foxyrick
British Pork
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2006
- Messages
- 2,254
The last powercut I remember was so long ago that I was barely old enough to remember it. Now, with the privatisation of all public services, the supply companies have no requirement to actually supply, so they don't put in much redundancy. Well, it costs money and the company directors might have to cut down on their private jets. Hence the power cut we had during the night and for most of today. For some reason, the gas was cut off as well and still isn't back.
Anyway, whinge over. What did I learn from today?
1. I'm chuffed that I was finally vindicated in the purchase of a small generator some time ago. While our neighbours' freezers were melting, ours was still frosty. Shame they've been gits to us; I would have offered some freezer space otherwise. What goes around...
2. I need a bigger generator. 600VA just about worked the freezers and refrigerator, but didn't leave much room to spare. Plus it's a pain to refill every four hours.
3. I need more fuel, and somewhere safe to store it.
4. I need to make an outside housing for the generator. It's too noisy and way too fumy (is that a word?) to have in the outbuildings attached to the house.
5. I have enough flashlights. Plenty, in fact. I could do with some lower-power rechargeable room lights though.
6. It gets cold, real quick! Keep door closed and use draft excluders.
7. Candles are really, really useful for both light and heat. In a closed room they raise the temperature quite surprisingly. They are also a little romantic...
8. Cellphones don't work when not charged up (not mine, my wifes!).
9. Cellphones don't work anyway because the network can't cope when anything unusual happens; even if the authorities don't turn them off.
10. Clever electronic wired telephones are no use in a power cut. A nice old, simple 'phone that just plugs into the phoneline are needed. Fortunately, I had one in the attic so I could call the power company and listen to their recorded message telling me that the power was out
11. It's nice to keep a full tank of fuel in the car, as I know many of us do. All the local stations were shut; no power to the pumps.
12. Having a good supply of food that doesn't need cooking is good!
13. Camping equipment like cookers etc. isn't just for camping.
Funny thing: when I got grumpy, my wife kept saying, "you should be enjoying this - you're getting to use your stuff." Thing is, if it was a real serious situation I would have been much less grumpy. TEOTWAWKI would have made me downright gleeful. But knowing it was probably just some jerk who had cut a power cable next to the gas lines, and it was just going to be a day or two of irritating inconvenience, well.... that's just plain annoying!
Good practice run though
Anyway, whinge over. What did I learn from today?
1. I'm chuffed that I was finally vindicated in the purchase of a small generator some time ago. While our neighbours' freezers were melting, ours was still frosty. Shame they've been gits to us; I would have offered some freezer space otherwise. What goes around...
2. I need a bigger generator. 600VA just about worked the freezers and refrigerator, but didn't leave much room to spare. Plus it's a pain to refill every four hours.
3. I need more fuel, and somewhere safe to store it.
4. I need to make an outside housing for the generator. It's too noisy and way too fumy (is that a word?) to have in the outbuildings attached to the house.
5. I have enough flashlights. Plenty, in fact. I could do with some lower-power rechargeable room lights though.
6. It gets cold, real quick! Keep door closed and use draft excluders.
7. Candles are really, really useful for both light and heat. In a closed room they raise the temperature quite surprisingly. They are also a little romantic...
8. Cellphones don't work when not charged up (not mine, my wifes!).
9. Cellphones don't work anyway because the network can't cope when anything unusual happens; even if the authorities don't turn them off.
10. Clever electronic wired telephones are no use in a power cut. A nice old, simple 'phone that just plugs into the phoneline are needed. Fortunately, I had one in the attic so I could call the power company and listen to their recorded message telling me that the power was out
11. It's nice to keep a full tank of fuel in the car, as I know many of us do. All the local stations were shut; no power to the pumps.
12. Having a good supply of food that doesn't need cooking is good!
13. Camping equipment like cookers etc. isn't just for camping.
Funny thing: when I got grumpy, my wife kept saying, "you should be enjoying this - you're getting to use your stuff." Thing is, if it was a real serious situation I would have been much less grumpy. TEOTWAWKI would have made me downright gleeful. But knowing it was probably just some jerk who had cut a power cable next to the gas lines, and it was just going to be a day or two of irritating inconvenience, well.... that's just plain annoying!
Good practice run though
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Wind chills at 39 below. Last night it got like 15 below.
