Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Now that we finally have electricity again here are some lessons learned when the lights go out.
• Candles are very bright
• Reading by candlelight can hurt your eyes
• Although scented candles do give light, the scent is annoying after 3 days and can cause an upset stomach
• You must have lights to poop – otherwise you don’t know when you have finished wiping
• Keep one old analog phone handy as the digital phones all require power
• Cats don’t like heat
• People that have generators are scorned by the people who don’t because the loud noise keeps you awake all night.
• I don’t care about the phone or the TV but loosing the Internet is devastating.
• Even though you know the power is out you will still turn on the bathroom light when entering
• Always buy odorless, smokeless lamp oil
• Always keep some cash on hand, when the power goes out so do the ATM’s
• There are not enough cold showers possible to cool off when the temperature is over 90 degrees with 100% humidity.
I also learned you cannot submit a claim to the power company if the power goes out because they are not responsible. If they are not responsible then who is? Let’s analyze how this deal works. They provide electricity and I pay them. If the power goes out it’s their fault; if I do not pay them it’s my fault.
In total, over half a million people were without power since Wednesday. I guess I am one of the lucky ones because tens of thousands are still without power in the St. Louis area. We only lost about $300 worth of food which is no big deal to us but for an elderly person on a budget, that could be devastating.
Now the refrigerator is completely empty and scrubbed clean so the process of rebuilding begins..............
• Candles are very bright
• Reading by candlelight can hurt your eyes
• Although scented candles do give light, the scent is annoying after 3 days and can cause an upset stomach
• You must have lights to poop – otherwise you don’t know when you have finished wiping
• Keep one old analog phone handy as the digital phones all require power
• Cats don’t like heat
• People that have generators are scorned by the people who don’t because the loud noise keeps you awake all night.
• I don’t care about the phone or the TV but loosing the Internet is devastating.
• Even though you know the power is out you will still turn on the bathroom light when entering
• Always buy odorless, smokeless lamp oil
• Always keep some cash on hand, when the power goes out so do the ATM’s
• There are not enough cold showers possible to cool off when the temperature is over 90 degrees with 100% humidity.
I also learned you cannot submit a claim to the power company if the power goes out because they are not responsible. If they are not responsible then who is? Let’s analyze how this deal works. They provide electricity and I pay them. If the power goes out it’s their fault; if I do not pay them it’s my fault.
In total, over half a million people were without power since Wednesday. I guess I am one of the lucky ones because tens of thousands are still without power in the St. Louis area. We only lost about $300 worth of food which is no big deal to us but for an elderly person on a budget, that could be devastating.
Now the refrigerator is completely empty and scrubbed clean so the process of rebuilding begins..............
posted by DarthImmortal at 9:23 AM
9 Comments:
I think you have covered it all. I so agree that losing the Internet is devasting!
Interesting things to remember... I'm saving this to the hard drive (while the power is still running. LOL)
But I do disagree about blaming the electric company. In New York, you would have a valid point, because it was some sort of mechanical/electrical/electronic malfunction that took them down. Here, it was a powerful storm which they had no control over. An "Act of God" if you will. I guess after you die one day, you can sue Him for damages. :-)
You are correct in that acts of God should not be considered negligent. However, Ameren should still have an adequate backup and disaster plan in the event of a thunderstorm and I am not satisfied they have such a plan. Also, they should upgrade old equipment and start running power lines underground.
The power outage in April was due to a tree falling and knocking down our pole. I think Ameren should run all of these lines underground so that a tree falling will not take down our power.
This last outage had many trees falling but our outage like many others was due to equipment that was twenty or more years old that failed. This old equipment should have been upgraded years ago. So I am suggesting negligence by Ameren by not upgrading old equipment and not running our lines underground where they belong.
When power goes out in extreme condition people die and failure of preparation is negligent, especially when we knew these thunderstorms were coming almost a week in advance. Also in the post 9/11 world that many are suggesting “everything is now changed” you are negligent if you fail to have a backup plan. In this case our power companies do not have a backup plan or even a disaster plan.
Ameren is so short of staff they have to import workers from neighboring states. I am suggesting it is also negligent on the part of Ameren for failing to have adequate staff to restore power after a thunderstorm. Since we have many thunderstorms they should be prepared for them but not that I can remember.
We are living in 2006 and should expect our power company to bring us technological advances when they become available. Instead they suck the profits out of the company and cry poor when enhancements are needed. They are expecting tax dollars to upgrade their system so they can be more efficient. I say the power companies should be non profit and pour all profits back into system upgrades, enhancements and cheaper rates.
I hope you will be coming to dinner tonight so we can talk more about this. :)
Your point about having to pay is relevant too, I think -- if you got in a horrible car accident and emptied your savings to pay your hospital bills and weren't getting any money because your law-breaking employer doesn't give you disability benefits, and you have literally no money to pay them,and even if you did you're too hopped up on Vicodin to remember about paying bills, I don't think they would consider that an "act of God." You'd at least have to deal with some collections agencies and a permanent mark on your record before they forgave you your 45-dollar electric bill.
So I think it is not so ridiculously out of line to criticize them for letting the power go out :)
it sounds horrible. it sounds like what we shouldn't have to even hear of in this day and age.
you are so right about the ones in a tight budget. how terrible wrong.
and the companies, they are never responsible for anything, it sucks.
glad you made that lists. maybe that will get my butt out of neutral and get me more prepared for any eventuality.
thank you. glad you are okay.
Didn't you learn anything from New Orleans? You can't count on anyone having your back but you. When it comes to disasters, you're on your own.
So tell me, do you have bottled water, batteries, back up batteries, canned food, paper products, power bars, flashlights, candles, matches, medication, clothes, extra beds, tires, money, more batteries, propane, a propane stove, flares, guns, ammo, knives, a sharpener, fishing line, lures, hiking equipment, sunblock, bug repellant, pens and paper, a HAM radio, chainsaws, gas, a generator, first aid, and reading material all ready in case, just IN CASE, there is a natural disaster? You should have an adequate backup and disaster plan in the event of a thunderstorm, no? I am not satisfied that you have such a plan.
S**t happens, people suffer, that's the way of the world.
Barbarian,
As a matter of fact I do have a detailed disaster and backup plan for our IT organization at work. Unfortunately, our generator will not be installed until next month so our long term power failed but it was not due to lack of planning but lack of funds. If we would have had the money last fiscal year we would have installed the generator then but we are still more prepared than Ameren.
Have you ever heard of Business Continuity? This phrase became popular during the y2k conversions. Business continuity is a backup and disaster plan for your entire company. Every department is supposed to have their own disaster plan with each department head meeting to draw up disaster plan for the entire company. We have this in place today and we are just a small time University. A big company like Ameren should definitely have something like this in place. We should also blame the City of St. Louis and all of the municipal governments for not having such a plan in place.
Personally, I am very well prepared to lose power and water for up to a week at the house but any longer and I am in trouble. Because of the shitty electrical infrastructure in St. Louis, we are now considering purchasing a natural gas generator for the house. They are only $3,000 and will run then entire house indefinitely (as long as you have gas).
With this last outage I just can’t stand the heat so we only spent 2 of the five days in the house. Most of the items on your list we have stored in our basement for disasters. The only items I do NOT have are guns, ammo, a HAM radio, extra medicine, hiking and fishing equipment. We also do not have a propane stove but instead we have 80 pounds of charcoal, a gallon of liter fluid and a Smokey Joe in the shed. We also ran out of cash as we only had about $200. For a disaster it would be better if we had $1,000 cash hidden in the basement. At home, I also have a 4-hour battery backup (UPS) for my server, computer and Internet line.
I feel very prepared for a disaster both at home and work and only wish our politicians and infrastructure companies would do the same.
I am just curious if you lost power and how long you were out? Do you live in the south part of St. Louis? Many homes in Florissant are still down and not expected to be up until next week.
Thanks for your comment I always appreciate what you bring to the blog.
Chana,
Thanks for your concern for me but we are all alright. I am mostly concerned for the elderly and other people on fixed incomes that will not recover as fast as I did. Check out Barbarians list of needs for a disaster it is very good.
Alright, you got me, because I don't have any of that shit. But....my power didn't go off, BWA-HA-HA!
Barbarian,
Today we ordered the Black & Decker Storm Station in case the power goes out again. This will give us even more capabilities in an emergency. And a hand crankable radio.
I am serious about that naturial gas generator but $3,000 is a vacation, which is tough to give up.
Post a Comment
<< Home