I was ready to go quite early, having finished my chores. My husband had shot out of bed and shouted, "Have you seen the time?" He quickly came to, and said, "It's a holiday, isn't it!" Although rhetorical, I mumbled that it was. However, I was wide awake and raring to go!
The truck roared into my carport, and the occupants entered my house. We left shortly thereafter, and headed south. I really only had one shop on my list, but had to loop around, by a large complex that has some outlet stores worth frequenting. The furniture store on the frontage road was our first stop. I have been looking for a new suite for the last twenty years. I suppose my biggest stumbling block is my lethargy. I have made excuses, such as the dogs, kids, and lack of time to go looking. The former two were reasonable excuses, but the latter holds no substance! I entered the store, with anticipation.
Choices were few. I told my husband later, "They are too deep. They think too much!" He saw the humour, but I continued that everything is far more bulky than our temporary set. (It was bought for convenience, when our condo was used as a temporary business location before I moved Stateside, and never meant to be permanent.) I saw a couple of options, and took measurements. However, I was not wowed by anything, and was a little disappointed, as I had made the effort.
We left the store, and got into the truck, whose engine turned, coughed and clicked. Again, it turned, coughed and clicked. "I think you have a flat battery", I helpfully commented. Samantha tried again. It clicked. "Yep, flat battery!" I reiterated. I was amazed at how calm I was. I messaged Dana, and she her husband. Then she sent Grant a picture of the message displayed on the screen. My husband asked where we were, and in whose vehicle. Grant said that he was out and about and could be there in forty five minutes.
"Can you change it out yourself?" I asked my daughter, who responded that it was possible but she would need a specific tool. It was fairly amusing that firstly, I would ask the question, because I would not know what to do, and secondly because she answered in the affirmative, or possibly affirmative. What a different world! The fabulous Internet told us that Walmart was two miles away, so it was too far to walk, especially as it was a little chilly, windy and we had a three year old! The walk there would have been okay, but then we would have had to come back, with a heavy object.
A large truck pulled up in the car park. I jumped out and approached the driver. "I am sorry, but we have a flat battery, a child, and no jumper cables. Can you help?" He looked at me, very apologetically and explained that he did not have cables either. What were the odds, here in Texas, Do it yourself country, and neither of the truck drivers had jumper cables! Unheard of! Perhaps we could walk to Walmart, pick up jumper cables, and then pick up another truck driver! However, Grant was now fifteen minutes away. We waited.
I sat with my grandson in the truck, as it could not be locked! How wonderful is new fangled technology. You can start your vehicle from a mile away, get it heated, even have it drive to you, or better still, have a person free driver car come and collect you! However, your battery dies and you can't protect your possessions! I think that something is lost in the mix! I sat in the truck with my grandson, who was kept quiet by watching a cartoon on my daughter's phone. "My daddy's calling!" he said, as the show stopped, and something appeared on the screen. Sure enough, it was his father on the phone! I answered and explained that his wife and her surrogate brother had gone to pick up a battery. Yes, we were fine. Yes, the little one was fine. Yes, they were able to remove the battery, but our current location failed to deliver a replacement! Yes, we would let him know when we were on the road again. No, we did not need him to come and save us!
Thankfully, the shop nearby had the correct part, and before long we bid farewell to our knight in shining armour and were on our way. Samantha called Edward, to let him know we were okay and I called Dana. We started our shopping.
By the time we were on our way, I had pretty much lost the momentum. We went to a few shops and wandered around. They were all quite busy, but we did not find much to wow us. It had been an eventful day, and we survived what in the past would have been quite debilitating.
The rest of the week went by with weather warnings every day. We were going to have a freeze at the weekend and the prognosticators were causing fear among many. "Are you prepared?" people were asking. Admittedly, the 2021 storm was bad, and we were without electricity for thirty six hours (with others suffering far worse,) and many were without water. This current prediction showed us probably being housebound on Sunday, and perhaps some of Monday, but the panic around us was rising. Our Governor had promised that our grid was operating well, and the only outages would be from ice falling on power lines. 2021 would not be repeated! However, we all have long memories. Even so, I was not particularly bothered. If I had to stay in on Sunday, I would deal with it. If I couldn't get to work on Monday I would not see it as a disaster. (although my husband did not have quite the same mindset!) The shelves were being stripped as early as Wednesday, with bread disappearing as soon as it was reloaded. Bread? How about non-perishables? I wondered at the mindset of some!
"Are you prepared?" asked our Gen-z. "For what?" I responded, perhaps a little too quick and tersely. "For the storm. I am thinking I may go and get a generator and a gas heater, and a flashlight, and...." I looked at him with perhaps too much disdain! "And you have not got these things? Perhaps you should have thought about buying them in the summer, when there was not a panic", I responded. He saw the wisdom but was still a little scared. "Do you have enough toilet paper?" he then asked. "For the weekend, yes, thank you. Do you?" He smiled and again saw that we were talking a couple of days, not a week, not a month, or longer. I wanted to be sympathetic but did not want to play into the drama.
My daughter was quite sure that Saturday morning would be a breeze, going shopping. After all, everyone had been out and were battening down the hatches for the duration! I love Austin, and all its quirkiness, but sometimes I still stand with my jaw on the floor! There was little traffic on the road on Friday evening, and yet the freeze was not due until Saturday night.
Saturday morning was chilly. The windchill made it feel cooler, and the drizzle did not help, but wrapped up in coats, hats, gloves and boots, we headed out. The roads were, indeed, empty. Walmart reminded me of Sainsbury's (English supermarket) on a Christmas Eve, when I would shop at 6am and everyone was jolly and friendly. There were no queues, and the shelves were stocked. Deliveries had been operating normally (of course) and the only aisle that was empty was the one that usually contains the bottled water. (Of course!) I picked up two bottles of distilled water, which I use for my iron and steamer, and a man walking in the opposite direction nodded at me. "I wanted to tell him that I had run out and I was only buying two so I had one in stock. It is my usual practice. I thought I had a spare but didn't" I blurted to my daughter. "Perhaps he was just nodding 'hi'", she said. Perhaps so! I bought what I needed and we headed out to the warehouses. Again, not particularly busy, and everyone very friendly. The shelves were stocked, and there was plenty of bread! The lorries had not been held up by the storm, which had not yet hit!
I am not saying we were not sensible! "How about going out for lunch, instead of dinner?" I asked my husband. He was going to suggest the same thing. We were one of two couples that were at the Chinese restaurant not far from our home. I had been craving a 'hot and sour' soup for a while. I am not sure why I get cravings as I am way past child bearing age, and I cannot think what I am lacking that would be in a 'hot and sour' soup, but my craving was quite real! Thankfully, the restaurant was open and my craving satisfied. We had a truly delicious lunch, and arrived home in time to 'batten down the hatches'!
Although I had promised a light supper, I was not hungry, and found some pizza in the freezer for my husband. I was quite inactive during the afternoon, so did not build up an appetite. I received a call from my daughter to ask if I was at home. She thought we were going to have an early dinner and was concerned we were still out as the temperatures hit freezing. The next message I received was also from my daughter "Do you have snow?" I looked out of the window. Everywhere was white! Yes we had snow!
Sunday morning was cold. Very cold. Thankfully our home was warm. I made breakfast and we sat looking out at the beautiful, wintery scenery, watching to see if any cars were going down the hill outside of our complex. A few drove by. The sun came out for a while, and some of the snow melted. Then the sun went behind some heavy clouds.
What I will do for the rest of the day is still a mystery. There are a few options I know I will not be taking. I will not sit by the pool. I probably wont go for a walk. I will not bake, (despite the grid being strong, I do not need to burden it,) and I will not be going out in my car!
Thank you for those who checked up on us. I think the foreign news portrayed Texas as a suburb rather than the largest of the lower forty eight, so pictures told an overall gruesome story! I am sure i shall no doubt relay the adventures of another week in .......... another story!
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