Whenever a storm knocks out my power, my home gets hot and humid
My family and friends all say I live in paradise.
Right before I was due to graduate with my Bachelor’s degree, I landed a job on the gulf coast down south.
The pay was just under $50k a year and offered full benefits. Since I have Crohn’s Disease and am in and out of hospitals and doctors offices regularly, getting health insurance was a god send. I was also excited to know I was already saving for retirement when my 401k was established. Although I haven’t accrued much yet, I know that with years the money will slowly add up. Whenever I’m not at work, I am just a ten minute’s drive from the beach and another 15 minutes away from a large state park. At first, it felt like paradise in every conceivable way. The issue I’m facing is that I have to keep my air conditioner running constantly to keep the humidity and heat down in my house. That in and of itself is not the worst thing to deal with, as long as you can afford the energy costs, which I thankfully can with my new job. The issue is our constant power outages that cut power to my air conditioner and leave it off for hours or days at a time. We get a lot of wind in this region and many of the power lines are susceptible to damage from tall and untrimmed trees. If I could get a generator as back-up for my central air conditioner whenever we have a storm that kills power, I would be content with the situation. But, when your house is full of humidity at 88 degrees on a day with outdoor temperatures over 100, it’s anything but “paradise.”