How Prepared Are You?

[Eve]

For things like a major power cut or other such incidences with no prior notice.

Following on from Alba's thread, I remember being lost when a power cut occurred one evening and thinking back to when I was younger and how my parents had all kinds of things available, candles, matches, lamps, torches. Even general things like a first aid kit or buckets in case of a leak.

I had none of it, probably too used to power just being there all the time!

Are you prepared for this kind of thing?

[bednobs]

well we are in the country, but i really think the only reason we are prepared is bitter experience

[Eve]

Me too TTG :) It sounds a bit ridiculous though and I couldn't find the damn thing in the last powercut (after finding it after a former one!). FAIL!

[Old_Geezer]

Got lots of things. It's remembering where I stored them that's the problem.

[Eve]

Must be a pain having them so often! I remember some when I was younger (grew up in the country) though it always seemed a bit more exciting then and a bit of an adventure!

[grasscarp]

I remember the scheduled power cuts (early 70s?) and sitting round a table in the dark in my bosses office lit by a candle. We all sat there and somehow the conversation was much more entertaining when we could hardly see each other.

[Maydup]

We're in the country and have all sorts of standby equipment for power cuts. We have a calor gas bottle and a small two ring cooker to cook on and to boil water. We have a portable calor gas heater and bottle in the shed in case we need it and a box of candles, torches and rechargeable lights.

In the event of power cut I take the rechargeable lights to work if necessary to boost them up and we go to the next nearest village which has power and we eat in their pub. I've taken the hair dryer to work before and dried my hair in the office. Desperate measures!

[ELVIS68]

We get them quite a lot here in the sticks whenever there's heavy rain or snow

There's no gas in our village so you can't even boil hot water to make a drink

The longest was about 9 hours, the boredom kicks in after an hour so everyone goes to the village pub where they have a back up generator.

[Baldric]

//everyone goes to the village pub where they have a back up generator//

Sure it's not the Landlord 'pulling the plug', to increase trade?

[ELVIS68]

Baldric, he's the most miserable landlord you could wish for, he moans when the pub is busy!

[Baldric]

Our local (nearest) used to be like that when we moved,
New people in now so in with a chance hopefully!

[Sparkles62]

Pretty well prepared I think,
Tin in the meter cupboard with candles and lighters,
Torch hanging in hall and one in bedside table.
We do get powercuts every now and then, so er to be safe than sorry.
Mr S catches me out every time, if we have a power cut, he usually says, I'll get the candles and ort out some light, you put the kettle on, I fall for it every time, definately blonde Lol.X

[Sparkles62]

^^ better to be safe than sorry ^^

[Canary42]

I have a supply of candles, matches and a couple of torches. Probably due to my background - after a babyhood in the Wartime Blackouts, and a childhood in a Norfolk Coastal village where we were on the same major circuit as the lights on the promenade (which were exposed to all the wrath of the North Sea) power cuts were a frequent occurrence of my formative years.

[craft1948]

Our village is notorious for power cuts, I have one of those huge lamps with a handle permanently sitting on the book shelves.

[ELVIS68]

The worse thing about power cuts is the deadly silence and all you can hear is the clock ticking, it always reminds me of sitting in my nans house when I was a kid.

[Eve]

I guess people forget how many distractions there can be with all our electrics, TV, laptop, computer games and all that - and light to do things like reading (if you're rubbish like me and not having had a torch haha!).

A walkable to local pub is a blessing then! Not one close to me save student bars a bit of a walk one way and the other way it's too ethnic so no pubs or bars or anything round there.

I guess it's because it's so infrequent it happens here and not for long I've never been that prepared. I worried even about daft things though like whether my phone battery would hold out overnight for my alarm to go off to get me up for work in the morning :)

[sandyRoe]

There's a box of Christmas candles somewhere. But I wouldn't want to have to start searching in the dark for them. There's also a gaz cooker in the house.
I'm not prepared at all.

[Eve]

Hmm, I never thought about that. I have gas central heating but assumed it would need some link to electricity to work?

Same with a gas cooker (not that I have one).

Is it just me being dense?

[Barmaid]

I wouldn't say I was "prepared" as such but I'll bet if the electricity went off I could quickly lay my hands on a torch (that works), candles, lighters, a kettle to stick on the hob (why do we ALWAYS want a hot drink when the electricity goes off? I'd prefer the chilled stuff out the fridge). My biggest worry would be entertaining stepson, who has to be surgically removed from his Xbox - still - then I'd just stick a DVD in my lappy and let him play that to himself on battery. Fact is, I know where everything in this house is - unless of course, Mr BM has moved it recently and then "forgotten" where he has put it.

[Eve]

I need to be far more organised! Only me and a decided lack of storage space to things tend to migrate to the spare room or get lumped in with other things, especially if they aren't things which I tend to use.