To think the holidays are suppose to be about rushing to the mall, waiting in line forever, and having joyful arguments with family members you haven’t seen in months, well this year nature decided to make it even more uncomfortable by showering the midwest with plenty of cold weather. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, early frost on my windshield, or the torrent of ice and rain that left me without power for eleven hours! About the only two things that worked for me last Tuesday was my F-150 pickup and my iPhone. I used the truck to get some food and the iPhone to call MidAmerica and let them know our power was still out. The lesson learned is that you should always speak with a live operator when calling the power company, otherwise they will assume that the truck they sent out an hour ago fixed the problem, and you will still be sitting in the dark without power. It could have been much worse though. There was no wind at all during the storm and when you have at least a half an inch of ice on trees, any slight breeze is a catastrophe waiting to happen.