Lessons from the Blackout

After 80 hours, we have power.

Here are some of my observations.
1. I don't NEED too much on a daily basis to survive.
I live close enough to work that I only need gas every week, so I never had to wait in any big lines. For only 2 w/o a baby we didn't need too much food. so I never felt anything was a crisis.

2. The iphone was plenty to keep me in touch.
Sure I missed some of my TV shows and a whole week of football, but I never really felt out of touch because I could keep my phone charged enough to get all the news I needed.

3. I have never slept better.
I think it must have been hours of relaxing candlelight w/o TV that made me sleep like a log. I'm sure the fact that there were no streetlights or houselights helped too.

4. It was interesting how much people tried to carry on life as usual, when most of our basic needs were not being met. "No food or power? Lets hop in this room and talk about deodorant."

5. It's fun to be resourceful. I brought our laptops to work to charge them for the sole purpose of using USB cables to charge the iphone from the laptop at night (what good is a laptop if your internet is down?)

6. We did have a good supply of batteries, flashlights and LED crank lanterns.

The two things I really wish I had:
1. A grill. After dragging my feet all summer after enjoying our grill at Hocking Hills I should have had one for cooking.
2. A solar powered backpack w/ all the phone attachments etc. We saw them in Yellow Springs for cheap.

Other things I will probably be sure to have on hand:
3. A battery powered radio (not named my VW)
4. A broad disaster kit including water purifying tablets, and some form of heat maybe my gas fireplace.

But overall it reinforces what I thought during Katrina which is the government cannot take care of you so you have to be able to fend for yourself.