Curse You, Ohio Winter!

Have you ever had one of those days where things just don't go right, and then, just when you think it can't get any worse, it does, and then it does again, and then it does again? That's how yesterday was. Well, I guess it actually started the day before yesterday.

Summer and I had just laid down to bed when suddenly, there's a loud scraping coming from up on the roof. In Utah, I would have been worried, but out here it's a normal occurrence once or twice each Winter as the snow that has piled up on the steep roof finally breaks loose from the shingles and slides down onto the ground. The first year we lived here, the snow broke loose and caught the heavy, ice-filled gutters on the front of the house, ripping one side away from the house and down. The gutter subsequently swung out away from the house, and then back like a giant pendulum, slamming against the front side of the house and missing the front bay window by just inches. That repair cost over $500, and that's with me doing the work myself. Anyway, this year, I thought the snow had just come down and I didn't worry much about it - at least not until the next morning.

During the night, I hear Logan crying, so I get up to find Summer bathing him in the tub. I look at my watch to find it's 3:00AM, and I shoot her a perplexed look. "He threw up" she tells me, "all over. EVERYWHERE." (Summer says,"Memo to me: In the future when your child is crying for a hug in the middle of the night, check to see if he is covered in vomit BEFORE hugging and kissing him on the head! Just, eew!)

Later that morning, Andrew is also sick, throwing up multiple times, and both Summer and I feel nauseated most of the day. Oh, I almost forgot, Logan and Hannah both had several blow outs each during the course of the day.

Anyway, back to the story - I got up and looked out the window only to see our rear gutters demolished across the back lawn. "How can this story get any worse," you might ask yourself. Well, as the ice-filled gutters fell from the back of the house, they fell right onto the power line supplying the house, ripping the large metal conduit from the electrical meter, bending the meter housing, and strewing a live power line across the driveway. As a little added bonus, it broke the lines going to the garage, so that the garage no longer had electricity. We called the city to come shut off the power, but they said that these repairs would be the responsibility of the homeowner, and that the city doesn't cover any of it. Great!!

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure those power lines are not supposed to be laying across by backyard!

(sarcasm implied). So while we're waiting for the power company to come, I figure I'll just get some of the ice/snow moved away from the gutter so that we can get them off the power lines once the electric company comes. I stayed three or four feet from the wires at all times, but began shoveling some of the snow away from the gutter. After about 10 minutes of moving snow, I stuck my shovel into the snow to move another load and several sparks fly up into the air. Luckily, my hands were holding the fiberglass handle of the shovel and I didn't get shocked, but it was enough to convince me to rethink my plan to remove some of the snow.

After three or four hours, the power company showed up and shut off the power. I went out and started yanking on the gutters, trying to get them out from underneath the heavy snow and ice. In the process of yanking them out from the snow, my left hand slid along one of the aluminum edges, slicing into the finger. I started dripping blood across the driveway, examining the wound as I went inside to get some gauze.

It looked fairly deep, and I felt it would likely benefit from a few stitches, however I didn't want to pay the $50 copay to spend 4 hours in the waiting room for a resident to throw a few stitches in my finger. I dug into my first aid kit, pulled out some betadine anti-microbial wash, some lidocaine, and some suture. Then, I washed it out, numbed it up, and put in a couple of stitches. It should be good as new in a few weeks.

After the finger incident, I got back to work cleaning up the mess. After removing the gutters, I ran to Home Depot and blew $180 buying supplies to repair the mess. At around 8 PM, I finally finished replacing the conduit & wires, and re-wiring the garage. ("I held the flashlight!" - Summer again.) By then, we had been without power (and thus heat in the house) for several hours, and the kids were freezing! We called the power company to come flip the power back on and they tell us they can be there at around 12:30 AM. Again, GREAT!!!

I go in the house to rest... in the dark.... and wait... and wait.... and wait. Just before midnight, the guy shows up, takes a look at the box, and tells me he doesn't see an inspection tag on the electrical meter. "I'm not supposed to hook you back up until you get the job inspected" he tells me, matter of factly. I explain that we have a 11 month old baby inside that's not only cold, but sick, and that there's no way we'll be able to get an inspector out after midnight. Fortunately, he had a little sympathy, and he reconnected the power. We talked for about 20 minutes while he reconnected everything, and he turned out to be a really nice guy. I'm just really grateful that he turned the power back on. It was a life-saver!

Anyway, I still need to put together and hang a new set of gutters for the back of the house, but at least we have electricity. After all the drama, I guess the old adage still applies, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." If that's the case, I'm I freakin' MUSCLE MAN!!!