As those of you who have been following already know, I have been slowly working toward the day when I can tell the power company to pull the meter. The expected time frame was at some future point, due to things like the need for a few power tools, welder, air compressor and computer.
On 
night of November 30, the time frame dramatically accelerated. There was a large oak tree leaning slightly away from the house and I hadn't considered it as a potential problem. Weather patterns here in Oklahoma, however, had other ideas. A small tornado twisted up the tree top and uprooted the tree, placing it squarely on top of the house. In the process, it took down the power drop cable and damaged the wall where the meter was, to the point that it could not be hooked back up.
night of November 30, the time frame dramatically accelerated. There was a large oak tree leaning slightly away from the house and I hadn't considered it as a potential problem. Weather patterns here in Oklahoma, however, had other ideas. A small tornado twisted up the tree top and uprooted the tree, placing it squarely on top of the house. In the process, it took down the power drop cable and damaged the wall where the meter was, to the point that it could not be hooked back up.
The house was no longer livable and used mainly for storage (the back room serving as an office) prior to this event. Roof damage was extreme, and with termite damage below, there will be no repairs, only tree removal and eventual demolition. With these considerations, I had the power company close my account and remove the meter.
This brings me to the point of being totally off grid. The refund on my deposit was enough to get a solar kit at Harbor Freight, which I will install on the roof of my office area. My computer is now at my sister's house so I can have at least limited use of it until the solar is set up.
The next step after the solar setup will be the purchase of a portable welder (ASAP) so I can weld, and run the air compressor and other tools. This damage and lack of power tools will slow progress in some ways, and there will certainly be quite a bit of loss of storage items.
There is an up side! Several projects and goals are greatly accelerated. In addition to being off grid ahead of schedule, I have greater motivation to get the portable welder that has been on the list for several years. The process of sorting and downsizing stored items is now an immediate necessity, and the eventual demolition of the old house is a much more immediate consideration.
In short, since nobody was injured, there is some serious good even in this negative event. I will write a post on the cleanup later.
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