Yeah, we have been without for about 24 hrs. It is horrible, we live in a rural area and if the power goes out we have no water either because of the well pump. So a few years ago we purchased a great big generator that can run the fridge, freezer, well pump, sump, furnace, one outlet in every room and of course the TV so we don't kill each other. It seems like a bit of an extravagance but is wonderful when you really need it and worth every penny. Glad you are both OK!
Wife & I were Without Electricity for 6 Days - Empathize with 3rd World......
by flipper 52 Replies latest jw friends
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Satanus
Glad you had a backup system. A few yrs ago, in montreal, we lost power for most fo a week, when the ice storm knocked down a bunch of hydro towers. After a few days, it got pretty cold. I had a small camp stove for coffee, and food. A lot of families went to various shelters that were set up. Since then, a lot of people there have bought power generators.
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Sayswho
Been there done that...for 14 days...no power, cold showers, like living in a third world country. It's amazing how you can make do... if it was not for the help of the national guard giving out needed supplies like drinking water it would of been much worse. In our area we were taken care of, I know other areas were not as fortunate. Not something that we want to have to do again but now we know what it's like not to have what we consider necessary things.
- Glad you survived
Sw
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cameo-d
Dear Mr. Flipper,
Glad you "weathered" the storm well. My suggestion, especially for winter months, to be able to have an emergency supply of hot water, is to have an active COMPOST pile. There are several ways you can do this for hot water. One is to build the compost around a 55 gal. drum with a spigot on it for attaching a hose. You fill the barrel with water ahead of time. Another way is to have a long hose coiled beneath the compost pile. You can always attach another hose to the water source and the buried hose.
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Snoozy
Where I used to live I lived on a line that always lost it's power..a little rainstorm could knock us out! (And I live in Missouri!)
It got to be a real pain. Hubby rigged a little TV that would run on a battery..a real lifesaver lol
We would be out almost a week sometimes.
Where I live now it is great, storms like crazy and still have the power!
I can imagine what a nightmare it can be for the area you live in.
Glad you got the power back!
Snoozy
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flipper
CLARITY- Thanks for your kind words- I appreciate it. Yeah, cooking on a wood stove everyday constantly gets old fairly quick. We were pretty relieved when the power came back on finally.
MARY- I know Tahoe got hit harder than us as it's 6,200 ft. elevation whereas we are at 3,200 ft. elevation so we get les snow than Tahoe. But it's still a drag as this time it froze solid when cold, clear Alaskan air hardened the snow overnight ! But we are coping fine, have a great wood stove and I cut over 3 cords of wood this summer- so we stay warm.
SHIRLEY W- That is weird you got a hurricane up in New York- like you said it's really rare. I bet your mom was freaking out. But like you say if after Armageddon in the paradise there would be no electrical anyway ! Well- your mom doesn't have to worry- there will be no Armageddon or paradise either. LOL !
NO MORE KOOL AID- So you folks lose power too ? It's good you purchased a generator. I've heard generators running in our neighborhood at night the last 6 days. It's definitely a good investment. Thanks.
SATANUS- I've heard it gets really cold in Montreal . Like you said - it seems getting a generator would be a wise investment for sure.
SAYSWHO- Hey, thanks. It sounds like you were in a huge disaster ! But recovered well and had assistance from people. Good. Hope things are going well for you now.
CAMEO_D- Very interesting aboiut using the compost pile for heat. Very good idea. Imagine getting hot water out of a compost pile ! Astounding.
SNOOZY- JUST A time to adapt when these things happen for sure ! It sounds like you have an innovative husband . Good for you. It was a little creepy hearing the winds blow the trees , however we were lucky it didn't hit the house. No trees through our windows. Gotta be prepared for obscure things like this happening
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Hadit
Hey Flipper! So glad you guys are okay. It's not fun camping in the cold in your own home! I think the longest we've been out of power is two days last winter - it wasn't really long enough to make a huge difference. You sure do appreciate all the things that make your life easier though. It inspires your creativty to come up with solutions for the things that you don't have. Shows you that we can do without a lot of things - except hot showers! I had to laugh at Miseryloveselders comment about his booty crack - it gave quite the visual!
Please say hi to Mrs. Flipper for me. Sending big hugs to you guys.
I hope the weather gets better soon!
Hadit
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Highlander
Most of the people that live in the san bernardino mountains here in southern california own generators since power outages are quite common. I imagine this must have been an unusual situation for you as it seems you don't have a backup generator?
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Heaven
I'm glad you guys weren't adversely affected. Anything longer than 24 hours begins to be a problem especially regarding the food in your fridge and freezer. It's kind of like camping out. There are ways of getting around it but some kind of backup is a good idea.
When I was a kid my parents bought a property with an old farm house on it that had no running water or electricity. We used to vacation there a lot. There was a well with a hand pump outside and my Dad built an outhouse. So I have lived without electricty. While life may be different, you can survive and actually live very well. It's people who rely on electricity to keep machines running that they depend on, especially those who need medical attention, that may have life threatening issues.
In 2003 there was a massive blackout in Ontario, and parts of the Northeastern and Midwestern States. Boy, did the office start stinking pretty quickly once the power was gone! No air conditioning means stinky, stale air. Driving home that night was very interesting as a lot of civilians were directing traffic. Things operated fairly smoothly.
We made coffee via our Coleman stove for us and our elderly neigbhours the next morning. We were all so very glad it happened in the summer and not the winter. Other people made their morning coffee on their barbecues while others when to the Country Style in town -- they had a generator and were still making breakfast.
We are very dependent on electricity. Having a backup plan helps to ease living so you can still function. One winter my grandfather was without power for 2 weeks. Luckily he had a fireplace that kept the house warm and enabled him to make meals. He had flashlights with good batteries.
After the blackout of 2003, I bought a Power Box so that I could at least run the fridge and a heater if it ever happens again. I'd like to get a solar panel to charge it with. This website has an interesting page on some products, including the Power Box I got, that can help you get through an outage:
http://www.small-cabin.com/small-cabin-off-grid-3-power-eliminator.html
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Sayswho
Flipper, thanks for asking...yes things have greatly improved.
There are good and bad things that happened at that time where the ORG was concerned, it started to open up my eyes to alot of things (in 2004).
Well that's another story for later, but another thing it showed me is just how isolated you can be from the rest of the world and yet be so close.
Sw
