Mood: Rested.
Music: Space Oddity covers.
Game: World of Warcraft, COD2, DOA4
Book: The Complete Robot, Isaac Asimov.
Weather: Cool, Clear
I was woken this morning by Chelsea at around 6-something AM. I don't KNOW it was 6-something...but I sorta deduced it from clues after the fact.
She woke me up because we had no power in our apartment.
You live in apartments long enough, you know that this occasionally happens. Breakers, whatever. I get up, flip a few switches in different rooms, check the fridge, sure enough...no power. I stumble to the breaker panel and confirm that none of the breakers are out of position or tripped. I open the front door, and the hall is dark, so it ain't us...it's the building. I check out the window, and the 7-11 sign that's always on is off. Well, there's your dead giveaway...isn't just the building. I say so, and go to stagger back to bed.
Chelsea isn't too happy about this turn of events, as I suppose I wouldn't be if I had to go to work, and she asks for some help. So I again stagger to the closet to retrieve the flashlight I ALWAYS have somewhere I can get it just in case, and give it to her. She gets ready as best she can, pretty aggravated, so I act the good fiancee and get the hell out of her way, and crawl back into bed. Chelsea and I have a brief conversation about the flashlight, as she needs it to get down to the garage and out to work. I tell her to take it, and not worry about me...I have no need for a flashlight, seeing as I intend to be very asleep in short order.
I am somewhat awake at this time, so I go to sit on the couch and watch the sunrise, slowly, as I think briefly that just about every form of entertainment I could muster at that moment requires power...whereupon sleepiness hits me, and I crawl back to bed.
When I wake up at 9:30am, the power's back on...so I do the morning shower and such, set the clocks on the kitchen appliances, do some laundry.
This morning has vaguely reminded me to get all my disaster gear set up again. No, I don't expect a "disaster." Most "disasters," like a temporary power outage, merely require a flashlight or two, a radio, some bottled water, and some duct tape and plastic sheeting. That'll see you through a good chunk of the things that can happen if you live in a city in an apartment.
Living with someone else changes some of that. I need another good flashlight, obviously. I need a battery-powered radio. I need the other stuff...just in case. Water leak, broken window, blackout....
After 9/11, a store opened up not too far from where I was living in lower Manhattan, which sold things like radiation suits and geiger counters, respirators and what I like to call "paranoiaphernelia." Stuff that no sane human living in the US properly needs. I don't subscribe to being that "prepared" regardless of the fact that I now live in the Pacific Northwest. I'm certain that should an event pass that would require such measures, I am not going to be giving too much thought about where I can get a geiger counter, nor kicking myself for not having one.
After the blackout in NYC (and indeed, most of the Northeast...) people started keeping flashlights and water. Not to brag...but I had always kept such things. I know what it's like to find yourself in your apartment with no power for a few hours. It happens...at least once a year. Fallen power lines, flooded power vault, blown transformer, whatever. While it ain't exactly life-threatening for most people, it can be boring, or whatever. But a flashlight keeps you from stubbing your toes (your house/apartment is probably darker than you think with no light coming from outside at all...) or falling over your shoes. Water just in case you get thirsty...or need to wash your hands or face or something.
In any case, that's something I'll be taking care of today/tomorrow...and I need to stock spare batteries for the flashlights, too....
Posted by Glenn at January 13, 2006 01:35 PM