The Severed Cortex

The power went out last Thursday around 9:00 pm. The internet is finally back.

The storm system that passed through here on Thursday and Friday was a giant pain in the butt for many in the Saint Louis area. While we were spared from the bad storms this summer, we were not in this one. Edwardsville, and most all the metro east, got the ice part of the storm. St. Charles appeared to get mostly snow. Around 8:00 pm Thursday night it warmed up enough to force the sleet back to rain. By 8:30 the power started to brown out and by 9:00 it was out completely. Nancy and I covered the bed in extra blankets. OK, Nancy covered her side in blankets. When we woke up Friday morning there was still no power. The temperature in the house said 61, but it felt much colder in the bedroom. Fortunately we have a gas water heater and we switched to a gas stove earlier this year so we were able to make coffee via the french press and take hot showers.
Our subdivision street was plowed and the roads didn't look that bad so we decided that going to work was a better option than staying here. As usual, the Illinois roads were plowed and the Missouri roads were not. The Missouri side was still passable though and with the relatively non-existant traffic we made in to Earth City in the normal 45 minutes. We did see both of Missouri's plows cleaning the off ramp from North I-270 to Westbound I-370. They were both still sitting there when we drove home at 4:30. We find when we get home that we still have no power so we decide to find a hotel room. Luckily we managed to get to the brand spanking new Country Hearth Inn before most of the crowd. Nancy is able to get a hotel room and even though many other guests complained about rooms not being clean, we got lucky and received a pristine one.
Nancy was up first Saturday morning probably due to my snoring. My head is massively stopped up from last nights concert. Nancy was forward thinking enough to try book the room another night, but the front desk clerk said they were full. Nancy called about 10 hotels before finally finding a room at the Holiday Inn in Collinsville. While I slowly got ready to face the outside world, Nancy checked on the house; still no power and it was now 47 degrees inside. She decided to go get some coffee and danish and I said I would meet her at the house in fifteen minutes. Fifteen was more like twenty-five, but when I got there the power was on.
We have two good size trees that snapped and several that are bent over so that the tops are touching the ground. Below are pics.

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