Furry Friday: Pets and the Power Outage
At the end of last month, I took the puppacita on her first plane ride. She did a great job, of course, and wasn’t freaked out by any of the noises or newness. I discovered that a tiny, sweet chihuahua with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth snaps TSA agents out of their grumpiness and that meaty treats for pups make it through security — and, for some reason, both at Dulles and LAX I was singled out for the explosive-residue-on-hands test while holding the puppacita (no full-body puppa scans). On the way out to L.A., the flight attendants (and the other passenger in the row) let Chi-Chi sit in the middle seat; she only went under the seat for takeoff and landing. Passengers in surrounding rows started passing me their iPhones to show off pictures of their dogs. And the puppacita slept most of the time, until the flight attendants came around with the basket of JetBlue snacks — she’s a fan of popcorn and the like, so the opening of bags made her perk right up. Unfortunately, Dulles was the only airport on our stop with a doggie bathroom area past the security checkpoints, but the puppacita managed to hold it through our Boston layover on the way back and make it home.
While waiting for a red-eye at LAX, though, I started to see tweets about some evil storm that had whipped through the D.C. area. I messaged my pet-sitter to see if there was anything I should know; her last stop at my place had been that Friday evening before the derecho and she was leaving on a camping trip the next morning. Little did I know at that point that staying in L.A. — or, like my pet-sitter, running off to the woods — would have been a better option that flying home.
I wasn’t too worried because my place never loses power, even during the 2010 Snowmageddon. After arriving at Dulles (and letting puppacita use the fake fire hydrant), I was almost to the parking garage when a TSA agent told me there had been a furious storm the night before; parking payment machines weren’t working and neither was cell service at the airport. Driving home from the airport, I had to stop for multiple traffic lights that were out. I noticed cars stranded along the side of the road. My car started to flash a heat warning. Even though the A/C was cranked up, puppacita started to pant — which she never does unless she’s overheated, a rare occurrence. Nothing helped until I took a bottle of water in the car and poured it over her.
At home, I discovered that my whole complex was out — though the condos and adjoining center of restaurants and shops next door had power. A transformer that fueled my complex had been taken out by the storm, and with a quick trip around the corner I saw the pole and wires at the edge of a wooded area littering the ground. The temp was only 79 when I walked in, but would get much worse. I arrived back when all of the neighbors had fled and filled up local hotels, when local friends were also out of power, and when my pet-sitter was no longer around to help with care.
Awwww, so sorry for your loss.
I can so identify with this article. We had a trip scheduled the day after the evacuations for the Colorado Springs fire. What to do with the kitties, who were already overheated in 100-degree heat (few people have AC here)? The smoke was too thick for anyone, man or beast, to stay, it was too hot, and the neighbors were all packing up and fleeing anyway. Took kitties up north to stay with the grandparents (at 4 a.m.), who aren’t cat people. But it worked out okay. Grandparents did a good job. It is terrible to see pets suffer. I was putting ice cubes in the water dishes.
Condolences on the loss of Red. Glad everyone else is fine. I’m lucky if the power goes out, I have a basement that stays around 55 all year. Keep my house set to 80 in the summer. Because I’m cheap.
How did the fish do?
The fish was happier, I think — it freezes out a tropical fish a bit with the temp I usually keep it in here!
Like pets much? Sorry to hear about ol’ Reddy Boy, as Wifey and I have lost a few Kitties in our time. Each loss leaves a ‘little hole’, that never quite heals.
A ChinChilla? How did you come up with that one? “You know, I’ve always wanted A ChinChilla…” [??]
Do they purr or squeak, or have an organic, endearing sound ?? Do they nuzzle, when it’s cold? Show their little furry bellies? C’mon, give it up. This is just too cute……
The lowdown on Chinderella is here:
http://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2012/03/30/furry-friday-world-chinchilla-domination/
Many of us were raised “without” air conditioning..high humidity..how ever did we make it..in my younger years, my mother i lived in the st. thomas projects in new orleans…no fans either…brick buildings…wow…
sorry about your pets…and then again..how did our pets make it?…
Thanks all on Red. He was a good little guy.
You can get converters that allow you to charge all your portable stuff off your car. Simplist is an inverter to boost 12VDC (car) to 110AC (wall socket) and you can charge as normal. Then there are converters that change 12VDC to whatever your device needs (more expensive, but waste less power). RV outlets have many appliances that can operate off 12VDC, but you have never had a serious power outage there. Your choice on preparedness level you want.
You get a serious power outage with this CME (coronal mass ejection) headed our way:
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/space/2nd-solar-x-flare-in-a-week-hurtling-towards-earth/
I was going to ask how the rat fared but then I read he died. Sorry to hear about the poor guy. Love your stories about your critters. I’ll miss reading about your rat.
Mark Twain is reported to have said that the more he met people the more he liked his dog. This is very very true in this new debased American State where an ugly people is creating an ugly culture; animals are much more humane that the humanus americanus.
Sorry to hear of the death of your pet. My two dachshunds survived a july trip in the baggage compartment of the plane with no ill effects. The pilot himself told me he had given them water. They both had to travel in cages and were both very spoiled dogs. Many staff members on planes are animal lovers and check on them but you cannot depend on that.
However, after I got to Arizona, the air conditioning in my house broke and the two dogs came to my bedroom door, melodramatically panting and throwing themselves down on the cooler floor…..just to let me know they weren’t happy and before they went to sleep on my bed.
My current dog, also a dachshund, doesn’t like the heat and spends most of the time in front of a fan in my air-conditioned house.