So, during the hottest weather we’ve had in CT in ages (100+miserable humidity), our transformer decided to blow, knocking out power to only a few houses on our street. However, because it was only a few, we were lowest on the priority list to get it fixed (took 2 1/2days). Granted, it wasn’t a full-on test because I could go out for meals when I needed, etc. And it wasn’ nearly as bad as some people have had after hurricanes, etc. But boy did I learn alot -
- Eccles freeer test saved many $100′s of dollars worth of frozen food. I packed up all the refrig. items and took them to friends and neighbors that had power. I bought ice and shoved all frozen times into my already fairly full basement freezer until it couldn’t fit anymore. I covered the freezer with heavy blankets. Results? Everything was still frozen after 2.5 days! My wiki knowledge helped my neighbors as well! Thanks Eccles!
- Practice and test ALL your equipment, often. We found out two flashlights were in fact forever dead (not just needing new batteries like we assumed). Our cooler had a broken latch so had to buy a new one. The burner on our outdoor grill works even less now than before (took AGES to boil water, using up precious propane) - need to buy a small camping burner.
- Glad we had: rechargable radio with cell-phone charger. Book lights for reading at night. Coffee press. “Old-fashioned” phone since portables don’t work! (but, discovered it needs a longer cord as current one is insanely short)
- Immediately looking into 1)small generator. Not having the well working is just not acceptable. 2) Phone/DSL internet connection. We’re on cable modem which doesn’t work when no power. Friend who works at the phone company says phones are the least susceptible to disruption. Not having access was tough, especially for DH who works from home. Luckily his “Crackberry” was fine.
- You can never have too much water. We have a well, so no power means no water. After just a few accidental flushings and runnings by the kiddos, the tank was empty. Luckily we went out a lot (to the pool mostly to beat the heat, and to eat) but if we were hunkered down at home, having water for toilets and washing dishes would quickly become a problem. Related, if you have mutliple toilets, try to get everyone to use just one. That way you only have to use precious water to flush one when necessary.
- ALWAYS keep your cell phone charged. When it first happened mine was almost dead and died while on hold with the electric company.
- Tempers flare under stress/strange situations. Granted, it really was hot. But by the 2nd night dh and I were quite terse with the kids and each other. Made dh realize how much SIP could really suck.
- Get to know your neighbors. I was able to park food in their working fridges, they let me use their pools, showers, etc. Lifesavers.
Besides all I learned and appreciated, it taught DH a lot as well. Previously he was only half interested in prepping. Now he is fully on board.
Now I’m off to take a nice hot shower and turn on my TV. YEAH!
LauraB, you are so right that we ALL are soooooo accustomed to our conveniences that with even one missing, it affects many things at once and it’s soooo frustrating.
I remember after a summer storm, when my DH was gone, our power went out. So I figured, heck, I talked him into a generator and made him pay extra to have it retrofitted to run off propane as well as gasoline, so I’d better crank it up.
Well, in Alabama, after certain summer showers, the humidity after the shower is just oppressive, so I was outside, opening up our storage container that houses our generator, I swung it out into the open sort of, because it’s bolted to a concrete pad, and I attempted to crank that rascal and it wouldn’t crank. I did it again and again, and again and it just wouldn’t crank, but it surely stank from a little propane and in the heat & almost darkness except for a wobbly flashlight, I ended up getting nauseated and threw up over our patio railing!
I was miserable. I went back inside, turned on my battery tv & just waited for DH to get back from out of town.
After that, we have a headgear flashlight so our hands are free, we have a mask to eliminate my sinus headaches I get from perfumes & gas fumes, etc., we ALSO have instructions to crank the generator written in dark large Sharpie pen lettering & laminated so it’s weatherproof. That means it’s easily readable in a dark situation!
I feel a lot better about being able to do it myself again if I need to without throwing up, but haven’t had the chance since then, because DH has been home all the other times the power has gone out.
Oh, and I have an entire drawer full of C batteries for that battery TV — it’s the only thing that kept me sane after that fiasco!!!
Bronco bill,
I have a sense that small females are not going to have a lot of success with these devices.
I’m-workin’-on-it – at 22:18
You have an excellent point. We have a new generator and I haven’t tried it yet, DH got to play with it when I was out of town. Plus, we have to turn off the main electic panel and turn on the subpanel to run it properly. I think we’ll post those directions in the garage. I know what I’m doing tomorrow! Thanks for the heads up.
My neighbors learned a very important lesson in this as well. They put in a huge standby generator 6 months ago (yes, I was jealous!), but this was the first time they’ve had to use it while running their AC unit. Tunrs out the idoits who intalled it put the generator too close to the AC unit outside, so the air handler brought in carbon monoxide fumes from the generator. Luckily they had CM detectors in the house otherwise they could have been killed. I had already bought some cm detectors as part of my general “safety” campaign of preps, but I’ll be very glad to have them once we get some kind of genny. I’ve heard gas gennies aren’t always the easiest to start - thanks for the heads up on that as well.
LauraB:
“Tempers flare under stress/strange situations. Granted, it really was hot. But by the 2nd night dh and I were quite terse with the kids and each other. Made dh realize how much SIP could really suck.”
Yeah, I’m starting to realize that, too. Though, if you weren’t in the middle of a heat wave, do you think it would have been as bad?
LauraB- Sounds like one more item for your prep stock should be small battery operated fans. My DW has a bunch with about 5″ blades, and they run off of “D” cells. Keeps her less grumpy in the heat should we be without power.
Also, credit where credit is due, the freezer stuff is mostly Hillbilly Bill’s suggestions.
Average: I think if anything, if it were panflu, it could be even worse. Imagine the stresses and strains of what is going on outside your home, the threat of you dying, your kids, etc. Also, we were lucky that we could go out to eat. If I had to cook and clean with no water, etc. I’m sure I’d get even meaner!
to HBB: Thank you for your freezer ideas. My brain is a bit fried from the heat and I didn’t mean to not give credit.
LauraB,
Make sure when researching your DSL for internet that you take into consideration that most DSL connections require a “modem” that also requires AC power. Very much like cable internet. For either, you could look into a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for short term backup for both the modem and computer. Those can be acquired at most office supply chain stores for under $100. The larger ones get pricey… The phone line itself works off of DC power directly from the phone company, so if you have a “plain old telephone” (not cordless) you should be fine. Avoid VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service at all costs if you don’t have adequate AC power alternatives.
Laura B-
I feel your pain!!! I posted this on the july 21 thread, but it was late and then the next day thread was started, so you may not have seen this.
‘’preppiechick – at 01:55
LauraB – at 07:00
I was going to post something tomorrow (when I have more time)but thought I would leave something here.
I am finally online after living thru the st.louis blackout. We had a freak north to south storm, that came out of nowhere. The majority of the damage was from downdraft winds and straightline winds, but it was like a hurricane here (winds up to 90 mph). I’ve never heard the “freight sound” noise and it was pretty scary. Of course, it had to be on the hottest day that we’ve had this year, not tonight, which is a beautiful 75 and low humidity. But we had another batch of storms today, that re-added another 100,000 to the list of people without power. The national guards were brought in to the city (not the suburbs, a/k/a “the county”)to help go door to door, to check on the elderly, or others that needed help. Since they were only in the city, I’m also sure that they were there for a visible presence against looters.
I had been feeling ok about my preps, thinking I had covered most of my bases for a couple of months. Wrong. Couldn’t find some items, didn’t listen to eccles RIGHT OFF and wind up my windups, they hardly held a charge for long. And waaaaaaay too hot to do any cooking, cleaning, etc. There is no way people will stay in their houses, they are going to go to pools, parks, anywhere to get cool- and so will other large crowds. I kept thinking about bf during this whole thing. We still have about 500,000 without electricity and lots who have had boil orders, also, because the electricity wasn’t running the municipal pumps. I would not count on water- they couldn’t keep it going in many areas here after 12 hours! Luckily, some areas still had power, ice, gas, etc. It would have been much worse, otherwise. I have used this opportunity to say to a couple of friends, how frustrated I was not to have prepared more (in a general sense) and my first priority next week is to prep. I think this experience has brought a lot more on board, in a general sense. I even heard a morning talk disk jockey mention about how ill prepared he was, and in light of all other the c**p in the world, besides mother nature (and an earthquake fault zone), he was going to prep this week.
Your comment about 1918 was very true, Here is a link to a recent Sunday front page news article here.(sorry for the markups, but the post-dispatch has moved the original article over to paid archives)
St. louis 1918 flu
You’ll notice that St. Louis took immediate action to shutdown everything. The city is so full of competing groups,now,arguing over petty things and not getting anything done, that I can’t see this result happening again. But in defense of our city, I will say that the radio stations were on te air ad free, getting info to people on cooling stations, places to get water, companies that were donating supplies and soliciting the movers and shakers to contribute. It was very heart warming to hear of people pitching in instead of chaos breaking out. Still believe in our fellow man :-)’‘
I agree with everything you experienced. We were very hot and cranky by the end of the next day. Thankfully, we could go out to eat — it was too blasted HOT to stand over a grill to even boil water. The battery fan, that I had just purchased before the storm (lucky me!) was on of my best items. My 11 y.o. golden ret/lab mix, was really not doing too well and I didn’t have anywhere to bring such a big dog (@105 lbs!).We hosed her down and finally got her to calm down in the basement and directed the fan on her. She finally “normalized” after an hour. I don’t know if she would have made it if we hadn’t had the fan. All of the shelters (and hotels, but they wouldn’t have let her in anyway) were full, and all my friends and family were out. We moved from NH, and a contributing factor was the weather, but I’m starting to think that it’s easier to deal with the cold than heat and humidity! Seriously, though, last summer we were out in august for over 4 days, and we were out in the winter prior. I’m thinking that our area grid is bad (though we live in an area with several hospitals,large office buildings, and near several affluent towns) and this increase in failure is not going to let up. We also have voip, courtesy the cable co, so we lose phone and internet every time. We also have an electric HW heater, so cold showers after one day. My dream sip…1+(min) private acre with garden (but near civilization), well, septic, landline phone and internet(with backup cell and satellite), sat tv, passive solar, woodburning fp, with insert(already own), buried propane tanks for fridge and/or heat, and a large battery bank used with solar-hooked into the house. Anyone selling in so. Il or ea. MO???? (sorry for the long post!)
preppie - only problem with your dream spot is well water. While it’s great not having to rely on city water (and it’s free from my yard!) the well is electric operated. No power = no water. A hand pump won’t work since it’s very deep. This showed dh how important it is that we get a genny that at a minimum can run the well pump + keep the fridge running. If it’s cold we can make fires. If it’s hot, the basement stayed very comfortable for sleeping but is too dark to hang-out in. Let’s just hope that if the power does go out it is intermitent. It took 2.5 days to get ours back on an they had full, healthy repari crews. Long-term power outages would be a nightmarebut could happen if TSHTF and there were natural disasters like extreme heat, storms,etc.
Thinking about charged cell phone batteries: When I went out of town last year, one of the things I purchased was a cell phone charger that could be plugged into my car’s cigarette lighter or 12V jack. When I wanted to call home after the phone’s battery died, I just plugged in the cable and was good to go.
So I would suggest having one of those charging cords if you have a cell phone. You may end up sitting in your car to talk on the phone but at least you’d have a functioning phone.
LauraB – at 10:42
Not a problem. I did the field testing, but Eccles can expalin why it works. Glad to hear you didn’t lose your frozen food, that really sucks.
Texas - thanks. We have them for our phones and in fact dh parked himself on the driveway for two days so he could do work from home. But with three little ones I can’t be tethered to the car while on hold listening to musak.
Seriously HBB - it saved me big money! I had just made a Costco run and filled it with all kinds of stuff. The things you can learn on the wiki - who knew?!
Melanie – at 23:06 --- Hhmmm??
LauraB – at 20:36 --- 2) Phone/DSL internet connection.
and
The Captain – at 10:53 --- you could look into a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) for short term backup
The Captain is right about getting a UPS for your computer, but the drawback with the consumer models is that most only give about 15–30 minutes of power. Most home computers draw between 200 and 350 watts, and the UPS’s generally are for when the power goes out whilst your computer is being used, giving you a few minutes to save any work and shut down. After that, they need to be recharged after the electicity comes back on…
My family and I are experiencing a five day SIP due to a severe staph infection. I took my nine year old in on Friday because she developed the same symptoms I have been struggling with since the second week in July. I’ve been put on three different antibiotics since then. My daughter had it for a week. Her pediatrician is the one that diagnosed it, not my doctor. He put her on an oral antibiotic, as well as prescribing an ointment for swabbing the nasal passages for the entire family twice a day for five days. He recommended we stay home and not be around too many other people during said time. I made the mistake of referring to this as quarantining my family and both my husband and the husband of my closest friend referred to me as a drama queen and that I was strongly over-reacting…. I can only imagine how difficult it will be to persuade people to SIP due to BF. I am supposed to take my daughter in first thing Monday morning for a follow-up. In the meantime, I have developed the staph infection under my arms in my lymph nodes. Now, I called my doctor about it and told him what the ped. doc said. He then informed me that if it is truly this methicillin resistant staph aureolus (sp?) then we will both need to be on an IV drip antibiotic and so we need to wait for the culture results to come back. In the meantime, I can’t lower my arms and have been laying around all day except for taking care of my daughter.
One of our cats seems to be very ill as well. Does anyone know if cats can catch this? or if we can catch this from cats? and/or can anyone give me any further perhaps personal experience info. with this infection? I’ve looked it up on the internet and really don’t know what to think? Thank you
Ok, I’ve tried the new generator. Thanks to I’m-workin’-on-it for reminding me to test it, especially during day light hours when it’s not pouring rain outside. It’s very different from our old ones but it wasn’t hard. And we do have a headgear light that my husband uses for grilling in the winter, a Christmas present from last year :-) but it sure will come in handy for seeing the generator - 1. on switch 2. choke 3. pull cord 4. move choke (see I remembered how to do it)
Your cat is probably reacting to the heat.
Thanks, Melanie. BTW, I relocated my computer and lost my author name, I’m Mother of Five :)
Can it effect one cat but not another when they are both house cats and we have AC?
anonymous – at 22:49 --- Melanie’s probably right at 22:53. My 3 have been absolutely listless for the past 2 weeks due to the extreme heat here in FresNo. Even with the A/C on, they just don’t move around too much. Cats is smarter than people sometimes…
Howdy Bronco Bill!
Thanks, as well.
The sick one had an experience similar to the Exorcist—she projectile vomited a few days ago. It took me almost an hour to get everything sanitary again. Thank goodness it was in the kitchen where everything can BE sanitized! I was going to take her to the vet on Monday but have to take my daughter back to the doctor. I’m not sure how I’m going to do that without being able to lower my arms:( And, our whippet is expecting September 23rd. So, do I need to worry about her catching anything from us?
I just really appreciate being able to ask questions here w/o backlash, thank you again.
Anonymous@2249: I’m methycillin-resistant staph aureus(MRSA) positive and when it flares up, I’m looking at a course of IV Vancomycin(with which I break out in hives, but oh well, that’s the only antibiotic that works so I get medicated for the potential reaction). I was able to do the IV meds at home because I had an implanted catheter at the time so I don’t know how it would work if you didn’t have some sort of IV port for the meds.
Texas Rose, so once you get it, does that mean you always have it, and you experience flare-ups?
Yeah, once you’re MRSA+, you’ll always be MRSA+. I haven’t had any flare-ups in a while but I’ve worked hard to avoid compromising my immune system. I have to make sure health care providers know I’m MRSA+ for their safety, too. My new dentist’s assistant had no idea what I was talking about when I told her but the dentist thanked me profusely for informing him and his staff.
I developed MRSA during a stay in the hospital while undergoing chemotherapy. It’s a common hospital induced infection but it’s becoming more prevalent in the wild. Let me see if I can scrounge up some more info for you.
Here’s a fairly easy to understand overview of MRSA:
http://www.nwcleangear.com/html/mrsa_info.html
(I hope that link fits without problems. If not, I apologize.)
Oh my gosh! I printed out the article—thanks. It was a much clearer article than any I had found. The pictures were quite nauseating.
It distresses me to have this and to have my daughter have it as well. It really helps me to realize how easily infections and diseases can be spread within our communities. Like many here at Fluwikie, I wonder what my SIP date will be for BF. Sometimes I feel like it’s tomorrow! After all, “Tomorrow, Is Another Day!” Sorry, trying to inject some humor for my own sanity, or lack thereof! My family always quotes movies and tries guessing from which it is from. We have favorites too! Thanks again for the info. :)
Mother of 5--
my best friend’s 1 year old got an MRSI and was admitted to the hospital for 4 days for IV antibiotics. They were put into quarrantine the whole time, and didn’t let the other 3 kids in the family come for a visit. I don’t think you were being a drama queen at all about it. It sounds very serious.
But very treatable! My friend is fine, her 1 year old was fine, none of the other family members got it. They have no idea where the little boy picked it up. It is scary, these things that are just going around, you just have to do what you can. GOOD LUCK!
bump
Hi everyone, and thank you for the support. It is late here but I just returned from the hospital. I got a dose of an IV-antibiotic and they doubled the amount I have to take at home. I have to see a surgeon now though, because they think I may need to have the lumps under my arm surgically removed in order to actually get rid of it there. And, of course, it could come back if I get even so much as an infected hair under my arm or cut myself shaving. My daughter has had her infection clear up just fine. I am so grateful. Hopefully, this will be a treatable situation and I won’t have too much trouble with it in the future. It’s sure a major downer though, I tell ya what.
I did ask the emergency room doctor about BF. He knew all about it and said the hospital hadn’t done much in the way of preparing thus far. He said it’s coming though, and that it’s going to be very bad. I was surprised somewhat, by his comments, even though I agree with him. What a conundrum—I was reassured by his comments while at the same time I was distressed too?? I think that’s something many of you understand though :)
Totally understand……it’s sorta like “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t”.
aw heck, that was me being anonymous….cleaned cookies when I booted up this AM.
Mom of 5,
Sorry to hear about your SIP. If you’re gonna get something, get something ELSE besides MRSA! That’s a tough one to handle.
It is becoming a real problem. It used to only be a problem for those of us in healthcare. And boy, we HATE to hear that it is present on a hospital unit.
My best friend called me 2 years ago and told me she had MRSA pnuemonia. That can be a fatal situation. She had no circumstances that would predispose her to this infection EXCEPT perhaps that she is the principal of an elementary school. <all those little ambulatory petri dishes>
She was hospitalized and did well after a long recovery. It is becoming more and more common, but no less serious.
Good luck to you and yours. Take good care of yourself.
Here is some more info:
I wonder if something as simple as razor burn in very hot humid weather might progress into something far more serious, like a staph infection. I guess everyone is going to have to be more vigilant about everything that goes wrong with their bodies now.
Solution to kiddos mistakenly flushing a toilet would be to disconnect the chain in the tank that connects the flush arm to the outlet plug. You could designate an adult as the official flusher. Now there’s something to look forward to, eh?!
The flush monitor….hmmmmmm I’ve had worse jobs I guess….
We also kept thinking the power would come back on soon. We have woods all over so I think next time when we get a “we have no idea when you’ll get power” answer from the power company, we’ll start sending the boys (2+dh) to the woods to do their business and leave the potty for the women!
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