Tikkabik

After we spent part of Monday scavenging free wi-fi and power from local libraries, it was a blessed relief on Tuesday morning at 4:15 AM when all our appliances sprung to life.

During a few idle moments last night I visited a Web site that sells house generators. They actually aren’t ridiculously expensive – one that would do the job for us, at least for “emergency” circuits like lights, the fridge and maybe a room or two would run about $3K or so. What’s more, they run on propane or natural gas, so we could tap into our gas line, I assume. I’m unaware of our gas ever being cut off in a disaster that’s taken our power too.

I’m still not convinced it’s worth it, to be frank. The total number of times we’ve lost power long enough for it to matter are still pretty minor, but I have to admit, electricity is less reliable in this neighborhood than anywhere else I’ve lived.

It’s ironic, because all of the utility wiring for this neighborhood is underground. It’s not the neighborhood itself that is the problem – it’s the wires on poles that feed it here.

As I write this it’s about 6:30 AM on Monday August 29th, the morning after Hurricane (well, for us, Tropical Storm) Irene blew through New England. All told, we made it through just fine – the house is in one piece, didn’t lose any big limbs on trees, and have only light debris to pick up in the yard.

The biggest problem we’ve had is that we’ve been without power since about 2 PM yesterday.

I’m writing this from the (waning power of my) laptop, connected to the Internet by USB tether to my iPhone. Pretty nifty technology.

We’ve lived on Cape Cod for about 14 and a half years, and in that time we’ve grown accustomed to short outages, when seniors hit a telephone pole and blow out a transformer, or when blizzards dump heavy snow on lines which fall. The Cape’s electrical grid is notoriously ill-tempered.

But this is the longest power outage I can recall. We’ve been without power for hours at a stretch – sometimes even the better part of a night – but certainly not an afternoon and an evening.

I’m hearing from friends in nearby towns that they have electricity, so I’m hoping that Nstar gets its act together for us pretty soon. All things being equal, this is a fairly minor inconvenience, but I’d still like to get things back to normal.

My entire life I’ve worn inexpensive shoes. For much of the past decade or so, I’ve tried my best to find shoes that have a big toe box. Arthritis, particularly in my big toes, has made my toes spread wider than they probably should. And short of painful corrective surgery, which my podiatrist tells me is inevitable at some point, I need to make accommodations by getting footwear well-suited to my feet. It’s become increasingly difficult over the years.

Last year I bought my first pair of properly “orthopedic” shoes, paid for by my medical insurance. They were ok – comfortable enough, but without any proper traction to speak of. They were an absolute menace to wear in bad weather, and I’m pretty sure they contributed to a nasty fall I took on some ice last winter, resulting in a severe ankle sprain.

Those shoes are worn out, and my medical insurance has lapsed. I’m waiting for new coverage through the state, but my shoes have fallen apart. So to make do, I decided to look at an athletic shoe manufacturer I’ve heretofore ignored – New Balance.

Turns out that New Balance makes shoes in more sizes than just about any other athletic shoe maker in business. Their Web site offers extensible customizability not only in terms of length but in width – and for me, this is crucial. I was born with a wide foot (something my kids have unfortunately inherited), and with age and increased weight, my foot has widened over the years, to the point that I’m now most comfortable in a 4E.

Finding a 4E in a department store is nigh impossible, but it’s a no brainer on New Balance’s Web site.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on shoes I didn’t know would fit comfortably, but New Balance was accommodating there, too. I spent a scant $40 on a pair of 576′s – black, with two velcro straps. In truth, they’re almost identical to the orthopedic shoes I’ve been wearing for the past 11 months.

Except they have better treads.