Hello beautiful peoples!
We’ve been living in the Republic of Ireland since 2005 – 20 years now, for those who are mathematically impaired đ! That’s nearly half our lives. We’ve weathered a variety of situations, but these past few days have taught us that Ireland can still throw a curve ball now and then…
To give you some context: back in 2020, my wife and I had to self-isolate after being in close contact with someone who contracted Covid-19. Stuck at home and unable to go grocery shopping, I started searching for delivery services in our area. Thatâs when we discovered that the local SuperValu offers grocery deliveries. On the same day, for the very first time, we used SuperValu Online Shopping to get our groceries delivered right to our doorstep. At the time, it was our only option. After a while, I returned to work, but to make life a bit easier for my wife, we continued using the delivery service as it turns out it was very good. It’s been four years now, and although now there are more services available in our area, we still use SuperValu. So, as per our usual routine, this past Friday, January 3rd, 2025, we scheduled a grocery delivery for Monday, January 6th.
The weather forecast for the next few days looked a bit iffy, predicting some snow and freezing temperatures at night (-4 to -6 Celsius). Still, we remained optimistic. Our weather app has a habit of forecasting freezes, only to switch to a milder +1 or +2 Celsius at the last moment. We noticed it was snowing lightly, but in Ireland, the snow usually melts as soon as it hits the ground. The Amazon refund came through, and we were able to purchase a new dehumidifier. We also had a visit from the repairman who was supposed to fix our washing machine. As expected, he diagnosed a broken heating element and mentioned he needed to order the part. He promised to get back in touch with us once it arrived. Just in the nick of time, as we were almost down to our last clean clothes after over a month with a broken washing machine. It finally felt like “the curse” was being liftedâŠ
The next day, Saturday, 4th January, the snow was still around. Both my wife and I were born and raised in Poland, so 25 centimetres (10 inches) of snow is not a big deal for us. HOWEVER, the last time we saw snow that lasted more than 12 hours, it paralyzed many essential parts of everyday life in Ireland. Back then I’ve heard many smartcastic comments along the lines of, “Third world country! A bit of snow and the whole country falls apart! I live in XYZ and snow here is normal! BOOOO!”
To this, I say: Donât let your undergarments twist between your butt cheeks. Iâve lived in this country for 20 years. During this period, weâve had some snow days, but 95% of the time, the snow disappears almost as soon as it shows up. Because of this:
– Irish people donât have much experience driving in the snow.
– They also donât have winter tires. Buying winter tires in Ireland feels like an ugly guy buying a pack of condoms… You know thereâs zero chance of using that rubber.
– Another thing is that Irish automotive insurance doesnât cover accidents on snowy or icy roads. These are hazardous conditions, and you’re not supposed to drive. Period.
So yes, snowy conditions can paralyze the Emerald Isle… but usually not for long.
“Oh well… let’s see what this causes,” was the general conclusion, and we went about our day.
Late Saturday night (around 11:00 PM), we were in bed watching a movie when all of a sudden, “WHIRRRRR”, the power went out… We live on the outskirts of town and, for some reason, we are not connected to the main electric line for the town but rather to the village nearby. Because of this, sometimes the town has electricity, but we donât… Happens more often then I care to admit… After countless blackouts and brownouts, I’ve got the procedure down.
First, head over to the ESB Networks PowerCheck website. Since youâre without power, your internet router and PC are probably down. You can use your phone to visit the site. Hopefully, your mobile service provider is more reliable than mine. If youâre less fortunate, like me, you’ll need to move around the house until you find a spot with a signal. Once youâre online, read through all the safety information provided by ESB Networks and check for any known faults in your area.
Sometimes, ESB is already aware of the fault in your area and is working to fix it. In such cases, you’ll be provided with an guesstimated time for when your power might prossibly be restored.
You can opt to be kept updated, and ESB will send you a text message when the power is restored.
But what if you canât use the internet on your phone, or ESB has no information on the PowerCheck website for your area? Hereâs what I do:
– Grab your latest electric bill and note down your MPRN number, usually at the top right of the bill. It starts with 100.
– Call 1800 372 999.
– Follow the automated messages – itâs not very difficult.
By the end of the call, youâll know if ESB Networks is aware of the fault in your area and the guesstimated time for power restoration. You will have a chance to report a fault and to talk to an actual person.
If your mobile internet works, you can visit the “Report a Power Outage” website and provide them with your Eircode (or MPRN) and a phone number…
Once they verify (and believe you) that youâre indeed human, they will send you a text message confirming that youâll be updated via text.
So, I got to the PowerCheck website and discovered the fault was known, with a restoration time of 3 AM. I plugged my iPhone into a fully charged power bank, We finished watching the movie using mobile internet, and went to sleep shortly after.
I woke up at 3:30 AM, still no power. I checked the PowerCheck website again, and the estimated power restoration time had been pushed to 6:30 PM… “That’s not good,” I thought. After considering my options, I realized there was nothing I could do, so I went back to sleep.
Why is this a problem? Well, in our apartment, everything is electric:
– Tea or coffee? No can do. Electric kettle.
– Toast? Electric toaster.
– Shower? Electric pressure shower.
– Bath or washing hands in hot water? Electric boiler.
– House is cold? Night time electric storage heaters.
– Internet? If you have a mobile phone and a data plan, no problem. If you have a laptop and a mobile phone with a data plan or a USB modem with a SIM card, plug it into the laptop â no problem. But if you only have a “normal” internet router and a PC without electricity, youâre SoL.
– Cooking? Electric oven. (Note to self â in the future invest in a portable electric hot plate, a Ugreen or Jackery Portable Power Station)
– Entertainment? Mostly electric gadgets.
– Washing machine? Itâs electric but broken anyway.
– Security systems? Electric. I can hear them howling as soon as the neighbors lose power.
– Most of the devices I can think of are electric.
“Situation is far from ideal, but we can handle this,” I thought. Most of the food we had at home needed to be cooked, which wouldn’t happen without electricity, but we had some bread and cream cheese. Worst case scenario, weâd ration that. Shouldn’t be a problem since we have that grocery delivery on Monday morning, right?
Later that day, around 1:00 PM that day, I found two missed calls and a text message from the same number…
Bollocks…
I rang the SuperValu delivery driver (he’s a good man, and we’ve known him for years, so I have his number saved on my phone). I asked him what was going on and was told that when people saw the snow on Saturday, they panicked and essentially cleared out the store. Since Ireland was paralyzed by the snow, there were no food deliveries coming to the store anytime soon… He mentioned that they might resume deliveries by Wednesday or so…
To be sure to be sure, I texted SuperValu to ask when they would resume their delivery service and, just in case, I moved our shopping slot to Friday, 10th January, 2025.
I checked the PowerCheck website again, and the estimated power restore time was now… 9 PM.
Whenever I need advice and a good laugh, I call my friendâletâs call him Barry for the sake of his privacy. Barry is Irish and a local cab driver. We’ve known each other for almost 20 years, and I’ve been his customer since around 2006. Heâs always had plenty of good advice whenever I needed it. To keep this blog post family-friendly, I wonât disclose the particulars of our conversation. Trust me, itâs better for your mental health anyway. We’re both a bit twisted (understatement of the century)⊠I had a good laugh, which helped take my mind off our current predicament for a while. Unfortunately, due to “red alert” restrictions for cab drivers, Barry was unable to give us a lift to the grocery store to get some “ready to eat” food. He promised that as soon as he felt comfortable getting back on the road, heâd give us a shout.
The power kept coming back for a few seconds and then turning off again. At one point, it came back for about 20 minutes – we managed to get coffee / tea going and started making dinner. But it turned out to be a false hope as the power went off in the middle of cooking. We left the food on the stove, hoping for another window of opportunity to get it cooked thoroughly. The last thing we needed was food poisoning and a trip to the hospital… Are ambulances even driving in these conditions?
With the power back on, I wouldn’t have worried about food. When I cook beans, soups, or sauces, I always make big batches. Buying food in bulk can be a smart strategy for saving money and reducing waste. Our freezer is stocked with enough food to keep us going for a month or more if necessary.
Without electricity, however, frozen food is as useless as a condom in a convent. If the power outage continues for a prolonged period, instead of beautiful food rations, we might end up with a stinky, rotten puddle… I was hoping that wouldn’t be the outcome.
Later that day, to kill some time and take my mind off things, I was chatting on Signal Messenger with two of my friends – a Brit and a Polack. After sharing my predicament, one of them mentioned he was supposed to play “Shadow of the Tomb Raider” for 90 minutes but ended up playing for about 150 minutes instead. The other one was struggling to get Windows 11 to run smoothly on unsupported hardware so he restored Windows 10. Riveting stories. With friends like these, who needs enemies? đ you, asshats⊠Remind me why do I like you?
Even later that day, around 4:00 PM, the power was restored long enough for us to finish cooking dinner, and we had our first meal of the day. At some point in 2022, we changed our lifestyle and started practicing intermittent fasting. As daunting as it seemed at first, it turned out to be a blessing. We control our hunger better, we don’t get “hangry,” and my sugar levels are more stable. Thanks to this, we weren’t starving even though our usual mealtime was pushed a few hours later.
Even more later that day, the power came back on, but even today (Tuesday, 7th January, 2025), we continue to experience brownouts and blackouts lasting from a few seconds to a couple of hours. The power situation is definitely not stable yet… I haven’t had a power outage (so far) while writing this blog entry. But that may changeđ.
This morning (Tuesday, 7th January, 2025), I woke up feeling restless. I was fed up with this “emergency / survival-like existence” and needed to take action. I tried to convince my beautiful wife to abandon her quest for depression (she was feeling sick and tired of the situation too) and to join me in the Land of the Living. When my personal charm finally worked and I managed to piss her off, she got angry rather than depressed.
Two things happened next.
First, I received a phone call from Barry, who told me he was back on the road. Great news! I was considering holding off until Friday to see if SuperValu would deliver groceries, and then I got a call from SuperValu. They informed me that they had cancelled deliveries for Tuesday and Wednesday. There was a chance they might resume deliveries on Friday, and they would let us know by Thursday at the latest. That was basically a second message from the Green Island saying, “Move, get food because I might be frozen tomorrow…” So, I listened.
I rang the pharmacy to check if my medication was ready to be collected (I had called last week before all this started and asked them to have it ready by Tuesday). They told me one of my prescriptions had not been renewed by my GP. I called the GPâs office and found out they had not been working the previous day due to bad weather but would send the prescription within the next hour or so. Half an hour later, we were on our way to Tesco.
Tesco had plenty of stock, and while we were there, at least two delivery trucks arrived, so I wasn’t worried…
We got what we needed without breaking the budget, as we were cautious about unnecessary expenditure.
Our next stop was the pharmacy, where everything went smoothly. As a precaution, I grabbed some paracetamol, and we headed back home with Barry.
I called the washing machine repairman to find out how much the weather would delay the arrival of the part and, ultimately, the repair. He told me the part is expected to arrive by Thursday at the earliest⊠Looks like I might need to wash a few items by hand until then.
After a lovely dinner (comfort food at its finest), I sat down with a fantastic cup of Earl Grey with a dash of lemon and started writing this behemoth of a blog post… and that’s where youâve found me…
My wife has started coughing⊠Oh well, we had a good run. Time to check if the warranty on this model is still valid and maybe consider an upgrade. Just kidding Love newer models are far too expensiveđđ.
As you have noticed, over the past few days, we faced unexpected challenges in Ireland due to severe snow and power outages. These conditions disrupted our daily routines, making it difficult to cook, stay warm, and access essential services. Despite the adversity, we managed to keep our spirits up by maintaining a sense of humour and relying on the support of friends and local services. In the end, we were able to navigate through the tough times, reflecting on the experience with a mix of frustration and resilience.
That’s it for now but I doubt that this is the end of the Frozen Ireland saga…
Wishing you a warm heart, a well-stocked fridge, and endless cozy days in a snow-kissed Ireland!
Catch you on the flip side,
AndrzejL
