(no subject)

[olivermoss]

This morning was fun. I woke up to the power being off, and my phone wasn't charged. I'd been trying to get in to the habit of charging my devices at night because of possible long power outages this summer. Portland likely isn't as vulnerable as So Cal or Texas, but I still want to be in the habit. My Kindle was on it's charger for that reason.

So, I had to go to a coffee shop for a charge. It was full. I asked someone if I could use the spare outlet at their table and awkwardly had to half crawl under a table and then leave my phone surrounded by strangers while I sipped an Americano. An Americano is just such a great choice (sarcastic) when one is stressed anyway, but it's what I order in coffee shops.

Then I sat on a bench and tried to write for a bit while my phone got charge. Rather than waiting for a full charge, I grabbed it and went home.

Turns out, PGE thinks I closed my account. I think someone else did in my building and they mixed up the units. I got it sorted out and my power just came back on. I just poked at my fridge and have had to sadly conclude that I need to throw out everything. The fridge part feels okay? But the freezer is not frozen. I have a touchy digestion to start with so I have to be extra careful. I'll keep the blueberries, pasta sauce, ketchup, etc, but the roast chicken I bought last night 'for the week' is going in the trash tonight.

The annoying thing is that I have a power bank, but the newer iPhone chargers don't work with regular USB anymore. The U in USB is important! I could have just charged my devices from that. I should look into getting an adapter so I can actually use my portable power bank for my phone.

Comments

[mxcatmoon]

That happened to me once (them turning off the wrong unit). Glad you got it straightened out.

Yeah, better safe than sorry with the food I'm afraid. I don't know for sure, but I think my week-long stint in the hospital in January might have been food poisoning due to my fridge not working right. Now I have thermometers in the freezer and fridge, and a meat thermometer to check the temps of cooked food. Food poisoning really can kill.

[olivermoss]

Oof, that's rough.

Yeah, the beer, BBQ sauce, and salsa can stay. Everything else is garbage.

[mxcatmoon]

I've found out my fridge really only has two settings - too cold and not cold enough. So I mostly deal with the stuff in the refrigerator section getting a bit frozen. It's an apartment, so you know, good luck getting anything fixed unless it's totally broken.

[olivermoss]

That really sucks. Fridges being too cold can make food go a bit mushy/freezerburned.

[dine]

oh, that's frustrating!

I had to toss the contents of my fridge & some frozen stuff when the power was out for close to 12 hours. and I'd just shopped the day before, so there was lots to toss. but best be safe, food poisoning isn't fun.

[olivermoss]

I don't have a lot in there at least, but I did think I was set for a while. The food is probably fine... but how bad it would be if it's not is the problem.

[bluedreaming]

So frustrating! And yes, what’s with iPhones and cables. (Give me back the headphone jack!)

Sorry about the food, that sucks.

[olivermoss]

I've had the power bank a while so I didn't even realize it wouldn't work for my phone anymore! I mostly use it for my LED lightbox when I am doing isometric stuff.

[bluedreaming]

Makes sense!

[mistressofmuses]

Ugh, that sucks! Power outages are the worst. I've tried to keep in the same habit - charging things overnight. That mostly works well for my phone, but most of my other things (laptop, DS) don't hold enough of a charge to matter.

So glad you got it sorted out - seems very possible they messed up which unit to cancel.

I'm sorry you lost food. :( Sometimes with outages of only a few hours things stay okay, but way better not to risk it.

[Our breaker flipped a couple years ago while we were out of town. The SMELL of that fridge and freezer after days to a week of no power haunts my nightmares.]

[olivermoss]

Yikes. I'm in the habit of clearing out the fridge before trips. It's an old habit I got from my parents. Things can just go wrong when you are away sometimes. I just make sure there is something in the freezer I can nuke so I have a meal as soon as I am home.

I kept the fridge closed, so I hoped it was fine... but the frozen stuff had gone squishy. I should also lay in some protein bars for power outages.

[mistressofmuses]

We really should have cleared the freezer before we left. The fridge didn't have too much in it, though what there still got pretty disgusting. The freezer had meat in it, which was what got really super gross. It would have been way better to have tossed stuff before leaving... we hadn't had the issue with the breakers since the week we'd moved in, so of COURSE that was the time the issue resurfaced!

That's a bummer that stuff went off so quickly. :/ Usually keeping everything closed up buys at least SOME time, but yeah. Not worth risking it if things have started to thaw. I should probably do the same - get some no-cooking/no-refrigeration needed stuff just in case. We mostly don't have to deal with things like rolling blackouts or anything, but summer storms can definitely knock power out for extended periods at times.