We were hit with the devastating aftermath of a tropical storm left by Hurricane Helene in my hometown city yesterday.
My last, half-decent night of sleep was interrupted by two iPhone alerts.
Don’t drive? I thought.
I have to drive to work.
I had no choice…
My wife and I woke up at 5 AM to the howling sound of wind and rain knocking against our windows.
We still had power, but that pipe dream was about to end soon.
We packed into our car and left to work on Friday morning. The wind and rain were blowing us every which way; trees and powerlines were nearly blocking every path we needed to take, like a Snorlax in Pokémon.
When I got to work, the gate had been badly damaged so I drove straight in.
I sat in my car for awhile as the wind and rain shook me around.
I remember saying, “this is bullshit”.
I risked our lives for this.
The plant was running on a back up generator and we only had about 150 employees to make food for.
It was a quick and relatively easy day at work, and the storm had settled by 9 AM, leaving a beautiful cloudy sky and a breeze not unlike being on the beach.
Driving home was tough because all of our routes were blocked off by trees or fallen branches, power poles, and traffic cones.
Restaurants were closed or only accepting cash; Wal-Mart was turning people away after 5 PM, and even today the gas stations have been wrapped around with traffic piling into the streets.
We’re expected to be without any power for a few days, and while that’s normally an issue for most people, it’s not a problem for me.
Why?
It’s because I have handheld video games like the Nintendo Switch and 3DS to keep me busy!
I’ve been charging my devices and packing plenty of food for me and Abby at work.
I’m glad I can still be a gamer even when we have a big power outage with no returning estimate in sight.
I’ll be playing The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom while my wife is working tomorrow.
Do you have a game that you’re currently playing?
How are you liking the new Zelda?
If you’re reading this blog and you’ve been affected by this storm, then I’m definitely praying for you.
It’s not easy, but it’s a time for us to come together as family and community to help each other. Commonfolk with chainsaws, fire fighters, ENT, FEMA, Duke Energy, construction workers, and the national guard are all working the best they can to restore our lives back to normal.
I’m just thankful for my little Nintendo with 90% charge, outplaying the beefy PlayStation 5 and gaming PC because it can actually turn on without power.
In times when subscription services, internet, framerate, resolution, and performance don’t matter as much as just being able to play while sitting in complete darkness — as $300 in groceries spoil in my fridge — I just can’t help but to be grateful!
No power?
No problem!
