The Great Stormy Oakland County Power Outage of 2011

A few weeks back, a massive storm tore through the area and left thousands of people without power. Trees were everywhere, lines were down across many cities and my neighborhood was a mess.

Across the street from me. The tree was long enough to scrape the gutter when it fell but otherwise, the house was fine.

Hey neighbor, want a tree?

Telephone pole and electrical wires down.

The space between these two houses was once filled with tall, beautiful trees. They were cut down years ago and I was always upset about that... until now, because that would have caused some serious damage.

They probably didn't need that garage anyway.

A new view of the sky that's not blocked with as many trees.

I applaud them for trying, I guess.

I went about 48 hours without power. Break out the cat candles!

There are cat balls in this video.

Stuart was playing with a milk cap ring and somehow managed to slide it under the kitchen rug. Hilarity ensues.

Now that I have a cell phone that records video, expect plenty more videos like this.

The most accurate way I can describe depression

Imagine you’re alone in a movie theater. You can feel the vast emptiness of the unoccupied seats surrounding you, but there’s also the confinement as if you’re sitting in a closet. The air conditioning is working at full power; all you’re wearing is shorts and a t-shirt. No movie is playing. Instead, it’s a loop of those awful advertisements they play before the previews. You have a large Coke and it’s flat and warm. The ground is so dirty and sticky that you’re stuck and cannot move. And the only snack at the concession stand is Jujubes.

This is what depression is like and it never seems to end.