When it RAINS in Southern California

First a note to those who drive in San Diego county:

Here are some basic driving do's and dont's

If it is pouring rain with high winds, the road is more slippery than usual, give up the poor race car imitation in which you use all lanes like passing lanes cutting right and left 2 or 3 lanes at a shot

Do not tailgate--that is just dumb

Turn your lights on--you are next to invisible in the mist.

They tailgate even when they do not care to drive any faster. I let a couple of cars by me on the windy 2 lane road to ballistic mtn
and noticed they never even sped up. With leaves and limbs and tumbleweed blowing across the sometimes partially flooded highway, you don't need some yahoo riding your tail.

OK. So I got home just minutes before dark. The wind was and is howling, literally. It is the wind, not the coyotes this time. The intensity of the storm, coupled with the likelihood that someone would run into a powerline pole, gave me the hunch that electricity may go out at any time.

I tore the place apart looking for my lanterns from the Tour days. I found them. One is even a wind up type. All are battery powered. They still work and the winder job charges quickly. I found them while I was cooking a tortilla cheese egg extravaganza. Then I remembered to brew a pot of coffee. It was brewing as I unloaded the feast onto a plate. By now it was dark. Very dark.

Just as the coffee was about done, poof, power out. I am glad I was prepared. Since we are on well water and it depends on an electric pump, I am glad I had a gallon or two of purified water handy. Just yesterday I put new batteries in one of my flashlights. You never know, I thought. I guess I did know.

The landlord got home and braved the fray to bring me some candles and see how I was faring. I felt almost smug that I had it all set. The computer battery won't last long. As a last resort I can get the power pack thing out of my car and run off that or charge it in the car, burning fuel and making a carbon footprint right outside my front door. (shame on Paul McCartney for buying into that bs---I never ate meat but this bit of go veggie for a day and save the planet--well intended, severely misguided).

Fortunately I cranked up the space heaters when I got home. Took some of the chill off. Connection was good but inconsistent, I hope I can get this to fly. Almost like being in a kamp kabin, except they usually have a working power outlet.

This really is a big deal storm. It is so rare that this happens. The roads turn very slick when it does and it doesn't drain like Miami. Houses fall off of hills and such. People in town actually drive faster and then wonder why the slide into things. Like snow in Memphis.

It is really heavy wind and rain and I'm in the boonies for sure. It's kind of like camping lite. Of course I have the ever dependable subaru 2, we still grieve 'ru 1, the blue subaru, but that's OK, 2 may be a bit faster, even if not quite as hardy overall. It might be fun to have company. Any form of heat. Plenty of blankets and such and this place is insulated like an Igloo cooler.

Maybe I can read a book by candle, or battery powered lantern, light.