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This sure has been a long week on Tuesday of this week we had a snow storm that due to warm temp's then turned into an ice storm. The power went off here at 4pm on Tuesday and did not come back on until Thursday evening! We were in the dark and boy you sure don't realize how much you depend on electricity until it's GONE!! I live in a condo and we do have a generator for the stairway lights and underground parking lights and door, as well as the security scanners to allow you in and out of the building. The Elevators are hooked into the generator as well but for some reason they stopped working and it was the stairs!!! I was going to get some radio time in as I do have batteries for the KX3 and MFJ 1788 control box. I decided not too as the household was a bit stressed regarding no lights, a warming refrigerator, no heat and dropping temps outside to - 15 at night. The indoor temp was in around 50F, nothing an extra sweater could not take car off. I was able to get lots of reading in using a flashlight but there are so many things you just take for granted and forget about until they are gone………the cold showers sure was an eye opener! Have you ever had an outage? what did you miss and how was it an eye opener for you?
4 comments:
Guess it depends on the season of the year. Fortunately I was never without power for so long a time as you were. Of course in summer, daylight is longer and temperatures milder so less troublesome. When I lost power in my NYS QTH a couple times during the summer, it was the loss of the electric range that hurt most. Heat and hot water are gas, All electric apartment so no ability to cook meals. Fortunately I live a couple of blocks from the hospital and the cafeteria was open for business. Keeping my back-lit Kindle always charged provides reading without candles or flashlight. I recommend the kindle for those down-times. 73 Dick
Good morning Dick, yes the summer would be a much better time to be out of power for sure. We have a natural gas hookup on the balcony so the BBQ was good to go. I do have a Kindle but my favourite Star Trek book I am reading is not on it.
Mike
Mike, always tough during the winter season! Last winter in MA, we lost power a few times, only once for an extended amount of time (over Thanksgiving). In Alaska, the infrastructure was great and like Dick, we only lost power during the summer. The longest I did without power was when we lived in Ohio. It was the massive 2003 blackout - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_blackout_of_2003 I do have a few generators and spare gas on hand, just in case. After living in AK, I don't have a shortage of headlamps or flashlights due to the long, dark winters there. 72! Phil AK7DD
Good afternoon Phil, we too were part of the 2003 blackout as well but in the town I lived in at the time had a large Toyota plant. They had some very large generators and back fed our local grid and the lights were back on within hours. Most of the province was out for some time. I picked up a generator shortly after that. Now that we live in a condo we have no portable generator anymore.
Mike
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