Hello!!!! Yes, I now have power back and only because I live on a corner house and apparently our power is tied to the cross street and not my actual street. My street still does not have power!! We were even without cell phone coverage for a number of days as well so I didn't have internet access that way either and with little battery power, I didn't want to use the cell to access the Internet for surfing anyway.

The high school where the girls are taking a summer class is still without power so classes have been cancelled for a third day.

Our Congressman's own office, only got power back on Tuesday afternoon. Even he didn't rank.

Our local post office is still closed as well.

All of the local fireworks (I believe 6 areas) for last night's Fourth of July celebration were cancelled. They said it was so they could have all of the resources focused on restoring the power; however, I believe it was probably a safety issue as well.

It really is amazing how bad it has been here. Major roads, as in six lane divided roads, were shut down due to trees and power lines/pole all over them and the poles also had their transformers on them too and it creates a domino effect. It seems as if every other side road is blocked by a tree being down. Of the 800 or so traffic lights in our county, over 500 went out so that was another major issue. Additionally, almost all of the major the water supply pumps were also hit so we had to conserve water until Monday. Cash became king as bank ATMs were not working and the stores that were open could not take credit cards. Even yesterday I was at a store that had just reopened and they had a sign saying cash only. Gas became a premium as soon gas stations ran out and a number of gas stations were closed as they didn't have power. The few hotels that were open the first couple of nights and had rooms, were charging as much as $600 per night. Maryland does not have a price gouging law.

The worst part has been the heat. It has been in the high 90s and low 100s the entire time. Tomorrow it it supposed to be over 100 again. The house just becomes an oven. On Sunday we went to the University of Maryland to escape the heat. Our county did open what they call "cooling centers" places you can go to escape the heat, but you have to bring all your own stuff and you are with a whole bunch of other people and usually screaming ones at that. they also allowed you to take your pet to the local shelter once it got power back as long as you had all your records for shots for it.

Generators have been in high use. Mainly to run A/C or ceiling fans and cell phones as most people here no longer have hard wire landlines.

My batter powered radio sure came in handy and so did the battery power cell phone charger, flashlights, and coolers!!

Oh and yes, heat like this does create a MAJOR migraine as by the third day, I believe I didn't drink enough water and the temperature in the house was about 95!!

Thanks for caring about me... And Winifred, I'm glad you and your granddaughter and her friends are all okay. You too Chaika!