San Diego Power Outage

[Haggis@wk]

Ya'll survive on the left coast??

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I did. Gonna need to resupply my stash of light sticks. Good thing my Kindle has the cover with the reading light - I was in good shape for the night of no light.

Many of the neighbor children were appalled. No TV. Nobody's mother would let them swim: the filter wasn't working at the pool. Not enough light to skateboard by. At least all us grannies had light-stick bracelet and necklace doodads and we all handed them around freely (a visible child is an unsquished child...) I did wish I had a decent battery or propane lantern. I bet REI has some on end-of-summer sale.

I turned off the A/C, opened the patio door and bedroom window, and was glad the weather had moderated a bit. My power came on briefly a bit after 1 am - that was just a teaser - and then came on and stayed on about 2:30. I got the various clocks reset and went back to sleep just in time for the alarm clock to alarm me. Ah, well, everyone else at work looks a bit ragged, too. We will all be drinking a few extra cups of coffee. It's a Navy base. Nobody will notice.

[Haggis@wk]

I did. Gonna need to resupply my stash of light sticks. Good thing my Kindle has the cover with the reading light - I was in good shape for the night of no light.

Many of the neighbor children were appalled. No TV. Nobody's mother would let them swim: the filter wasn't working at the pool. Not enough light to skateboard by. At least all us grannies had light-stick bracelet and necklace doodads and we all handed them around freely (a visible child is an unsquished child...) I did wish I had a decent battery or propane lantern. I bet REI has some on end-of-summer sale.

I turned off the A/C, opened the patio door and bedroom window, and was glad the weather had moderated a bit. My power came on briefly a bit after 1 am - that was just a teaser - and then came on and stayed on about 2:30. I got the various clocks reset and went back to sleep just in time for the alarm clock to alarm me. Ah, well, everyone else at work looks a bit ragged, too. We will all be drinking a few extra cups of coffee. It's a Navy base. Nobody will notice.

Hmm, a cover and light source for your Kindle? Details please.

Look on Craig's list for "Coleman lantern" I have four, two for the house and two for our "GOOD" (get out of Dodge) kit.

All, except the one I bought for camping in the 70's, were purchased on Craig’s list. I also recommend getting a one burner stove. I also have a two-burner propane Coleman stove. There is a perpetual battle over propane or white gas lantern fuel. I generally prefer the fuel, two of mine can burn regular gas but regardless of advertising regular gas will clog them after awhile. But I preserve them in my GOOD kit. I have a valve that you can hook up to a gas barbecue propane tank and run other propane devices off of that arrangement. I'll almost promise there will be "some little man" who buys and refurbishes lantern/stove selling them on the list.

Avoid the early 40's models, they are difficult to repair but any Coleman lantern made since the 60's are easily repaired. Buy spare mantles, Wal-Mart stocks them as well along with lantern fuel. Buy a shotgun, mine's automatic but you can pick up a good used pump in most gun store for a few hundred bucks, buy double ought buck shot. Buy cases of Ramen and similar dried food easily reconstituted, buy enough for your neighbors. A case of beef stew can feed two for four days to a week, monotonous; I can go on if you have specific questions. I take survival seriously

[jamiebk]

My "survival" gear in one corner of the garage (in case of collapse I can still get to it fairly easily)

family tent
tarp
first aid kit
propane lanterns (3)
propane stove top (2)
propane canisters 6 (plus 2, 5 gallon ones for the BBQ and camp stove)
backpacking dried meals (10-12) shelf life is 10 years...canned food is plentiful as well.
water 5-6 gallons
cook kit (pots pans, utensils...basically, picnic stuff)
plastic garbage bags
sleeping bags
water purification filter
flashlights (several waterproof)
candles
firestarting stuff, charcoal
signal mirrors, whistle etc.
emergency solar and battery radio
tree saw/axe/hammer/crowbar
shot gun - ammo
gasoline - about 10 gallons
cash - undisclosed and hidden
dog food - dried

there's more but that would really cover us for quite a few days (PS...I don't take meds, but those who do should so provide)

Oh...and my Kindle with lighted cover: http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... HcQ8wIwAQ#

[Haggis@wk]

Hmmm, this Jamie guy and I are more alike than we may think..

Among the 1001 things else I could recommend the most important for staying in your house is to buy a cheap wired handset phone for when you lose your power. That way you can plug it in and run it on the phone line's AC power. They are inexpensive , less than $10 in our Wal-Mart, and you won't be dependent on cell towers that will, likely, also be down.

When we lived in the High Desert I never let the MRHYN drive over the San Andreas fault every day without two weeks worth of emergency supplies in her little Honda.

[jamiebk]

Haggis, just for you....

I bought a dog to guard our house. It was a little more than I thought I should pay.
But, I think when word gets out we'll be a relatively crime free neighborhood.

[Haggis@wk]

Man I so want to find his brother!!!!!

[piqaboo]

Was at work. Drivers consistently courteous and intelligent despite traffic lights being out.
Ate sandwiches for dinner to keep fridge closed.
Had ample flash lights, and Altoid got a big kick out of using her collection of lightup toys to create paths around the halls so we could see.
We lit candles in the fireplace, brought in the solar garden lights for nightlights, and made shadow puppets on the wall. Altoid had a good deal of fun.
We had very little stress. I did wish my car wasnt 99.5% out of gas, but my habits have not gotten better.

Power went on and off 3x in the am. First round, I made coffee. 2nd round, I raided the fridge for milk. 3rd round and it stayed on so we set the clocks that needed it.

We had land line phone but it was useless - too many people calling and the lines jammed.
Internet portal on battery - ran about 5 hours before whimpering. We didnt need the net, but hey.