<p>We are still without power and heat which pretty much sucks. We did find that rare open gas station with gas yesterday so we are set for that for the week. Might be time to rethink having huge trees next to power lines, and homes. Saw one house with 10 trees in and on it. Total loss.
We will buy our own generator when they are back on the shelves.</p>
<p>oh I thought you were gonna talk basketball!</p>
<p>Our power didnt go out at all- but the kids got out of school a day early.
I was a little worried about the tree next door, they had just trimmed it, but still some of the larger branches are right up against our wires.</p>
<p>Some trees are not very stable- I remember when that tree came down at Camp Sealth and killed a camper 
There were still roads that were blocked by trees Saturday- pretty main roads too- but at least in Seattle there are lots of alternate routes.
I know my sister still doesnt have power over by the Lakehills connector.
Im surprised she doesnt have a generator though now that you mention it, since as LDS they have to have supplies to last a year.
We havent seen any closed gas stations in Seattle, so if you need gas you might want to make the trek</p>
<p>Hey Barrons,</p>
<p>I’m wishing you well and hoping your life gets back to ‘routine’ as soon as possible.</p>
<p>It’s just unbelievable. I’ve spoken to family back home in Seattle and this type of weather is essentially unprecedented this time of year. My folks had there electricity restored Saturday, after two days of darkness, and even then many of the nearby traffic signals were still dead.</p>
<p>Watch out for yourself.</p>
<p>We went to several stations in the CD on Saturday and they were either out or had long lines. Had half a tank so it was not critical yet. Nice to be warm at work with lights, heat my computer and phone. Debating getting a hotel for tonight if we can find one.</p>
<p>Hey Barrons- we had that problem the week of the snow storm, no snow from Saturday through Tuesday, luckily it was cold enough to put all the food from the refrigerator and freezer outside in the snow. This last storm resulted in only 1 day without power, but the winds were fierce and frightening, and the trees were crazy. The twenty foot top of a huge 150 foot fir broke off and dropped like a bomb, landing right next to my daughter’s car, trunk down straight into the ground and the tree standing up as if it belonged there, a few feet to the east and it would have totalled her car! Our neighbor is now considering removing them, we hope he does!</p>
<p>did you try the South Seattle costco?
I would also suggesting asking on LJ
REI is having a sale- if you buy $100 before the 24th, with a coupon online, you get $20 off- in case you are looking at more long underwear 
I was also in West Seattle yesterday and the shopping district seemed normal although I think there were still some people who didnt have power.
This wasnt the biggest storm I remember, my daughter had a soccer game in Shoreline Friday night , and they had been in much windier games at that field, but the range of this storm seems much larger than others.
I know in Portland some people still dont have power & I dont know what people on the coast are doing.</p>
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<p>Don’t use Costco gas. A friend had it ruin her VW and they told her never to use it again. Shell or Chevron only.</p>
<p>All the stuff in the fridge is in the dumpster. Not too much meat this time.</p>
<p>We were out (over here in Sammamish) from 8 PM Thursday to noon Sunday. It got COLD! No generator, but DH is researching buying one right now. (We had the house wired for it when we built it, but decided against the expense. Oh well.)</p>
<p>The gas stations around here that were open Saturday were out of gas by Sunday morning, but the ones that got power Sunday were fine… (I’d filled up Thursday AM because I’ve done that ever since we lived in rural Massachusetts and the power went out every single storm.) Lots of gas and no lines and no disaster pricing up in Snohomish County this AM.</p>
<p>The tree that hit our house bounced off the gutter and just left a dent in the gutter and a minor scrape in the stucco… narrowly missed scraping off our electric meter though. We were lucky though. I also saw a house with ten trees on it up in Redmond Ridge/Trilogy area. </p>
<p>I am NOT impressed with Puget Sound Energy.</p>
<p>For those of you who need a storm laugh, my puppy–six months old and not quite completely housetrained–chose the height of the storm to decide she need to go outside RIGHT NOW. So there I was, 65 mile-an-hour winds, no power, in my bathrobe at 1 AM, wind whipping pine cones and branches around my back yard—using a flashlight to watch a six month old black standard poodle do the dog thing. (She paid me back, though, by joining our other poodle in cuddling with me for the next two days, keeping me and DH warm.)</p>
<p>Some good ones</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/geneco.asp[/url]”>http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/geneco.asp</a></p>
<p>Good luck barrons. It sounds rough. We were without power once for 10 days after an ice storm. It was miserable. I hope you’re on the grid soon.</p>
<p>And yes, everybody in this entire city owns a generator now! :)</p>
<p>Just found a nice hotel for tonight–warmth and TV. At least we can afford to do things like stay in a nice hotel when we can find one open. I feel sorry for some other folks who can’t do that.</p>
<p>We were pretty fortunate up north. Not waay up north but around 30 miles north of seattle. A couple of flickers some branches and a fence section down. Underground power lines. </p>
<p>The big thing was listening for trees to snap and break. I think I finally fell asleep around 4 am. Still quite a few people without power and crews have been working without too many breaks for a while.</p>
<p>Isn’t it sad about the trees? Our big ice storm was, oh, 1991. It is still pretty easy to see the damage on the trees. So many were taken down after the storm. It completely changed how many of our streets felt. There were streets that were lined on both sides with tree debris in 6 feet tall solid walls. It was like driving down tunnels.</p>
<p>Good luck. Stay warm.</p>
<p>Hi. We’ve been without power or Internet or primary phone since 7pm last Thursday. We live about four miles east of Redmond on Union Hill. The only unoccupied house in our neighborhood was the only one with a direct hit from a big tree. We lost a pair of 100-foot-plus trees – a hemlock and fir, and a 60-foot fir. Also an alder, but those hardly count. Our neighbor had a 100-foot fir fall sideways to the wind and land in their backyard. Another neighbor had a 3-foot-diameter fir (a real house killer) miss their back wall by about 15 feet – the branches brushed the house. The same neighbor had their driveway blocked by another big fir tree. It was like sharp shooters had pushed the trees over – all of us had near-misses but only the next-door neighbors had a hit. We lost a big section of our septic leach field in the root ball of the big fir tree. It’s already been repaired to the tune of $2,100.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I bought a generator about six years ago, so our furnace and refrigerator are running and we have light in one room. I am now a huge fan of Generac generators. It’s been running about 18 hours a day for the last six days and shows no signs of trouble. This spring I’m taking it to a small-engine mechanic for a checkout. I think with more than 100 hours of use it’s going to be time.</p>
<p>I won’t be checking in very often until our power is back. The office park I work in doesn’t have power, either, so I’m currently camped out in someone else’s office building where they have kindly let me check email and download some work files I needed. And check College Confidential…</p>
<p>WashDad Jr received his first rejection letter last week. His response was, “Oh, OK. I guess I won’t be going there.” I think his nerves never grew in.</p>
<p>I hope all you other Washingtonians are surviving OK. </p>
<p>As for PSE (to follow up on a comment above), about 70% of their total customer base was down as of last Friday. That’s 700,000 billing addresses (not people) out of a total of about a million. That they have managed to bring that number down to around 125,000 in less than a week strikes me as a modern miracle. I think they are doing a great job, and I have immense respect for the pole and line crews who have been working 17 hours a day for the last week. I sure wouldn’t want to do it.</p>
<p>Take care.</p>
<p>I really really hope this new storm that is coming in is nothing.
( and that it doesn’t hit, until D who went snowboarding today is home)</p>
<p>I know a lot of people are complaining- and I am sure it is frustrating, especially when it isn’t easily understood why the neighbor across the street has power.
My sister probably wont be getting power for a while- her dead end street has lines down- but I think it is the end of the line.
She has actually taken all 7 members of her family to her sister inlaws, who lives on Union hill- they have power
Our house is very old and & I don’t know if we would notice if we didn’t have heat, but it sure is nice to have the local grocery stores and gas station open.
It is really sad about the trees- but frankly- some of it could be prevented- the eastside doesn’t seem to pay as much attention to trees by powerlines until a storm.
Its a good thing that many have cell phones- but I don’t think anyone has plug in phones anymore.
We don’t have to head out anywhere till Sat- then we are heading up to the Okanagan. Wish me luck-</p>
<p>DO NOT run a generator in the garage.</p>
<p>Do buy battery operated carbon monoxide detectors and use them when the power’s out.</p>
<p>wasn’t that sad :(</p>
<p>Power is Back on!! Finally. Looking forward to sleeping in my own warm bed. After we buy some groceries.
BTW if you need to stay in the Seattle CBD Summerfield Suites offers full one bedrooms with kitchen and LR for under $100/night with a hot breakfast. Great deal</p>
<p>Ek: Just awful. We had a death or too in a big storm a few years ago from people running those things in OPEN garages. You have to be so careful!</p>
<p>Barrons: Congratulations on joining the 21st century. :)</p>
<p>Glad to hear about your return to normalcy Barrons.</p>
<p>Conversations about the weather events in the Great Northwest are beginning to get very sad. As I submitted packages to the USPS the other day week for mailing to relatives, the clerk saw the target address and began to talk about the weather havoc; the Mt. Hood situation, James Kim and the succession of storms in Seattle. Sad all the way around. But it’s great to also see some of that old fashioned northwest perseverance too.</p>