That was fun (not)

[08FJR4ME]

Dumped my cell phone 3 years ago. If I need one I use the wifes. Silence is golden. I can't wait for the grid to go down. Fred, the satelite phones won't do you any good either. We have the systems to blow them out of space also. Don't ask me how I know.

Dave

 

[Fred W]

Fred, the satelite phones won't do you any good either. We have the systems to blow them out of space also. Don't ask me how I know.

Yeah, we do, and some other semi-responsible countries too. But I don't think ISIS does, and that is probably what matters most at this point

 

[Big Sky]

Bounce: "I'm sort of surprised no one called me on the blanket comment. My wife did."

Sure, sure... I assumed you'd plug them into a currant bush. Hardie har har.

 

[Bounce]

I got iced in a few years back. Cell towers were down, landlines were down, my electricity was out, and I couldn't get out because of an icy, uphill road to civilization. My wife was out of town on business. I felt like I was in the twilight zone until the road thawed the next day and I could get out. Our electricity was out for eight days. The pleasures of country living, I guess.

That happened to us in the mid 80s when we lived in the country in another state. Solid sheet of ice blanketed the whole state. The electric co-op wasn't big but their restoration of services wasn't quick either. Total electric house. Life started and stop with the cycles of the sun. At night, since no motor or other noise happened in the house, you could hear the ice-laden trees cracking and breaking like shots fired in the dark.

Wife packed the pre-school kids up and went to her parents for her scheduled time off from work. I stayed at home. The kerosene heater (which is still have) kept the house warm. I cooked soup over the top of it. I caught ice melt off the roof into an ice chest for things like washing, etc. I had 4WD so was able to get to/from work. It happened right after I came back from deer hunting so it wasn't much different; just more comfortable. Potable water was store bought. I eventually drove the loop to my parent's house on the way home from work so I could SSS.

Took a month to get power back.

Bounce: "I'm sort of surprised no one called me on the blanket comment. My wife did."

Sure, sure... I assumed you'd plug them into a currant bush. Hardie har har.

I point out that electric blankets would continue to work in such cases... as blankets.

 

[Old Guy]

We have a fairly large fireplace, and luckily I'd been helping a friend remove some oak trees, so I had a lot of wood. The fireplace is not an efficient heater, but it worked to keep the main part of the house tolerable. The bedrooms, on the other hand, were right frigid. But like you say, an electric blanket makes a good blanket even without power. It does take a few of them when the rooms 40 degrees

We're on a well with an electric pump, so I had to bring water in too. Our volunteer fire department is about five miles away, and they let us fill jugs and buckets.

Our well shed doubles as a storage building, and I kept a propane heater in it -- went through a lot of propane.

We also had a 4WD at the time, but it was in Texas with my wife -- best laid plans.

I managed to get out in my 2WD pickup after a couple of days and rented a generator to run the freezer and refrigerator. We've since bought one that'll run must of the house, so, of course, we haven't needed it in a couple of years. We also have an RV now that's got a generator. We keep if full of gas with the propane and fresh water tanks full and could live in it quite comfortably if needed.