What do you do when you have no power?

[JudeMorrigan]

I was without power for a good week after the tornado outbreak April before last. It was a very different experience than your typical hour or two power outage. As I recall, I spent a lot of time reading. I did spend some time playing boardgames (Arkham Horror, as I recall). One noteable thing, and friends said the same thing, was just how easy it was to go to bed *really* early. Sure, there I had candles, but there was still a certain amount of "well, it's dark now, might as well go to sleep".

I *did* make a point of doing some stargazing though. The clouds from the storm actually cleared out quite quickly. As such, the power outage provided something of a rare opportunity to be able to actually see the night sky.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

(other things in the dark )

read my mind!!!

 

[nikkitta]

I admit it, I clicked that link, Larinda

 

[Mr 4 styles]

OMG Larinda!!!!!!!!

gotta go change my pants

kidding way funnY!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mindputtee]

you could play tic tac toe

I knew it was coming and I still jumped.

 

[mindputtee]

Well, looks like the underground lines did us no good. Lost power a few hours ago, have been at my sister's where they still have power since (don't know if it is in fact back).

 

[Sagitta]

Reading, meditation, stretching...sleeping...listen to ipod, then charge it via laptop, then listen, then charge with backup charger and listen...Find someone to hang out with, the outdoors....

 

[toothlesstiger]

If we were subject to power outages, my main activities would be entertaining the little one, and cooking. But, again, if we were subject to power outages, I'd have bought a generator...

 

[pygmalion]

It's so funny how perspectives change. I had aunts and uncles who didn't have electricity or running water until the 50s and they did just fine. That is to say, for most of human history, people were without power. From one perspective, we're just spoiled in some ways by having so many gadgets and conveniences.

OTOH. Sometimes, when technology advances, things are set up so that people become dependent on technology. For example, a few years back, all of the shared data at work was taken off paper or even internal electronic documents and stored on the internet. This is great, except when the internet is down and nobody has access to anything. At least, back in the olden days (last year lol) some old-fashioned people had paper copies. No more. Paper is verboten. So is getting your job done, in the event of an internet glitch. We're more advanced, but more dependent on things beyond our control. Kinda stinks, doesn't it?

 

[toothlesstiger]

We're not spoiled, we just have different dependencies. If I were a old-time farmer, power would be a convenience, not a necessity. But I wouldn't be able to grow nearly as much food as technology allows for.

 

[mindputtee]

And it's not that we couldn't live without power, we just are not prepared for it. There's not much reason to stock candlesticks and oil lamps when we expect to have power 99.9% of the time. They usually just take up unnecessary space.

 

[Mr 4 styles]

They usually just take up unnecessary space.

where more ballgowns could go??

 

[fascination]

right...I have candles galore...love them...I could keep my house lit for a week..

 

[cornutt]

I was without power for a good week after the tornado outbreak April before last. It was a very different experience than your typical hour or two power outage. As I recall, I spent a lot of time reading.

We mostly read and listened to the radio, once we had cleared out the refrigerators and cooked as much perishable food as we could. Until Friday, when we decided that we were bored and we drove to my MIL's house. My excuse was that I needed to use her Internet so I could work on my job search.

(Yes, JM and I live in the same area.)

One noteable thing, and friends said the same thing, was just how easy it was to go to bed *really* early. Sure, there I had candles, but there was still a certain amount of "well, it's dark now, might as well go to sleep".

Same here... We burned some candles, but my eyes aren't as good as they used to be, and after a while it just became annoying to read by candlelight. Also, we realized that there were things we could do just as well in the dark... going back to what Fasc said.

I *did* make a point of doing some stargazing though. The clouds from the storm actually cleared out quite quickly. As such, the power outage provided something of a rare opportunity to be able to actually see the night sky.

That was actually the first thing I thought of the day after the storm. But I was kind of disappointed in the sky at my house; it actually wasn't much better than it usually is.

 

[JudeMorrigan]

We mostly read and listened to the radio, once we had cleared out the refrigerators and cooked as much perishable food as we could. Until Friday, when we decided that we were bored and we drove to my MIL's house. My excuse was that I needed to use her Internet so I could work on my job search.

I'll admit that I was glad that I had a dance lesson in Nashville that weekend. And that I have an instructor that didn't mind my showing up a bit scruffy. I mean, showering in ice cold water is one thing. Shaving with it was something else entirely.