Today around noon here in sunny California (The Golden State) we had a power outage in my neighborhood because a transformer blew up.
Smoke and the electrical smell of ozone was all over the air as the breeze carried it along.
It was a good drill for a likely apocalypse scenario.
When the power first went out, I noticed it because my tv (tuned to CNN) had blacked out, and my big screen for my computer had blacked as well, although my laptop and screen were still running off the battery. Even though You Tube was still playing Smokey Robinson's song Baby Baby Dont Cry (dedicated to our newest mod, Winds Of Change), I noticed that I had lost internet access through AT&T.
The next thing I did was confirm that all my power in the rest of my home was also out, not just the livingroom. It was all out.
So I took a walk around the neighborhood (peripheral search) to see if the neighbors' power was also out. It was.
Then I widened my search pattern to ascertain how widespread the power outage was (peripheral search patrol from infantry 201 -- tactics on the defense). The whole neighborhood as far as the eye could see (for miles and miles) was also out. Fire engines were screaming and flying down the lanes and streets in all directions, obviously a major problem.
Checked my cell phone ... it still works ... so the State must be fine and this must only be local.
A fire engine stopped, and the brave young men in their orange suits got out to canvass our neighborhood and tell everyone about the outage and the exploded transformer. They promised a restoration within hours as quickly as possible.
Knowledge is power. No pun intended. Good to know.
Walked back to my home, and ran into a neighbor who's dog had run off and helped him find it.
Told several neighbors along the way what the fire dept had told me. They were glad to hear it. Told the neighbor with the lost dog too.
Got back to my home, moved the milk and meat from the fridge to the freezer where I routinely keep 4 jugs of frozen ice, 1 gal each. This should keep the milk and meat until the power comes back on.
I keep my garage door opened all day long, and don't close it until midnight, when thieves become a bigger problem than earthquakes in the land that never sleeps beneath us all. Several neighbors' cars were stuck in their garages because the huge 2 car garage doors would not open without electricity. I had told them it is not a good idea to keep them closed in the daytime. Oh well. Cassandra syndrome. From the Trojan War.
Spent the next 4 hours reading.
I did not particularly miss electricity. I have flashlights and all kinds of camping gear all ready to go.
I miss water more when they turn that off in the neighborhood to fix something, because without water you cannot flush. I have a porta pottie with plastic bags, and a peeing bottle too, but those are more of a pain to set up and use. A flush toilot (first imported into the USA by the now famous Thomas Crapper whose name has stuck with it ever since) is much nicer.
If this was it, the apocalypse, time to bug out, I would just have loaded up my Jeep Cherokee Sport and headed out, for Nevada, Utah, and ultimately Colorado. God's country.
Are you ready also?
Do you keep 4 jugs of frozen ice in your freezer at all times?
Do you have camping gear ready to go at all times?
Including a porta pottie?
Do you keep your gas tank at least 3/4ths full at all times?
Siphoning gear?
Water in jugs?
Water filter?
72 hour kit?
Plan?
Staying informed?
Power outage apocalypse fire drill today
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