Dear readers, 

You may or may not know this, but my part of the world lost power on Thursday night.  The lights first flickered just after our guests left and when my computer was 3/4 of the way through downloading this week's Pushing Daisies, the power all died.  We realized it was still off when we woke up Friday morning, but really kind of thought it was just our little area.  Just as we were on our way out the door (because I had an 11:00 triad scheduled), one of my triad partners showed up at our door to let us know that the power was down EVERYWHERE and the university was closed.... Word was that there was a big "ice storm" that caused all the power outages and I kept thinking, "Storm? There was no storm!"  Then I asked Ben what an ice storm actually is and he said it's when the trees and power lines and stuff get so heavy from the ice that's coating them that they fall down and do lots of damage.  Then I was like "Oh! That's what happened here!"

So, after a very helpful text message from a friend, we found one of the only cafes in Dover with internet and power, where we did work for the bulk of the day.  It was right next to the town hall and some other stuff, so apparently that area had backup generators... We went back home to check in at around 4:00 pm, and the power was on in most of Newmarket, but not in our apartment complex.  Luckily, our apartment stays nicely insulated, so the temperature was still around 67.  We went for free grad student dinner back in Durham, where much of the power had come back on.  (Free food was actually really perfect, because of the inability to cook on our electric stove, and unwillingness to open the refrigerator and increase the likelihood that all our food will spoil.)  

This picture was taken on the way.  Ben still had his headlamp on for our pitch black walk down the hallway, and he had decided to wear his sunglasses because his hair was so gross that he decided they would help make it look ok if he took his sunglasses off.  After free dinner, Ben took a shower at campus rec and I got some work done there (where I could charge my computer and phone!).  Then we went home, watched a dvd on my computer and fell asleep.  Apparently the moon was bright because I kept thinking that the lights in the parking lot had come back on.