The bad:

My neighborhood is without power.

The windstorm that hit my area of the Pacific Northwest slammed us with 70 mph gusts of wind, and at about 6 a.m. Friday morning, the transformer that feeds my neighborhood exploded, lighting up the morning sky with a bright flash and a dazzling fireworks display that followed for another five seconds. It's quite possible that we'll be out of power for several more days.

The good:

Fortunately, our motorhome has enough juice in the starter battery to charge my laptop and my cellphone via several extension cords, and since our phonelines appear to function, I'm able to dial into my employer's ISP and have limited browsing capability. Also, there's enough propane in the motorhome's reserve tanks to keep the propane-powered fridge and freezer working, so we don't have to worry about our food going bad for a while. Since our house runs on natural gas and city water, we still have hot water for showers, and we can use our stove and oven to cook. For heat, we have a wood burning stove, and since I bought a truckload of firewood a few months back, we're set for a while.

Apart from not having any lights on in the house, it's really not that bad.