outage

[olmue]

There is nothing like the power going out to give you sudden violent memories of this. It was only a blown transformer or something, and it's in the middle of the summer, but sometimes logic can't stop your reflexes from wanting to stockpile firewood and make sure you have food and water and a radio connection to the outside world. I theoretically believe that everyone should have a 72-hour emergency kit (that's the minimum time it takes the Red Cross to respond in a large emergency--often longer). But I believe it practically as well! And I wish I had never read that Life As We Knew It book because it was way too real in light of my own disaster experiences, and in that scenario there really was no solution. (In fact, I dreamed about that book last night, which I'm sure didn't help tonight!) The kids got flashlights while Grandpa cranked the radio and lit oil lamps. Then we went for a drive to see how far the darkness went. Lots of people were out on the roads, walking, biking, driving--looking for another human. We are so dependent on electricity, not just for conveniences, but to make connections with other people as well.

Anyway, I think once we get moved in, we'll start thinking of how to adapt our emergency supplies to our new place!

Comments

[meredith-wood.livejournal.com]

Oh man. I feel your pain.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Lol, I didn't realize it would give me a mini moment of PTSD! I knew in my mind it was minor, but all my reflexes were screaming for action!

[shaelise.livejournal.com]

We are linked to electricity and dependent on it for so much. Hope things are going well for you. I've been offline for a while getting my son ready to serve a mission in Chile (but not Olmue...). Hope you're doing well. Have you found a house or a job in Idaho? Sorry, if I've missed all your exciting news. Hope you're all well. :)

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Chile?! Which one? I was in Vina del Mar, but I'm not sure if Olmue is still in that one. Anywhere in Chile is awesome, though!

We did find a house, and we leave California in the morning for Idaho. It was a really close call where we almost didn't find a house at all and then narrowly avoided the only other possibility, which involved a huge irrigation canal, a railroad track, and doors to the outside from every room in the house. Fun with a toddler, huh? Our actual house should be a lot better. We did get the job in Idaho before making the sudden plunge to move there (BYUI--nontenure).

Tell your son buena suerte from me!

[shaelise.livejournal.com]

Antofagasta which borders Vina del Mar (which is where my husband served also...so it's been extra fun).
So glad you found a house (minus the railroad track and irrigation canal) and a job at BYUI -- woo-hoo!! Wish my son were planning to attend when he returns . . . but as of now, he hasn't applied out of state. Wish it were tenure but at least it's a job. Hope it all goes well. Maybe sometime I'll make it up that way and we can meet for lunch or something. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Good luck with your move tomorrow. :)

[wordsrmylife.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the need for an emergency kit. We always had one when I was growing up and it helped, especially the winter we had an ice storm so bad that my father didn't go to work for 5 days. We got really tired of cooking on the kerosene stove and going to bed at 8:30 because we didn't want to run out of kerosene for the lamps. And then, several summers, any thunderstorm would bring down dead elm branches (dead because of Dutch elm disease) and we'd lose electricity for 2-6 hours.

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was raised on a philosophy of food storage and emergency preparation, and while I've heard people scoff, I've used mine quite a bit in the hurricanes and ice storms I've experienced. Better prepared than sorry!