Lights Out

[sparks]

  We lost power here in N. Ill for a couple of hours. It's amazing how some people react when you're off grid. 

  However, it occured to me that a good supply of food, water, candles, batteries, and a shotgun might be something to consider having around!! 

  Ah, yes....the times are a changin' aren't they..?   

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

It's always amazing to me that people seem so ill prepared for a power outage...

[MountainDon]

Amazing? Why?  Unless the power goes down every month. If that was the case and people were not prepared they would be stupid. But if your local power grid is dependable I can understand not having a generator, or whatever else one might deem necessary.

My experience around here in the city and 'burbs it is very unusual for the power to go down in general. Where we live we haven't had many outages in the past 10 years I'd say. Maybe every other year, if that even.    Years before when there was lots of nearby construction it was a different story. I had a geberator and used it a couple times on the longer outages. I recall one hot summer's afternoon that we spent in the RV, generator running, A/C on, watching TV, reading, cooking dinner while the rest of the street/neighborhood baked and sweated in the heat. 

It also helps that our city and surrounding areas have all neighborhood power lines underground. There are major feeder lines that are above ground, but the absence of neighborhood above ground lines means no losses from falling trees, ice storms, that sort of thing.

I bought a UPS power system for the computers the outages were so frequent. They were of short duration, but short doesn't mean jack to a computer. The last time the ups was used was a couple years ago when the PNM guys came to change the meter. They rang the bell and explained what they were going to be doing, told us to shut off any computers so they wouldn't lose data. That was very nice of them. I told K not to worry, the UPS would kick in. They both did.   

As far as preparedness goes, candles are a BAD idea. They are fire hazards. Flashlights or propane lanterns are much better. We also have a couple old (real antiques) oil lamps that work, but I prefer batteries and propane. We have a store of non perishable food, drinking water, etc. But I'm not surprised if a neighbor can't open a can because the power is off and their opener is electric. Not at all.

Of course I am a pessimist, a cynic, a realist, and don't expect a lot of other people.

[glenn kangiser]

I like the new LED head lamps.  I use it for exploring mines, but find many other uses also.  It leaves your hands free and allows you to use your head for something besides keeping your body from wandering around aimlessly.

[Redoverfarm]

Don you are lucky to have the outages in the summer.  Here most are in the winter with the snow building up on the trees and falling over the line.  I think it was 97 our power went out and was out for 9 days.  That was a combination of lines and transformers.  I used to complain when I got my bill and it had avg daily consumption of $2.65. Shoot I used $6 gas for the generator a day and that was only part of the 24 hr period.  This year it has went out 2-3 times for 24-36 hrs.  Just move the milk out into the snow.

[MountainDon]

I used to begrudge the extra fees that are paid for running underground lines. But not any more.