Hell Froze Over

Monday, February 15th

I once again find myself completely unprepared for how bad things could get. I thought "oh, we won't be able to get sushi for Valentine's day because it will be snowing all day, we'll just have to settle in earlier and cook something special." I imagined, as I mentioned, cocoa and cookie baking. Maybe the pipes would get fucked up. Maybe (more likely) the pipes would get fucked up in the rickety house in Houston I was living in on my own. My parents had gone over to turn on the heat and drip the faucets, but the house is sort of in disrepair to begin with. Mostly I thought people's pipes would get fucked up and no one should drive. Because I am a rube and believe it when people in charge say things are going to be (mostly) okay.

Of course, things are a lot worse. Again. 

My friends and I were half-heartedly joking that the winter storm might at least keep people inside and reduce COVID cases. Instead millions of people in Texas lost power and had to go to warming shelters. Then some of those warming shelters lost power. So COVID cases probably won't fall, they might get worse, and people are being forced to drive out to seek warmth because somehow Texas never thought things would get this real. This was apparently something they were warned about last time there was a big freeze that caused power outages, but that was ten years ago so that really wasn't enough time to fix anything when you're a state committed to not fixing things. It's cool, though. In response to this they're letting the energy companies that failed us raise rates. Because they had 10 years to gather up money to ensure this wouldn't happen, but that would have hurt the bottom line. Do we really want the CEOs of energy companies to go without bonuses? How would the essential grocery store workers get paid if CEOs don't make as much as possible so that they can go buy more groceries and keep people employed? Money trickles down!!! Privatization works!! *There's no incentive for businesses to be innovative and more efficient if there's not a competitive market~!!!* This is really OUR fault. Consumers are the problem!! Business is the solution!! We just have to be patient~~!!!!

Fuck Texas.

I bet we re-elect Greg Abbott. It's unfortunate when people come really close to dying but then survive and go on to be dicks. The tree should have finished the job. Polio should have taken out Mitch McConnell when it had the chance. Coronavirus killed doctors, teachers, essential workers- I know the world is unjust because it couldn't take out Donald Trump.

I sometimes wonder if this rhetoric is too similar to that of the people who do things like storm the capitol and threaten to kill people. I can't see myself ever erecting a noose. I don't think I want any of these people murdered. I actually might be worse in that I'd like them to lose everything before they die. Their money. Their prestige. Their legacies. Better people are not going to be remembered for the cool things they did, but these truly heinous and unhelpful people will be remembered fondly by a lot of people for keeping women from getting abortions and immigrants from peacefully assimilating into the country. This is probably too close to the same rhetoric. But I'm not going to storm anything. I just go vote and link to stories from reputable news sources about these people doing fucked up things.

This isn't really about my refusal to acknowledge being like the people I hate, though.

This is about my family and friends losing electricity and no one being able to help them somehow. This is just going to be reality for the week, it seems. Greg Abbott is pretending people will be held accountable for this failure. Again, the thing we know has been done is that energy companies met to approve price increases after millions of people lost power. People have been told for the second day in a row not to expect things to be fixed. Not even prices~

Tuesday, February 16th

I feel extremely lucky and very guilty to have been with power this whole time. My parents have been without power most of the last 36 hours. I am realizing I need to get them external phone batteries because they're not able to get information on their own because they can't run the phone batteries down.

This is going to happen again.

Climate change is real and this is what it looks like and it's going to happen again. So, apparently, it's up to individuals to find ways to deal with these problems for themselves. We live in a society! The government's not going to just do things for you- then how will you learn?

My parents are too old to be dealing with this. Older people, children, and people who need electricity for medical equipment are going to die. More preventable deaths.

Thursday, February 18

I haven't showered since Saturday and there is now a water boiling notice in effect. I feel less bad about not being prepared for a disaster knowing that city management and state government were also completely unprepared.

Collin said the boil water notice could be on for days. I have become increasingly aware of things I need to keep on hand for other events like this. They will happen. I can't be this unprepared again, even if the government doesn't change. This is a common feeling among friends. We can't assume the support of infrastructure anymore. I realize I don't have a practical cat carrier for The Kitten. We just have her massive carrier that I use to drive her between cities so she doesn't feel too trapped, or has extra room away from her nervous vomit.

The good news is that the toilet flushes on it's own again. It seems more people are actually getting their electricity back on and it's staying on. Elle had her electricity off very early on, but it came back yesterday. Water mains are breaking so Esme lost water and heat, because somehow the water heats her apartment, not electricity. This is also why the city is on a boil notice. Maeve lost her water and electricity yesterday, so I think she's the worst off right now. Issa has been fine, but has to host a friend who lost electricity in the same apartment complex. Ryan's also got running water and electricity, but her internet went out and her phone connection has been spotty. She's also lost trees at her new home. I can't imagine weathering a storm like this in an investment as big as home you bought and moved into less than 6 months ago.

My parents finally got their power back on yesterday. They turned their thermostat up to the highest recommended setting because when they had power for a few hours the other day they had set it to 60 and lost warmth very quickly. I need to invest in some things for them. I need to teach them to use their tablet I got them a year ago that they never caught on to. Apparently there are large battery packs that you can use to temporarily run TVs and things- but not heaters, Collin tells me, because heaters are the least efficient energy usage in the home. Still, it would probably be better for them to be able to turn on the news for a little while every so often so they know what's happening. I should probably set my mom up with Twitter. God.

My biggest personal problem is that I have not been allowed to work all week- so I'm not getting paid. I know this is a problem for a lot of other people, too. It's just another sign that things are not working to the advantage of regular people. COVID relief aid has been discussed for the last month, but nothing has been passed, and now many people will have to weigh where to use that money between their existing need and the new issues of potential house repairs. People will have to restock groceries they lost. Many grocery stores are out of a lot of things.

I haven't been sleeping well and I'm getting kind of burnt out on living. This seems crass. We ran out of coffee so we walked through the snow and ice to the corner store and took some happy photos along the way. This also seems crass. I guess you have to hold onto the moments of joy and whatever pleasant memories you can form in times of crisis to remind yourself life is worth forging onward. It still feels terrible. It could be worse. My own sense of well-being has sharply risen after my parents let me know they had electricity again. 

The possibility exists that we may host one of Collin's friends- the house is a complete mess, but I guess it's better than being somewhere alone without heat. 

My only other concern is staying somewhat clean because of my not-so-recent eye infection. I had been washing my hands twice and sort of neurotically washing my face. They were both becoming incredibly dry in the cold (I think I low-key hurt my hand with the acid from peeling an orange because my skin was so cracked.) So I'm very nervous about getting sick again while there's no one to see and driving to the pharmacy would be dangerous.

Hopefully we're at the tail end of this adventure. It's supposed to warm up Saturday and Sunday.

And I just have to hope the other house didn't have pipes burst. I'll have to go to Houston. My parents need more masks and electrical banks. They might need help cleaning up the other house. I'm worried about them getting groceries when there's likely an increase in exposure because of how many people had to seek shelter outside of their homes.

At least Rush Limbaugh died.