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Daphne Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568

Our power went out for 3 long hours tonight (read:it was dark!)! No reason that I could tell..... wasn't weather related any way and certainly no warning. I'd been doing website updates at the time... do you think I saved what I did??? NO! But let's not go there. We had a powersupply thing for the computer that gave you like 20 minutes to save and shut down when the power goes out but for some reason it's not hooked up to the computer any more.  bear_ermm

Anyway..... I lit all the candles but it still wasn't bright enough to sew or read. I didn't have enough batteries for the portable radio. Cooking dinner or watching TV were out of the question and obviously email, TT, etc. so what on earth was I going to do? (The drawbacks of living in a technical era!)

I brushed the dogs... called my mother (thankfully we keep a couple of 'old' corded phones in the house) and then I collected all the candles onto the dining room table and drew out my next bear pattern.

Had hubby been home (he worked late tonight, of all nights!) we would have played cards, found a restaurant with electricity or he'd have been out driving around the neighborhood to see why the power was out!

Obviously it's back on now, the house has warmed back up and we had a very late dinner and the dogs are glad I've put the brush away. bear_laugh

But I wondered: What do my TT friends do when the power goes out and it's dark???

DebbieD Posts: 3,540

When our power went out, I scooted closer to the window and sewed in my Bear Room.  If its nighttime, I'm really boring ~ I go to sleep early  bear_laugh I figure the power will probably be back on by the time I wake up, and I stay warmer that way.   bear_happy

My OH would probably say it was some idiot driving too fast, distracted by a cell phone that hit the powerline  bear_whistle   I bet the dogs are happy you're no longer welding the brush  :crackup:

wazzabears Wazza Bears Australia
Bulli
Posts: 623

where I live we haven't had one the 7 years i have been here. Our power lines are under ground thats why we don't but the suburbs near us have them all the time. That would be annoying. How boring. I would have prob gone to sleep. But the kids would have hated it so I think we would have drive to my mums house.

Laura Lynn Teddy Bear Academy
Nicholasville, KY
Posts: 3,653
Website

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We plug in the generator..... (running and hiding now!   :crackup: )

Daphne Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568
Laura Lynn wrote:

We plug in the generator..... (running and hiding now!   :crackup: )

bear_angry  bear_angry  bear_angry

You are lucky you're a 2 1/2 hour plane ride away, missy!! Otherwise I'd be at your house every time this happens!!!
bear_tongue  bear_grin

The dogs won't let me sleep.... they are usually pretty freaked out when the power is out and the house doesn't have it's usual hum, things are dark, daddy isn't home, etc.

nimbleknot Cupcake Bears
Austin, Texas
Posts: 711
Website

If our power goes out it's usually because of rain, thunder, lightening, or high wind. We open all the blinds (not windows) and watch the lightening. That might sound lame but our storms around here can be pretty spectacular. We all sit on the couch with blankets over ourselves and watch the storm. It usually ends up a fun family time because we sit around and tell fun stories about past events or vacations.

Daphne Back Road Bears
Laconia, NH USA
Posts: 6,568

Oh,  I LOVE thunderstorms. Just thinking about it I can smell the rain and hear it hitting the sky lights. I remember as a little girl my dad took me for a ride in the car during a brilliant thunder storm. He had the windows down so we could hear the thunder roll as we drove past a field and watched the bolts of lightening. Well, a big truck drove past us as we went thru a deep puddle and dad got SOAKED!! Normally he'd have been mad and I remember preparing for the worst but we ended up having such a laugh about it!
bear_wub

thumperantiques Newcastle, Ontario
Posts: 5,643

Daphne,
     We had an ice storm 10 years ago that left us (and most of the eastern part of North America) without power for 11 days in mid January.   Thank goodness we had two gas fireplaces, and our water heater was gas, so we had heat and hot water. We used a battery radio to hear what was going on.  We cooked on our barbecue and camp stove.  It was cold enough outside to keep most of our frozen meat from going bad, stuffed into the snow, and we used it up as fast as we could.  We lived in a townhouse and we all got together in the evenings as we were very popular ie "we had heat and most families didn't!"  We played card games and board games by candlelight and just enjoyed each other's company.  It was almost sad when the power came back on.  The army actually patrolled the streets to make sure everyone was okay and there was no looting etc.  It was an interesting experience, and we now own a generator.

                                         hugs,

                                         Brenda

katiecountrymouse1 KatieCountryBears
Bolton-le-sands, Carnforth
Posts: 3,101
Website

Hi Girls  bear_wub
It was lovely to read your post . Here where I live we hardly ever get power cuts, if so may only last a few minutes, enough for you to have to go round all the electric appliance and put the time right.But that is hardly anything compared to your fun and frolics.
Lovely to know so many of you have a sense of humour. :crackup:  :crackup:
Love You all bear_wub  bear_wub
Kayx.

pandamac 'EmBears
Northern New York State
Posts: 917
Website

I got out the card table, and a jigsaw puzzle, sat close to the back door where there is a lot of light and did a puzzle!

We were out of power for about 5 hours Thursday and again for about 5 hours Friday. Friday I got a little tired of no power, so I took Ti (the dog) in the car, went to the Post office, bank, lunch at Burger King (my pup loves it when I go there, he gets his own hamburger) and grocery shopping. By the time we got home, the power was on. When the power goes out here, I have no computer, tv, phone, water, or heat. Even though we have propane, if the power goes out, there is no water, so no shower or fluching the potty. BUT! I can turn on the stove (not the oven) with a match. We have a digital phone, community well which runs off electric. So, the first thing I do when the power goes out is fill up some jugs with water.

My hubby works for the power company, and he was out until 9:30 Wednesday night (he didn't call me to tell me where he was or when he would be home.....no cell phone coverage where he was) He had to go out to work again today. He is supervisor of the Sub-stations and they had a major problem at one of them....don't know when he will be home today. The stories I could tell you about power companies!!!! :crackup:   but, I won't! :crackup:

Loosing power I think is one of the best things for kids......they don't have the technical things to fall back on to keep them busy....they actually have to "think" of things to do!!!!!!!

pandamac

Oh, yeah, we have a generator.....but it is at camp! so doesn't help us much here. Our basement got about 1 inch of water because the sump pump wasn't running.....fortunately we have things up on blocks.....

makafelts Charlotte Des Roches Designs
Adkins, Texas
Posts: 1,543

When I read stories like all of these, it makes me very thankful that we have solar & wind power.

Hugs &

thumperantiques Newcastle, Ontario
Posts: 5,643

Yes, Charlotte, being off the grid would be something I'd love to aspire too.  My sister lives in rural Nova Scotia and are pretty much self sufficient.  Must be nice.

                                    hugs,

                                    Brenda

K Pawz Guest

Sew by flashlight!!! My power went out last year for 5 days and after the first day I started to go through creative withdrawl so dug out the flashlight and kept on going....all be it coffee wiht hot tap water isn't the best but it works(thank god for a natural gas hot water tank)

Hugs,
Krista

bearlyart Canna Bear Paint
NY
Posts: 749

Well, if it's a short power failure, I usually spend the time sitting and thinking "how pathetic that I can't think of anything to do with the power off".  If it's a long power failure, we roll out the generator and crank 'er up.
bear_original

Kelly

MerBear MerBear Originals
Brockville, Ontario
Posts: 1,540

Our power was out on Thur for about 7 hrs which sucks for my family .. h/e I was at work where there wasn't a power failure so had to keep working. My poor husband finally dragged out the generator, ran the electrical cords to plug stuff in, etc and just as he was pulling to cord to start it - the power came back on :)

During the ice storm ten years ago our power was off for 2 wks. Fortunately we heat with wood and another family, including their 87 yr old mom, moved in with us. We had a neighbour come with a generator for an hour or so each day to top up the water and we cooked on the BBQ. Also had several emergency lites and radios so not too big a problem.

Marion

staticbear76 Posts: 222

we often have a car battery charged and use a converter hooked up to the battery it runs our 15 watt lights that put out 60 watts of light they are great and sometimes watch a movie or just read or i draw up something neat.

staticbear76 Posts: 222

when we have thunderstorms i turn on my radio and listen for static when i hear it strongest at our local stations i know where it is otherwise it is really cool to hear the fuzzy scratchy static like on the big band station or the talk stations mom showed me that long time ago and she was right im so glad i still have my mom but it is not wise to watch tv though during a storm though.

Dilu Posts: 8,574

I push the magic  button to turn on the house generator....then wonder if there is enough sun for the solar powered well pump, then curl up in front of the fire and read-mysteries and catalogs or doll mags, teddy mags and quilt mags.....I love it when the power goes out because it gives me permission to play a slug and day dream  bear_grin

gotobedbears Posts: 3,177

You have to ask Daffers?  bear_laugh Sleep honey, sleep  :crackup:  failing that, eat all the slightly soft crackers remaining in the tin from Christmas with the odd left over dip/chutney stuff with celery and walnuts (barf).
PenPen's resolution for 2008 - find something better to do with the left over Christmas hamper  bear_rolleyes
x

kim "a bear by kim"
merseyside
Posts: 2,401

WELLL.... GOOD JOB HUBBY WASNT HOME..... FORTUNTALY OUR POWER RARELY GOES OUT...THANK GOD.... ONLY ONE THING TO DO WHEN THE LIGHTS ARE OUT IN OUR HOUSE.... PROB WHY BABY NO 3 IS ON THE WAY!!!!

Marlys Waggle Bears
So Cal Desert
Posts: 4,089

We rarely have power outages because of our power company, but those in Palm Desert/Palm Springs area get them way too often for me. Mostly, we pray that if we do have an outage it's in the winter time, not summer.

fredbear Fred-i-Bear
Johannesburg
Posts: 2,243
Website

Well I think we must hold the record for having the  bear_angry  bear_angry  bear_angry  electric power.

Right now SA power has had to be cut back and we are all onto a power loading system, which means that any day at any time, off goes all the power. These shut downs can be anything from 3-5 hours.

It is playing havoc with our economy and when they tried to interview the CEO of the company he got someone to represent him on a TV program.

We have been told that to build new power stations will take up to 8 years so afraid that things are looking "black"

Most people are looking at alternative power and hoping that something is going to be sorted out.

When it happens at home, I have the candles out and work by candle light and most suppers are now a salad.

Lynette

psichick78 Flying Fur Studios
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Posts: 3,073

Sorry to re-hash and old thread...........but no-one has suggest one great thing to do.

How can I put this.........when there is no power, it's a great time to get under the covers with your honey and.................."snuggle" :crackup:
That's what I would do anyway.

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