Power outage musings

Never expect to be relying on batteries until the power fails

Power went out the other day across most of the entire small town of Camrose, as some tool digging and severed a main power line...

Funny enough, my first thoughts came to mind, is I'd be screwed if it was more than a few days without electricity. After watching The Walking Dead, I have doubt at my long-term survival rates. I don't exactly have a cottage or farm in the wilderness to hide out, nor the highest survival skills other than boy scouts years ago. There was no merit badge for zombie invasion defenses.

Just for show, now where does a plug-in go?

Not that I am fearfully mongering for end of civilization as we know it, it's just odd sometimes the reminders of how "lucky" we are in this modern age. My kerosene lamp is purely for decoration....

Check-list of basics electrically taken for granted:

• hot water tank didn't work
• furnace didn't work
• stove didn't work
• dishwasher didn't work
• coffee-maker and kettle sadly didn't work
• lights didn't work
• garage door opener didn't work
• even the doorbell didn't work

Lack of electricity forced me to take stock of how many modern activities are tied to electronics.

Even my shaver and even toothbrush are electric -- They hold a fairly good charge, but it'd be another five minutes out of my day to clean and lather up manually.



Less essentials are entertainment-based, but better than a pack of playing cards and solitary or cribbage sometimes.

• telephone via modem router didn't work
• Internet didn't work
• computer didn't work
• TV and Blu-ray player didn't work
• radio didn't work
• e-Reader book neither
• cellphone had a bit of battery life still, but it wouldn't be working soon either

The list went on and it was half frustrating because nothing was functioning. It was almost humourous after a while stuck with first world problems.

I could live without being able to check the voicemail, as it's an electronic mailbox. I couldn't be contacted anyway, nor write emails. Oh shucks, no twitter updates.


My room-mate tried to look online... to find out from the electrical company and then remembered her computer was quite offline. I hauled out the real, yellow paper phone-book and blew the dust off.

I kept flicking at dead light switches. Couldn't cook breakfast on stove, so I tried to open the microwave before remembering. It was quite the gong-show in auto-pilot as waking up.

The day the radio died, can't send a message in a bottle.
And yes, that is a tiny hand-cranked music box, very cool

Even had a moment of trying to leave for work as car was in garage, so had to pool with my room-mate. Made it through the day despite the lack of power.

I could charge my cell phone up in the car and check emails too. My ac/dc converter in my car works okay for the laptop too. I usually read paperback books and the weekly newspaper anyway. Paper notebook and pen still work so I could write onwards too.

I groaned hoping the power wouldn't be off for long. Living in the great white north, one usually has a fireplace, just in case. My current house is newer and doesn't. I have had the furnace die once at night.

Coldest night of my life -30C before the furnace repair guy came to fix it.

If I needed to, I could have worn my parka to bed again, and piled on the extra blankets. Still not fun seeing your frozen breath.

Yet, I was more worried about the pipes freezing and bursting in the house if it had been for a few days or if it hadn't been a Chinook warm spell.

Be prepared! Most days, I get my shoes tied

Usually I look things up online, Wikipedia or tech forums for extra knowledge or trouble-shooting. I've even been known to call my wise parents for advice from time to time. No connection there, though I do have a number of resource books, even a survival guide somewhere on my bookshelf.

This led me to a more annoying question of why I only had  maybe half a 72-hour disaster survival kit for me and my room-mate. I haven't needed to go on a long road trip, so haven't restocked my car -- which sometimes has enough dry supplies.

My room-mate grew up on a farm, which most are fairly self-sufficient, even with back-up electrical generators and a huge gas-tank. There was plenty to eat from the half-acre vegetable garden, root cellar, and firewood chopped too. So she wasn't too worried.

Besides, there is plenty of "no cooking" required recipes, so we would have made do. Petroleum jelly and a tin-can in the ground will cook a foil-wrapped potato or can of beans, even a camp coffee pot.

And funny enough, though I know there are 1000's of variations of recipes online, I still have a bookshelf full of cookbooks. 

As slim as an E-reader is for holding a bookshelf-worth
books is far from gone from my house

I was for a lack of what to do... but my room-mate reminded me -- she was happy enough curled up in a blanket on the couch -- as a bit of a Luddite, she doesn't get stuck on Facebook anyway. Happily she sat there with a book and I had to agree, it was nice and quiet.


Remembering people yesteryear did without much of our modern conveniences. It did make me think about how people have survived some of the most incredible hardships -- invasions, disease outbreaks, airplane crashes, natural disasters -- even the eastern seaboard took a beating recently with flooding, yet people persevered.

We're very resourceful as a species... from natives able to use every part of a Buffalo, moose or antelope. Building a snow igloo, latrine, or rain shelter is something only military reservists practice on weekends.

I have a ton of respect for traditional native resourcefulness.

Perhaps we've lost some of that knowledge, at least some city dwellers might have, other than boy scouts. From gold prospectors and prairie settlers, to seafarers and space exploration, that will to survive and innovate has gotten humankind through a lot.

Though I use a GPS and Google map directions, somewhere buried in my desk is a real compass (from teenage scouting days) and a provincial atlas of road maps too.

Pretty useful for zombies and all other game hunting eh

I couldn't help but notice watching the Walking Dead, or reading about historical accounts, nobody was lacking from lack of iPad news and app update or Youtube.

It still does make me think I should learn to use a cross-bow and tomahawk for fun. It seemed just as sad to watch relationships, hopes and civilization crumble, as most of our knowledge and literature is migrating to hard-drives and Internet archives.

I know I write this Luddite rant on an electronically powered laptop, but I can live with not having to use a typewriter. Those things tire out the wrists something fierce -- I could barely write an article last time I tapped and dinged for kicks and giggles on the typewriter I found at a garage sale.

Ain't gonna find this boy scout lost...
unless I refuse to ask for diections

In the greater scheme of things... I wonder for all our technology, it's cool to go in reverse on occasion. See how things were done in other centuries and find a simpler way of doing things. Reduce the carbon footprint and all.

Not to go all wonky back to the earth, like hippies or end-of-world nuke spooks, but reduce consumption. Try installing alternatives like power-smart appliances, light-bulbs and up to solar panels and grey-water filters. Even just a rain barrel for gardening, it can be pretty simple.

The power did get restored a few hours later after lunch, so I didn't have to defrost a pizza and cook it for supper, over a fire built out of the phone book.

It did make me appreciate how much we rely on that zappy, arching stuff that comes out of the wall a lot more.

My best-friends to kick-start early mornings

For more reading, check it at:

Worst Case Scenarios (my favourite bathroom reading as some are ridiculous scenarios).

More useful, 72 hour emergency kit building and planning check-list.

And a bug-out kit for the much more hard-core list if the power goes out for a while.

So stock up the duct-tape and water filter pump, but don't head for the hills yet, not until the coffee maker is useless. Even then, take a tin cup and a magnifying glass or something and boil that water somehow! Gotta get my cuppa joe.




Anyhow, as Red Green says, she don't find me handsome, at least my lady finds me handy.

Back into blogging? Darn rights

Another year, another dollar, another trip around the sun. My blogging and writing in general took back-burner compared to utter frustration with lack of journalism jobs. Expensive piece of diploma paper and student loan having forged me into a legit journalist without a newsroom.

Other than tiny outposts in frigid backwoods of the tundra or random places in north-east Ontario. Not complaining, just stating facts that occupational outlook not being too good as a writer for hire.

Heard that journalists were being cut left right and centre. Veterans or new grads, it didn't seem to matter in the cyclical cycle of 'multimedia' video-blogger trend. I have shot perhaps three videos in my life so would need some time to perfect that to publishable state. No funds for schooling? Needed to pay the bills so I took advantage of a Alberta Works program to train as a health care aide -- health care is a huge economic factor with baby boomers retiring, eventually -- if only to have a steady income as I figured freelancing out.

The other side of my writing freeze was personal life taking over my focus. Planning for a wedding with my beloved fiancee. A bunch of family, spiritual, and personal issues took paramount at times as I approach over-the-hill of 30, but such is life indeed. Don't worry age 30 is the new 20.

I knew it took some devotion of energy into better communication, brain-storm, pre-marriage counseling and picking wedding complimentary colours for ties and bridesmaid dresses, photographers, pastors and caterer arrangements. It's been to the point of overwhelming with trends and options, but interesting nevertheless. Maybe I'll write more on that subject as the date approaches in July ^_^

Also took a total hiatus from writing anything published in favour of writing for fun. Goofy stuff, a few poems and a fair number of personal letters to friends. But some months I barely wrote and it was weird having no deadlines at first. I was studying too much in health aide course half the summer anyway.

Even took a stab at writing a novel during November month long Nanowrimo challenge. Got a third of the way through it until work schedule overwhelmed. I thoroughly enjoyed novel writing and will find plenty more fiction coming out of my laptop typewriter.

Excuses aside, I needed to re-establish my writing, for the pure exercise of writing regularly.

So back-story of frustration aside, I was very glad to try my hand at something different. Learning basic anatomy and medical terminology gave me a different perspective of life. Working and supporting the elderly and infirm has given me an eye opener too. Both on health care issues and on the amazing staff who care for those needing a helping hand.

Bound by FOIP and protection of privacy of vulnerable persons acts, I obviously wouldn't disclose a single experience, complaint/joy of work, nor reveal anything about my work. Didn't leave me with much to write back home about. It is pretty exhausting body and mind some days for being inspired to write -- flop on the couch tired. But such is life and I definitely respect the residents I work with and started to find balance of work/play/sleep.

Either way, redefinition was in order of this lowly piece of turf I call my blog. I am content to pound up semi-regular self-assigned feature, exercises, and photo essays, perhaps throw in an occasional editorial. Likely I am safe from copyright to post my newspaper articles as well -- seeing how I need a new folio to freelance with recent work.

If this sounds similar to a past post, what can I say, life took me elsewhere for a ride.

To be honest, a bunch of research went into the blogosphere as well. I know I'm too much of a multi-faceted generalist to write purely about cooking, or an unhealthy obsession of Twilight (so last month compared to City of Bones or whatever is cool now), or whatever kids write about nowadays. So I read a lot -- from graphic novels to classic lit and everything in between. Really enjoyed it and re-expanded my writing style from 400 word max, inverted pyramid of journalism cut-to-chase information, back to my first college major in English.

So bing bang boom, I write in my spare-room. No need to copy-edit much as I made a midnight deadline to hit.

-- PLR --