An Open Letter to DTE Energy and An Apology

I apologize for the light posting the last few days. In addition to the problems laid out previously, the spacious yet luxurious Chez 618 -- like many thousands of others -- lost power as a result of the Sunday ice storms. In fact, we lost power at 5:15 AM Monday, while yr obt svt was standing in the shower (helluva place to be with no lights!). "Mr. Preparedness", of course, did not have a flashlight in the bathroom. He does now.

Now, like most other people (virtually everyone I know, in fact), I bitch and moan mightily when I get my monthly power bill, and I tend to begrudge DTE every penny I have to send them.

But, as is always the case when the sh*t hits the fan, DTE (and the other utilities, of course) were right there in the thick of it, replacing lines before the storm abated, working 24 hours a day, calling in out-of-state and private crews, the whole nine yards.

The most common estimate I heard for power restoration was either very late Wednesday, or early Thursday.

Nope, the power was back on Tuesday evening, and had been on for a while: the sump pump had drained the basement and the house was once again warm.

So, to the folks at DTE, ATT/SBC/Ameritech/whatever it is this week, and all the rest of the hard-working utility crews:

THANK YOU.