, I think that the City electric people didn't want to deal with it. Then, when somebody with "Austin Energy" noticed we didn't have the modern drop and called it in, the electric people didn't want to do anything because by that time building codes were requiring one of those huge ugly metal conduits sticking way, way above the roof line. We don't have that. But now it suits the sub to do something about it no matter what the codes. Without power, no matter how long the hiatus, all we ever need to worry about is the fridge, and it's reasonably cool now. Even the clocks are wind-up. And Internet access is dial-up. The ovens are electric, but we won't be here; if we were, the stove burners are gas, so cooking could proceed. And there's always charcoal and the hibachi. It will cause delays for all the nearby builders, remodelers, floor-polishers, and other users of electricity. I suppose that it may take out people's home networks if any part of them depends on electricity.