Power Outage!!

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   lorlie6posted 13 years ago

   Truth, now...What do you really do when the power goes out??
   
   I'll go first-I snuggle up in my quilts, read, then take a nap.

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      AEvansposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Now that sounds perfect! I am so glad to see you on the forum.

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         lorlie6posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hi AE!  Sooooo glad to see you here!

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   camloposted 13 years ago

   Lorlie, this really did happen to me a couple of weeks ago. It was horrible. It was boring. I had tea lights, but they didn't shed enough light, no matter how many I had on. Sooner or later the battery on my netbook was empty, and I couldn't even play the 'abbreviation game' anymore.
   A friend came round, but it was too dark to do anything, so we went out. I had to come back at some point because of my cat - can't leave her on her own for too long.
   I had to eat cold food, my alarm clock didn't work. My cell phone's battery soon ran out ...
   The following afternoon, a man came to fix it, thank God.

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      lorlie6posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's awful, camlo, but at least someone came to fix it eventually!  I seem to just crawl into my own world and ignore things until they right themselves.
      I started this thread since so many folks are experiencing such crazy weather!!

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         camloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I thought of writing a Hub on all the things you need in case the electricity doesn't work ... it kind of occurred to me all the things I didn't have. I don't even possess a flashlight!

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   emievilposted 13 years ago

   we always have a 12-hour power outage  whenever the power company does 'maintenance work' and then during the first quarter of the year, it was really a lot, lot worse because we have no power for several hours every day. What do we do? well try to work (if it's a working day) without lights, the computer, etc. during week-ends - I just lie down, read a book (natural light permitting) or just go out and walk my dogs around.

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   Dame Scribeposted 13 years ago

   A power outage in -20+ weather would not be good for me here, but summers, I do the same. Call the power company ask if theres a scheduled outage and then just wait but it issssss nice to drift off into daydreams *sighs*

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   Jane@CMposted 13 years ago

   If its going to be a short outage, I take a nap

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   MPG Narrativesposted 13 years ago

   If it's a long outage I'd lose at the food in my freezer which I would hate cause I precook and freeze a lot of meals!!

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   Ivorwenposted 13 years ago

   In the summer, just call the power company to make sure they know about the problem.  In the winter, we also light the wood stove, and if it is dark out, an oil lamp or two. 
   We read most evenings, so that doesn't change much, but music is hard to come by without electricity. 

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   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   Hook up the back-up power(s) (generator, battery-back-up, etc.) and try to overlook the fact that there are orange cords and "transient" lamps everywhere until the "real" power comes back on - pretend to plan to keep doing all the usual things we do, but end up waiting around for that "real" power anyway; because we know it's coming back, and don't feel like settling in and working under generator/battery lights, because the "real" power will be back on suddenly and unexpectedly (so we can't relax). 
   
   Ironic, eh?

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   jerrylposted 13 years ago

   lorlie6,  Many years ago, the New England area had a huge power outage.  9 months later, the birth rate increased by approximately 15% in that area.

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      wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I remember that!  And the results.  The whole northeast went out, with part of Canada.
      
      We once had a power outage that lasted 10 days, with resumption of power occasionally, but never for more than a few minutes.  It was winter, and most people picked up a motel in a nearby town, but we got together with some friends.  He had a kerosene heater, I had camping lights and stove and a fireplace.  We did fine, although we couldn't get out of the community (trees down and snow) for a few days.
      
      No power = no well water; keep a pot of snow melting.  No phones, (no cell phones then).  Camp stove and fireplace for cooking.

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      lorlie6posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      

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      Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I remember that one too.   This is precisely why people need those back-up batteries and generators to be watching, dragging around, worrying about, and on and on on.  Having all that back-up power takes so much more work than just switching on the light switches and computer switches.  There's no time for making babies when you're busy acting like a survivalist (sort of).   

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    jerrylposted 13 years ago

    When I was living in northern Minnesota, we had a wet heavy snow storm with high winds.  The storm literally twisted huge electrical relay towers like pretzels.  We were without electricity for 7 days.  We put our frozen foods out in the snow banks.  We had candles for lighting. I learned one thing back then.  Never have anything but a gas kitchen stove.  At least you can light the burners and have some heat. One of life's lessos.

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       Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I go for the gas stove for that reason too.   Even if we don't think our power will be out for long (and don't drag out all that back-up power stuff), there's always making an old fashioned pot of coffee, or a cup of tea, on top of the stove if  you have gas.
       
       The worst we've had was losing power for a few days during an ice storm more than ten years ago.  (Then there was that Northeast blackout, and there was some temporary power outage during the Blizzard of 78. )  Not far from us, though, there were people just a couple of years ago (like two or three towns away) who lost power for weeks after an ice storm.  I can't imagine how they even lived with it for that long in Winter.

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    jerrylposted 13 years ago

    Going through a power outage really makes a person appreciate the modern conveniences we have.  It only takes a few hours without juice to make you realize how dependent we are upon electricity.  What hardships the pioneers had to go through.
    We are at the mercy of the suppliers of our energy.

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    lindajotposted 13 years ago

    We had one last week - by the time I found the radio with batteries and the candles, I found out it was due to a small tornado 3 miles away - had no idea (we don't get those here).  I enjoyed a book and a cuddle with the cat.  Gotta love wood stoves.

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    lorlie6posted 13 years ago

    My fireplace is my solace!

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       jerrylposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Cozy comfort for sure. Nothing like a fireplace to take your mind off of troubling thoughts or situations.  Good therapy.

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          lorlie6posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I love to simply stare at the flames.  It is good therapy!

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