Our power came back on this morning about 5:00. Last evening was a travel back in time. By the time I got home from work and checking to make sure my mom was OK, it was dark.
People were crazy out there. Gas lines were a block long, traffic was bumper to bumper, and tempers were short.
A lot of people seem to operate by the Chicken Little Philosophy. Every little bump in the road is the end of Civilization as we know it.
We had purchased three wind-up flashlights for our trip to Mexico last Summer, and they served us well to get the camping gear out and the candles and all that. I have an 1890s oil lamp that I keep ready to go for just such times. It works just fine.
So I broke out the Coleman two burner propand stove to cook with, the hurricane lamp to see by, and a battery powered rado that does AM, FM, CB, and TV. We sat and listened to the TV news on the radio, talked, and Mrs A. wrapped Christmas presents by candle light.
The only problem was that we had no heat, but early to bed and a good down comforter took care of that.
Two bodies in close proximity sharing heat both stay warmer, as well as providing all sorts of entertaining possibilities.
I have been intending to buy a generator. I sold some shares in Boeing and have been waiting fot the check to come in. Of course the check came in today.
I will probably go ahead and buy a generator, thereby guaranteeing that the power will not go out again for the next ten years.
2 comments:
I got fairly lucky, my power was only out Thursday night and part of Friday. I've got a wind-up lantern too and it certainly got put to use. I didn't have to break out the camp stove though, I have a gas range and it works just fine without power.
Definitely agree on the traffic situation, I had to drive down to Federal Way and it took me about an hour and a half in total to navigate my way there. I found a gas station that was practically vacant to get gas. Their network was down and they were only taking cash. 75% of the people going in were leaving because they didn't carry any.
A wind up lantern is on my list of survival gear. An antique oil lamp is a lot better than darkness, but it can be approved on.
My two vehicles had a half tank, but Mrs A's Pathfinder was almost empty. We had to wait in line about 20 minutes to get gas.
Kina makes you appreciate what you have when the power comes back on.
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