Waiting for the electrician, or someone like him

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days. As locals know all too well, and those elsewhere may have learned from seeing it on the news, the St. Louis area got hit with a major storm on Wednesday, July 19, knocking out electrical power for more than 500,000 customers of Ameren UE, the local utility. StLJN HQ has been blacked out since then and just regained power at around 3 p.m. Central time today, thus the lack of new posts.

Fortunately, all those near and dear to me seem to have come through just fine, and there's been no major property damage to contend with. Mostly, it's been inconvenient, and, when the heat indices got up above 110 degrees on Friday, occasionally uncomfortable. But we've had comparatively little loss of life throughout the Metro area, crime has actually gone down in the city of St. Louis, and my fellow citizens have, for the most part, comported themselves like good neighbors. The local cops, firemen, EMTs, social service agencies and the National Guard have been doing their best to help folks in need, and the repair crews from Ameren and on loan from other utilities in surrounding states have been busting ass trying to get things back up and running. (I do have a few harsh thoughts for the bosses at Ameren regarding their tree trimming and system maintenance policies, disaster planning, response times, and poor communications with the public, but the men and women on the street in repair trucks and those in the offices answering phones have been doing their best.)

Compared to what folks in New Orleans or Baghdad have been through, it's been just a blip on the radar, and barring further complications, things will be back to normal here very soon. If I owe you an email, it may be a day or two more before you get an answer, but regular posting here at StLJN should resume shortly. In the meantime, please keep a good thought for my fellow St. Louisans who are still waiting for the lights to come back on.

(Edited slightly after posting.)