POWER!! ELECTRICITY!!!! after 4 1/2 days

Richmond VA

It went out at noon on Saturday (just as we started cooking up all the food), came back on at 3 (enough time to watch "The Informant!"), and then out again at 6....none since.

All the food is gone. They picked up the garbage today and man do the trash cans REAK!!

NPR basically bailed on us. The only local radio station with any real coverage was WRVA (rightwing talk radio). Since TV's went digital last year our portable TV/radio/lamp/mosquito repellant thingie was useless but we found out that there is a Spanish language analog station still going.

A friend of mine just got his "restoration date" today - one week from now before he gets power. I invited them over but they aren't coming tonight.

We evac'ed Josie to the west last thursday (grandparents) so there was one less thing to worry about.

Our cats do NOT like the dark.

Thank God the water stayed on and it wasn't too hot. We lucked out on that.



What's that.... oooh the ice maker is working. CHEERS!!! :beer:

I'm glad.

Drink one for me.

Also WTOP 103.5 is keep pretty good tabs of the power restoration situation. I'm not sure if you get it in Richmond.

Cheers!

:toast:

when power returns. :fistbump:
Now start watching Katia

I remember that first hint they were coming back on..like honey did you see that light bulb start to come on? Then all at once. After days...it was exciting.

I have one on my home along with a windmill. More coming soon to be independent then I can live off the grid at anchor somewhere!

As in the up front investment of it? What's the running cost for maintaining them? Does it involve much work to keep them in order and functioning properly?

The average price is about $2-3 per watt. Plus you need a charge controller and a Battery bank to store daylight for night usage.
Here is my wind mill at rest looking out my back door.

I just ordered some books on the subjects. I don't have my own property, but my parents do. It sounds like something that would be interesting to work on...or at least learn about.

Being without power is basically camping indoors, if you're well prepared it's not too bad (assuming it's not too hot or cold).

If you aren't prepared it can be misery.

Glad everyone's OK and you're back.

:hi:

we got out the camping stuff and it was just me and my wife and the two cats.

The only thing we could have done better was wash all the clothes before power went out - we knew it was going to go out.

electricity. It worries me sometimes.

I'm glad you are back to civilization!

So my little battery-operated TV/radio will no longer work....shit. So how are we to get info with digital???

Now 1 month ago I would have weathered this without blinking. I had the resources to cook and heat water and food in storage. Now I moved in a rush (long story) into a building where I am in a little two bedroom with almost no way to survive sans electricity. The really irritating part is that it is an old cotton mill. The river runs right under the building. If I owned the building I would have powered it with the river long ago. Such a huge resource wasted.

find a way to use the water power. Good luck!!!!

info gets you (in soviet russia... ok, sorry bad joke there)

find the stations you can live with now, write them on a piece of paper and put that paper in the battery hatch

i don't do tv during power outages, if you have the batteries/generator for it, cool
there are battery powered digital tv's
or if you power your laptop anyway there are digital tv usb receivers

i stick to am/fm radio and weather radio

Mine has stayed on though. I know what you mean about the food though. We had to toss alot of stuff and I live in a building with 50 other apts doing the same. No one has out door cooking stoves, etc because we don't have porches or anything, its just an old stone mill. The salvation army came this morning with food, water and drinks. We didn't need it but alot of the elderly and handicapped sure did. You should have hear the cheering when it came back on.

The lamp went on! The TV sound went on! Kablam!

There was a cheer that came up from our neighborhood! We could hear it and it was wonderful! Everyone was so relieved and happy on our street.

I had been "foraging" for coffee every morning, since our Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts were both shut due to lack of power. Even the gas stations that provide some coffee were unable. I was driving to an a neighboring town's deli for morning coffee.

Hooray! We are liberated! How wonderful...

it took me 15 minutes just to get the stove and the camping perculator set up..THEN it had to boil. Long time for a cup of coffee.

I did have to use a match to light the burners, but other than that I had a fine functioning stove to cook on! I have both city gas and city water so experienced no hassles there.

I actually enjoyed my forays for early morning coffee (six-thirty a.m. is a really nice time of day, everything looking fresh as the sun came up). I picked up breakfast sandwiches at the same time and they were delicious (fried egg, bacon and cheese on toasted rye!). It was a pleasant experience...

Been several yrs since I've said hi.

:hi:

:hi:

:hi:

... walk into a room and flip a light switch?

I did it a lot at first.

But I even did it once on the third night, and I had a friggen flashlight in the other hand!!

Been there brother, sure makes you appreciate the simple things in life, doesn't it?!


.

.

when power came back on, how often did you walk into a room and reach for the flashlight where it 'lives' instead of flipping the switch?

yesterday morning when I went into the spare bedroom to get clothes for work.

I did pick up the remote by habit yesterday evening ....and laughed at myself.

:hi:

:toast:

I was without power for 2 weeks once during hurricane David, so I know how it feels. Lucky this time though - it went out 10 miles away, but not here.

Have one on me! :toast: