![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wraithfodder...tonight, that is, because it's not a matter of if we'll lose power when Hurricane Irene plows through, but when. We always lose power. It never fails. Heck, we got a light spring rain and some twig fell on a power line and poof, or everybody wakes up and turns on their big screen tvs and blows the power doohicke on the phone pole. Although it's weakened to a category 1 storm, that's still up to 90 mph gusts. OMG, there goes the driveway. It's gravel. It's gonna turn into Grand Canyon. Drat.
The real beginning of the storm should arrive in about 5 hours, when heavy rains, then REALLY heavy rains around 1 a.m., then heavy rains and wind go throughout the night. But, having been through this hurricane stuff before, we knew what to do.
1) mow the lawn. Yes, god, mow the lawn. Otherwise by the time you get back power it will be a foot high and evil squirrels will be living in it.
2) get water and batteries. I got all that last weekend. I know how people panic. And the panic really hit Thursday where not a single D cell batttery was to be seen. I don't really need those, as I have C cells for the radio, and AA for the tiny flashlights. I also picked up (over the course of the summer) several large solar things-you-stick-in-the-ground-next-to-patio lights, and have them charged up. They last about 8 hours of semi decent light, or enough to highlight the halls, and then recharge during the day. As to water, I filled everything I could with water (we have a bunch of bottled water as well) because if power goes, we have a well, we can't get water. I left the wheelbarrow outside to collect water, plus some big metal pails, which will be so heavy the winds won't knock 'em over. Filling up the tubs in a few hours so we have water for toilets (yes, the joy of not having city water).
3) charged up the laptop, just in case, although if power goes, no internet connection. ARGH! charged up rechargeable AAs for walkman. charged up cellphone. Walkman also has radio in it so if power goes, I can listen to that.
4) got an audiobook from library (C.J. Box) and have several C.J. Box novels to read, plus lots of paperbacks.
5) cleaned house. nothing worse than dirt in house and no way to vacuum.
6) got my new car in the garage! Yes, it takes a hurricane for certain people in the family to move all their crap out and get my car in! Now as long as a tree doesn't fall on the garage...
And here are some of my emergency rations: book to read, Cheetoes (crunchy kind, the ONLY type to eat), Y2K (as in Year 2000 we're all going to die and the power will go out forever candles, and of course, nothing happened, so now I have lots of 120 hour candles for power outages), matches, and fresh baked brownies, which I burned a bit and my brother said oh yeah, I could smell them burning and I said why didn't you say something and he said I like burned brownies. argh.... And birch beer, which looks better than a bottle of sherry. I mean, if the power stays out for a week, then I WILL be drinking the sherry I got for cooking chicken. I've been eating frozen food all week so all that's really left is chicken and some veggies, all barbecuable if necessary and oh yes, half a dozen Ikea sticky buns. Those are definitely emergency rations. Yum!
And that's about it. Hoping that it's not a horrid hurricane, but the local power company sent a notice out, which the towns distributed on their emergency lists, of the potential of power outages for a week, if not longer. The problem is this is the worst time for a hurricane to come. It's not that there's a good time, but if comes later in the fall, the trees are denuded. Right now, they're full of leaves. Not good.
And oh yes, I have two bitty frogs in the window well, I think they dug in, so I gave them a piece of wood in case water gets in. Don't want the little guys to drown. Meanwhile, we have covered several window wells with metal panels, but do expect some water in the basement, but not a lot. The wet vac is waiting, and I've saved several old phone books to use as 'water dams' just in case.
Wow, just saw footage of Grand Central Station in NYC. Empty! oooh, ooh, great time to wax the floor!
Anybody else in Hurricane Irene's paths?
The real beginning of the storm should arrive in about 5 hours, when heavy rains, then REALLY heavy rains around 1 a.m., then heavy rains and wind go throughout the night. But, having been through this hurricane stuff before, we knew what to do.
1) mow the lawn. Yes, god, mow the lawn. Otherwise by the time you get back power it will be a foot high and evil squirrels will be living in it.
2) get water and batteries. I got all that last weekend. I know how people panic. And the panic really hit Thursday where not a single D cell batttery was to be seen. I don't really need those, as I have C cells for the radio, and AA for the tiny flashlights. I also picked up (over the course of the summer) several large solar things-you-stick-in-the-ground-next-to-patio lights, and have them charged up. They last about 8 hours of semi decent light, or enough to highlight the halls, and then recharge during the day. As to water, I filled everything I could with water (we have a bunch of bottled water as well) because if power goes, we have a well, we can't get water. I left the wheelbarrow outside to collect water, plus some big metal pails, which will be so heavy the winds won't knock 'em over. Filling up the tubs in a few hours so we have water for toilets (yes, the joy of not having city water).
3) charged up the laptop, just in case, although if power goes, no internet connection. ARGH! charged up rechargeable AAs for walkman. charged up cellphone. Walkman also has radio in it so if power goes, I can listen to that.
4) got an audiobook from library (C.J. Box) and have several C.J. Box novels to read, plus lots of paperbacks.
5) cleaned house. nothing worse than dirt in house and no way to vacuum.
6) got my new car in the garage! Yes, it takes a hurricane for certain people in the family to move all their crap out and get my car in! Now as long as a tree doesn't fall on the garage...
And here are some of my emergency rations: book to read, Cheetoes (crunchy kind, the ONLY type to eat), Y2K (as in Year 2000 we're all going to die and the power will go out forever candles, and of course, nothing happened, so now I have lots of 120 hour candles for power outages), matches, and fresh baked brownies, which I burned a bit and my brother said oh yeah, I could smell them burning and I said why didn't you say something and he said I like burned brownies. argh.... And birch beer, which looks better than a bottle of sherry. I mean, if the power stays out for a week, then I WILL be drinking the sherry I got for cooking chicken. I've been eating frozen food all week so all that's really left is chicken and some veggies, all barbecuable if necessary and oh yes, half a dozen Ikea sticky buns. Those are definitely emergency rations. Yum!
And that's about it. Hoping that it's not a horrid hurricane, but the local power company sent a notice out, which the towns distributed on their emergency lists, of the potential of power outages for a week, if not longer. The problem is this is the worst time for a hurricane to come. It's not that there's a good time, but if comes later in the fall, the trees are denuded. Right now, they're full of leaves. Not good.
And oh yes, I have two bitty frogs in the window well, I think they dug in, so I gave them a piece of wood in case water gets in. Don't want the little guys to drown. Meanwhile, we have covered several window wells with metal panels, but do expect some water in the basement, but not a lot. The wet vac is waiting, and I've saved several old phone books to use as 'water dams' just in case.
Wow, just saw footage of Grand Central Station in NYC. Empty! oooh, ooh, great time to wax the floor!
Anybody else in Hurricane Irene's paths?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:03 pm (UTC)*****HUGS****** to you for a safe ride
BTW I see you have all the required nourishment
:P
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:22 pm (UTC)Ummm, not really relevant, sorry. But it sounds like you're all set, and I hope you get power back soon!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:24 pm (UTC)Good luck! :)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:29 pm (UTC)And, if you can, channel some of that moisture this way to help put out the two forest fires that are making the air here chewable....
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:31 pm (UTC)I always find it odd how sometimes it takes the power company days to get power back on, and other times it only takes hours. When we had our tornado scare last year, I thought for sure it would be days before we saw power again (A blizzard had knocked out power in one area of Wichita for weeks), but it was only a couple of hours later when it came back on.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:34 pm (UTC)Stay safe!
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:55 pm (UTC)I should have stocked on D cell batteries. I could hawk 'em for twice the price ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-08-27 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-28 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-28 12:07 am (UTC)Sounds like you have all the bases covered! Wish you could send the water this way. We're having a heat wave - though not as bad as Texas.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-28 12:26 am (UTC)Stay safe! Not like some of the idjits I saw on a local digital sub-channel that's now piping an affiliate in the area. People were out walking in water that was mid-calf high and moving. If it has enough force, it can knock you over and possibly sweep you away.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-28 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-28 12:29 am (UTC)