We’re dealing with some stormy weather here (Vancouver for me, but it covers a wider area) and so a patchwork of homes across the region are having power outages. Crews are working to restore it
So on that note, what do you like to do?
- ways to prepare, what to buy, a favourite flashlight from [email protected]?
- how you pass the time
- any stories that come to mind?
I don’t remember when the last one happened. We have like 5 minutes of downtime per year in Germany on average
Also German here, that seems a high estimate. The only downtime I had this year was when the workers building our sidewalk grazed a cable bug I can’t remember any over the last few years…
Hahaha you should see the outage map of Washington State.
What do I like to do? Nothing, I hate power outages.
What I typically do is I have a large stockpile of candles from an old MLM scheme. I light those and play on my phone if there’s Internet. We have multiple battery banks for these occasions.
If there’s no Internet I will read. Both ebooks and regular books because my attention will shift.
I also try to do something productive like study for something.
Most of all I pile like eleventy billion blankets on the bed because I’m so cold. The furry ones are poor space heaters.
When I was a kid we always played games. Like charades or something. My dad would light the camp stove and we’d entertain ourselves for the evening as a family. They were nice.
I am always amazed that power outages are such a common experience in north America. In more than 55 years here in Europe I have experienced exactly two power outages, one that was planned when they were working in the substation for this street, and one incident that took out a whole part of the city for 20 minutes. The latter one was so extraordinary that it made the national evening news.
Contemplate how close to total collapse we are every day
Last outage we had, one of the first things I did was take a hot shower. Our water heater is electric and if it became extended I might not get another chance.
We lost power for 3 days back in 2006. The water heater still had hot water in it when power was restored. It wasn’t piping hot that last day, but was still good enough for a shower. I was quite impressed.