Wednesday. 11:30 AM July 24, 2024. TV blasting, I am drawing on iPad. I hear Bob say, Well, we're down!
I look up. WHAT? his answer WE.ARE.DOWN! points at black TV screen and I realize the house is dead quiet. POWER GONE!
Things I Learned in order of scariest
AC gone, its mid-day, 90 F feels like 102
Bob has no TV, which means, I could read, draw on iPad, type blog post, because they are battery run, but because Bob has no TV, I can't do those things.
there is not one timepiece in the house, not a clock or watch. Cell phone is the only clock.
Lunch time can't open fridge, nothing but bread/crackers and peanut butter available. I did boil my rice pasta and it is draining in the sink, I offer Bob tuna and rice pasta, he refuses and says he will wait.
I eat mine, share with Beau, who is confused because the house is quiet, and bob doesn't eat.
Bob says, there is always the weather radio. I say no, I want to enjoy the quiet. I realize I don't know the local stations that might give us news. I look up the channels for Bradenton on phone and spend 30 minutes playing with the weather radio.
(which reminds me, with all the loud storms the radio did not make a sound)
I ended up sitting on couch, the three of us, and I am making lists of what I need to gather if the power goes out for days or weeks. It is Hurricane Season in Florida. I start a PLAN. As i type this, I still have no real plan. The thing is, we need a generator. a small one to run a fan, coffee pot, and the refrigerator.
we HAD WORDS over the generator that he says we might never use, and a waste of thousands of dollars. I say if we wait until we need one there will not be any because everyone else did the same thing.
I decide to search for prices. CAN'T, no Wi-Fi. yikes.
I decided to print a list of local radio channels, CAN'T, no WIFI!
We survived 90 minutes without air conditioning, and no TV and no Internet! Happy Dance that it was only 90 minutes.... had trouble sleeping because The Plan would not come, I had NO PLAN... I HAVE NO PLAN! and that makes me crazy.
On the plus side, when I asked Willie if his power was out, he said yes and I said the food was trapped in the fridge, no microwave or toaster oven and I forgot we had a grill that I could boil stuff, but the stuff was in the fridge. He said I lived in the back woods of Oklahoma for 15 years; trust me I know how to survive. He looked surprised when I said OH GOOD, if we lose power, I will be knocking on your door so you can teach me how to feed myself.
PS without electricity I can't burn my new NOOK LIGHTS! Guess who had no coffee Friday am because even though I made it with water and coffee and turned it to auto on, I FORGOT TO CHANGE THE CLOCK, it was 90 minute WRONG... the MR was not happy
13 comments:
There is no question that we are utterly dependent on electricity, but I don’t think we would be in dire straits for food for a few days at least. We might eat odd combinations but we certainly wouldn’t starve. Here’s what I can think of right now that we have on hand - canned salmon, sardines, baked beans, black beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, homemade soups which we can ourselves, fresh fruit, cereal, peanut butter, apple butter, jam. I am sure there is more. We could even heat stuff on a camper stove. And I am quite sure we wouldn’t be fighting and yelling at each other and that would probably help!
I always find it amazing at how many things I will think to do when the electric goes and then realize that I can't because...there's no electric. One of the guys I work with just had a generator put in and he paid big bucks for it. Yeah it would be nice but around here we have never had excessively long power outages.
OH NO in this heat no a/c for 90 minutes
I saw on the news most of Florida will be drenched by Debby
Glad you are PREPARED
Hugs Cecilia
We rarely lose our electricity. We do have a big portable gas generator that we’ve had since 2020 and have never used it. My husband wanted it. It’s loud when he runs it once a month. Now he wants to sell it and get a smaller one.
I really dislike these kinds of decisions. It’s like insurance - most likely you’ll never need to use it, but you’re always glad you have it.
Funny the storm is named Debby! 🤭
I'm so sorry for that 90-minute experience, but it's written so great (entertaining) I could visualize it all! That's actually fortunate, your having a Boy Scout (*Be Prepared!*) next door.
Tom and I have 'had words' several times about getting a generator. Another blogger in Ocala (Linda at thatsmesimplylinda) and her hubby recently bought a 18,000w Generac to the tune of almost $7k.
All eyes on the storm, and prayers for my friends in its path!
Oh Sandra I totally agree and sympathize with you. I have heard of a storm coming there. We went to see the movie Twister last night and it was a remake of the older one. I like the older one better - but the guy in the new one was so cute.
I digress. I think in your case a generator would be a good idea.
Sorry you have to go through this. Hope it goes to the ocean.
Sandie
Where we live the power goes out frequently so the best thing we ever did was buy a whole house generator, now we have everything we need when the power goes out.
Living in Florida it's best to be prepared for these storms. Electricity is kinda my thing as I was raised around working on it, so, it's not a big mystery.
Anyway, you've probably already looked this up, but here goes:
For a typical refrigerator you'll need at least 3Kw
For a typical central unit A/C you'll need at least a 10Kw
So that's at least a 13Kw. Always get bigger than needed when it comes to power. Don't wanna stress the motor. So you're lookin' at spendin' at least $1,000.00 for a portable, if new. Yeah. That's a bunch.
Our "all house" Generac is a 16Kw. The only things not on the standby power is the range/oven (we have a gas grill) and the water heater. I can take cold showers. That doesn't bother me. Our Generac was $4,500 plus installation. It was well worth the cost. It runs off a propane tank that also had to be installed.
For now, might wanna go with buying large coolers and have ice standing by. Before the storm hits put all the frozen items into it "just in case". Also had a small portable propane powered grill we used for camping. Precook or prepare food for later meals. We did that when living in Jax.
Hope that helps and doesn't sound bossy.
Prayers that this will only be a rain storm and nothing else. 💙💙
Wow, I have been seeing the news talk about your storms and it now being hurricane season.
I know you are always prepared in your supply closet but maybe a small generator would put your mind at ease. You are in hurricane ally for sure, so it isn't a wasted chunk of change.
Love the way you write about this whole thing. You make me smile.
Sue
Ugh! Glad you were only out for 90 minutes but must have felt much longer in all that heat. Also praying the rain will be enough but not too much.
Mom says you don't know how much we rely on electricity until it goes down. We hope Debbie treats you well. Maybe time to just get that generator.
Woos - Misty and Timber and Mom
It sounds like we all, except Bob, agree about getting a generator. This post was brilliantly written. ❤️
I'm happy to hear that it was only 90 minutes. Yes, you do need a plan. Sorry about the coffee. My sister had 12 inches of rain. I'm not sure if they lost power at all. Since we were traveling I didn't see a lot of news on other areas. Take care.
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