{"id":11520,"date":"2013-11-03T21:18:47","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T05:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/?p=11520"},"modified":"2016-10-13T11:12:40","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T18:12:40","slug":"24-hours-without-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywaffle.com\/stage1\/24-hours-without-power\/","title":{"rendered":"24 Hours Without Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kettle<\/a><\/p>\n

We were on our way out the door to see Gravity around 11 am yesterday and Wolf went to open the garage door. Nothing.\u00a0 It had been a gusty morning, with acorns and pine cones plonking on the roof and leaves blowing out of the trees, but it was otherwise uneventful. Then, literally the moment we went to leave, the power went out. With my car trapped in the garage.<\/p>\n

Having the power out on a not-a-work-day Saturday should have been a liberating experience. \u00a0No power means no doing laundry, no puttering around all day on the Internet, no TV. It also means, for the most part, no cooking. No access to my car also meant not going anywhere.\u00a0 It meant sitting around and reading.\u00a0 It should have been a good thing, right?<\/p>\n

Seattle is not known for wild weather, a lot of rain maybe, but nothing truly wild. Yesterday\u2019s windstorm was a doozy.\u00a0 The 520 bridge was closed for awhile as it was swaying back and forth by 4 to 5 feet.\u00a0 There were 40-50 mph gusts, even higher in some places.\u00a0 Even still, it\u2019s not like we\u2019ve never had power outages. When we bought our house, we asked whether it was a problem. \u201cNot really,\u201d we were told. \u201cYou\u2019re right by a grocery store, so that usually makes it a priority.\u201d\u00a0 And for the most part it\u2019s been true.\u00a0 The outages we\u2019ve had have only lasted a few hours.<\/p>\n

I spent some quality time reading Allegiant,<\/a>\"\"the latest installment in Veronica Roth’s dystopian series, Divergent.\u00a0 With limited resources and not wanting to open the fridge, my sole cooking project for the day was a batch of kettle corn popped on our gas range (yet another argument in favor of gas). I\u2019ve tried kettle corn two other times in a regular pan and burned them both.\u00a0 The secret? Ditch the pan, get a Whirley-Pop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the height of the storm, something like 100,000 homes and businesses were without power. \u00a0After about four hours I was starting to get antsy and a little annoyed, underscoring just how reliant on electricity we are. Then, as the wind died down and day turned into evening, there was still no power. The kitchen was going to be too dark to make even a one-pan dish, so dinner turned out to be Wheat Thins, cheddar cheese and apple by candlelight.We listened to the Sounders\/Timbers match for awhile and then it was time for bed. The novelty and romance were wearing thin.<\/p>\n

I fully expected the power to come back on overnight. I was wrong.\u00a0 When we woke up, it was 57F in the house.\u00a0 I had a new appreciation for what people in real disasters had gone through.\u00a0 This was just a windstorm, the house was intact and perfectly safe, so there\u2019s no comparing the magnitude. I\u2019ll just say, when all the updates cover every area but yours, you quickly feel your problem must be at the bottom of the priority list.<\/p>\n

Our saving grace was that Wolf\u2019s car was in the garage at his office. \u00a0We just had to get to it.\u00a0 Wolf was about to hop on his bike when he realized the tire pump was locked on our garage.<\/p>\n

\"post<\/a><\/p>\n

We live in the burbs so on a Sunday morning there isn\u2019t a fleet of cars just milling around waiting for a pickup. \u00a0We did manage to snag an Uber. I didn\u2019t even consider calling a cab.\u00a0 As we hopped into the car, you could hear our neighbor\u2019s generator humming. It was actually a beautiful, sunny morning. We pulled out onto the street. \u00a0The next signal, not even a quarter-mile up the road was on and working normally. I kid you not.<\/p>\n

What did we learn?<\/p>\n

1. You need (at least) two emergency kits.<\/b> An emergency kit, no matter how well stocked does you no good if it\u2019s locked in the garage.\u00a0 Put two together \u2013 keep one in the garage and one in the house.\u00a0 If you commute any real distance, consider one for your car. Coming from California, this was a given for us (and probably the one we neglected the most).<\/p>\n

2. Forget the candles, they\u2019re a fire-hazard.<\/b>\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to burn the place down.\u00a0 Get a hand-crank powered lantern and radio (thanks, Auntie \u2013 it came in handy!).<\/p>\n

3. Add a phone charger to your list.<\/b> Chances are you first put together your emergency kit a few years ago and probably didn\u2019t think that a phone charger would be a necessity. If you already check your phone over 100x times a day<\/a>, you\u2019ll be doing that at least 2x that in an emergency.<\/p>\n

4. Consider a generator.<\/b> No matter how densely populated your area, a generator might be a good idea for you. \u00a0Without a fireplace or pellet stove in our house, and a refrigerator that’s almost always full, it looks like it might be a good idea for us.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be evaluating the various approaches and more than likely getting one.<\/p>\n\t\r\n\t

\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> Print Recipe<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Kettle Corn in a Whirley Pop<\/h2>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i> \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCooking Time: 9 minutes<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t

Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t