A Bit More On The Plan

I was hoping the storm might be less than the hype, but from some reports I’m seeing from Texas and beyond don’t look good. I still hope it is far less than the breathless warnings (which are reminding me uncomfortably of early COVID days), but as with anything where the weather guessers give large ranges, we will see what we get. May it be on the low side for all.

A part of me has halfway thought of a quick run to the store, but I fear that way lies madness, not to mention last-minute shoppers gone mad. If I went, it would be for some more heavy cream, a couple of extra gallons of distilled water for the humidifier, and maybe more chocolate. At least I’m not in the boat of someone on X who had to admit she had already eaten all the peanut butter M&Ms she had bought for the storm…

There have been some inquiries as to some of preparations, so thought I might share a couple of plans as they may help others.

We rarely have power outages where I am right now, but they do happen. Since we are a block away from a major hospital, tends to get back on pretty quick. Think the worst in the last few years was several hours, but you never know.

For heat, I have an emergency room heater that runs off propane, and enough propane to run it for several days, as well as enough propane to run the camp stove for several days. I also have a grasshopper stove that uses a different type of propane tank, as well as a butane portable chef’s stove I can bring into play. A goal of mine is to come up with some more large tanks and long hoses so I can run the camp stove and heater off the large tanks. That’s a matter of money, which is tight right now.

For light, I have two hanging lampada that are part of my home shrine; big church candles in the fireplace; lots of other candles at need; multiple good battery-operated camping lanters; multiple not-as-good camping lanterns to fill in the cracks and/or to loan to the landlord and housemate for use upstairs; a solar-powered lantern that is nice (thank you Beege!); and a couple of other options at need. So, bedroom, bathroom, and in between are well lit no matter what.

In terms of batteries, I have both rechargeable and regular batteries. The rechargeable can be done via a solar system I have, via a car adapter at need, and by regular electricity when it comes on again. I also have a solar-powered UPS that will run some basic electronics (or more) and the landlord has a UPS on the wifi and fiber-optic router so we should stay online.

If the power goes out, I plan to move items from the refrigerator into the area between the old garage door and the new interior wall. Problem may be keeping such from freezing. Items in the freezer can go into the big coolers and outside since temps are likely to be around zero.

I remember years ago a bad storm hit Northeast Georgia and a friend and her then-husband were trapped for a good while without power. They had a fireplace, which helped; but, it was so cold in their house that they had to open the door to the freezer to keep the food frozen, and open-and-shut the refrigerator to keep things cold and not frozen. Not going to get into the tale of the flying squirrel that froze to death in one of their toilets…

I have a fair bit of distilled water in place as I use it for cooking, drinking, etc. City water is mostly used for cleaning and such. City water has only gone out once, and not in winter, so we should be good but I do have plans in place should it go out. As long as it is on, if the power goes out, DRIP THOSE FAUCETS! Do not let the lines freeze. Make use of the hot water while you have it and be prepared to boil water at need afterwards until the system is flushed.

Oh, if the water does go out for you, remember the line: yellow is mellow, if brown it goes down. Save your flushing water for absolute need, and remember that you will need to still be able to wash and/or sterilize your hands.

Before I forget, I want to thank Kate of SmallDeadAnimals and Spudislander35 over on X for bringing back some good memories last night. Hard to believe in some ways that I got into preparedness and such while still in high school. My science fair competition project was designing a shelter for a fair sized group of people and a solid core of human knowledge to ride out a full-scale nuclear exchange for five years (or so). With what I’ve learned since then I would pretty much start over from scratch on the design, though it wasn’t bad.

That project led to other things, including getting to do planning (and even some implementation) for the office I was part of at the U.S. Arnold Engineering Development Center and being it’s liaison to Emergency Management/Disaster Preparedness there. Which helped lead to yet more down the road.

Last night also brought back some good memories of dinners and talks with Jerry Pournelle (and the ever gracious Roberta), and with Dean Ing. I think Dean and I were on a panel together at a North American Science Fiction Convention with Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (an organization I wish were still around).

May it be a weekend of good memories for us all. Remember, make the most of any time together as we know not what the future will bring.

Meantime, be prepared. Keep your family and friends close, and your things where you can find them in the dark.

Getting hit by lightning is not fun! If you would like to help me in my recovery efforts, and to start a truly new life, feel free to hit the fundraiser at A New Life on GiveSendGo, use the options in the Tip Jar in the upper right, or drop me a line to discuss other methods. If you want to know some of what it is going for, read here. There is also the Amazon Wish List in the Bard’s Jar. It is thanks to your gifts and prayers that I am still going. Thank you.