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| Dancer, too, decided to take it easy |
I felt much better, today, but, I took it relatively easy due to an asthma flare up. Thank goodness for rescue inhalers! I washed one more quilt, brought the trash cans in, checked the mail and went through this week's grocery ads, and gave the toilets a quick clean. But, I spent most of the day knitting my sweater and watching some TV.
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| He's made a permanent dent in the top of the sofa cushions |
I made more milk rice and seeni sambol (spicy onion relish) for brunch as I wanted something spicy. I had a banana with it, as well. For dinner, I cooked the beef steak I had bought, yesterday, with broccoli and corn.
I called neighbor T to check on her, this afternoon; later, friend R called to find out why I've not called her, recently!
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| "I don't know why Mummy keeps taking pictures of me, sleeping" |
My daughter took the day off sick and rested most of the day. But, then, she received an email from her apartment management alerting her and the rest of the tenants that their energy company, Pacific Gas and Electric, was planning on having a power outage in parts of their service area, starting at 12:00 midnight, in order to minimize the chances of wild fires due to expected high winds knocking down trees and power lines. They have said to be prepared to be without electricity for up to 6 days. Southern California Edison is also planning to turn off power in some of their service areas, too.
Daughter is not sure if her part of Berkeley is scheduled to be without power, yet. However, her appliances are all electric and, according to the news, power might be off for several days! So, in the evening, she forced herself to go to the nearby dollar store and bought some packaged and canned food she could eat without cooking, if she needed to, as well as some spare batteries (she is not allowed to light candles in her apartment, due to risk of fire). We've got so used to having electricity available at all times, that we are no longer equipped to live without it!
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| Dancer, what happened to your head? Did it roll off the top of the sofa? |
Before we said goodnight, daughter counted her blessings and what she's thankful for (without any prompting from me, I might add!) - she has stocked up on ready to eat food and water, extra batteries; she can go to the library to recharge her phone, if needed; she has plenty of quilts and blankets and warm clothes if it gets too cold at night (her heater is electric); she has a roof above her head; the lack of electricity is temporary. A pretty good list of gratitudes, don't you think?
Today, I am grateful for:
- Daughter is starting to recover
- Rescue inhalers
- Daughter was able to stock up on emergency supplies
- Daughter counting her blessings
- Electricity!
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| He decided to sleep on the sofa seat instead of the top! |
How was your Tuesday? How well prepared are you to live without electricity for a few days? How will you heat your home? How will you cook your food? If the grocery stores and restaurants are closed because they have no electricity, do you have enough shelf-stable food to last you for several days? What will you eat?
I didn't realize that they turned off electricity as fire prevention sometimes. An inconvenience, but certainly better than a horrible fire. Does the library have its own generator? I'm glad that your daughter had some warning and was able to prepare. And you've taught your daughter well as she goes through her gratitude list.
ReplyDeleteIt is something new that they are doing, Live and Learn. We had some devastating fires, last year, and at least some of them were thought to have started when winds knocked trees down on live power lines and/or live power lines broke and sparks set trees on fire. So, now, they have decided to turn off the power as a precaution.
DeleteI don't think the library has a generator - I think the power company decided to keep it supplied with electricity so that there would be a spot where people could go for access to free wi-fi and to charge their phones, etc. I also don't know if they meant only the main library, downtown; daughter assumed it meant all library branches, as well. The power company's website where there was more information was down, according to my daughter! I imagine just about everyone was trying to access it. According to the news, some 800,000 people would be affected by this power cut!
I was very happy when she started going over her blessings with me. :)
Those are excellent questions. Yes, I have a stockpile. I also make meals ahead of time. Right now I have three chicken fried steaks in the fridge at the cabin. There is plenty of cheese, salad fixings, fresh fruit, and tortillas. I also just made a huge bowl of popcorn that I will keep in the cupboard. There is a propane bbq up there, and the fireplace keeps the place warm. The heat is gas, but I haven't needed it. There are plenty of wool blankets and quilt upstairs. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to read that you are well prepared, Stephenie. I think we have to be, with our earthquakes, especially. Shelf-stable food is important, as, when the electricity goes off and stays off for a longer period of time, the contents of our fridges and freezers are lost. I thought of you, when my daughter mentioned the power cuts, and wondered if you were a PG&E or Edison customer, yourself, and if you might be affected. I am LA-DWP and I haven't heard anything about them having power cuts, but, one never knows!
DeleteI used to be prepared, but not any more.
ReplyDeleteMost likely you won't have to worry about power cuts in your area, Akasha. But, having a few emergency supplies might be a good idea, anyway.
DeleteWe have hurricanes often. For both Ike and Harvey, there was no power for days.
DeleteOh, I forgot about the hurricanes! Yes, might be a very good idea to stock up on water and perhaps some packaged/canned food items! Start small - some granola bars, perhaps, or those packets of cheese and crackers; maybe some cans of tuna. I used to have those packets of tuna salad and crackers from the dollar store - I need to stock up on those, again!
DeleteSending hugs for you and your daughter. I came on here especially to check if you would be affected by the outage - it's made the main news over here, and it must be such a worry! Take care x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. I am OK and, as of this morning, my daughter still has power and, as far as she can tell from looking at the maps of the power outage areas, her apartment building in not in one of the affected areas! I am hoping that it continues to be that way!
DeleteGlad you're feeling a little better. Continue to rest up until you're 100%. That's one good thing about retirement! You don't have to do anything if you're not feeling well.
ReplyDeleteHope your daughter isn't that long without power. Our power sometimes goes out during storms, but never for six days! That's a long time to be without. I wonder what they are thinking that people will do with freezer food! That could be a lot of money lost for some people.
Thank you, Sharon. It is, indeed, one of the good things about being retired! I remember too many days of forcing myself to go to the office, even if I didn't feel too well, because I didn't have enough sick leave!
DeleteMy daughter still has power, as of this morning. She says that from what she was able to find out online, her apartment building isn't in an area designated to have a power cut. I was very relieved to hear that!
Yes, there's only so long that frozen food will keep without thawing! On the news, they were interviewing some owners of small, independently owned grocery stores, who would lose all their refrigerated and frozen food, as a result of the power cuts!
You daughter has a great attitude! It is good to be prepared for emergencies. Ours are generally more storm related than anything else, but we have lost power for 5-7 days before. I have a gas stove so I can always cook for the neighbors. We also bought a generator so we will not lose our frozen stuff
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. She does have a good head on her shoulders, I think. :) I need to add a few more items to my own emergency supplies, but, I think I can manage for a few days without electricity, if necessary. I don't have a generator, however. Might be something to look into.
DeleteI'm glad you and your daughter are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI thought about you when I read about the planned power outages.
I have a stockpile of food because of hurricanes. The longest power outage I had was 3 days. Now I try to use up most of the frozen food before the hurricane season. I also have a stack of batteries, a solar lamp and a propane stove.
Thank you, Nil. We are both feeling better. I'm glad you are stocked up and prepared in case of hurricanes. I think I need to add a few more items to my own supplies, but, I should be able to manage for a few days if I have a power outage due to an earthquake (so far, my power provider hasn't said anything about shutting down!)
DeleteGood to see that Dancer has everything under control! I can't imagine being without power for several days. Even with the generator we have, it is always a relief to get back to normal and be able to use those appliances that would be too draining to put on the emergency panel. Too bad that the picture froze while video-chatting with your daughter. We have had that happen sometimes and it is surprising how much we miss the video even if the audio still works.
ReplyDeleteWe can always count on Dancer to keep things in perspective! :) The video freezes all the time; but, when it froze today, we hung up and I called her back and it worked well enough for the duration of the call :) Daughter has had power all day; apparently, they delayed cutting off Berkeley's power until 8:00 p.m., tonight, and she still had power at 9:20 p.m. when I checked with her.
DeleteDancer looks incredibly comfortable there. I do hope your asthma attack wasn't too serious and that you managed to rest and recover. It's good your daughter has taken time to prepare in case of a power outage. It's something I feel I should be better prepared for in case of flooding or harsh winter weather. I shall give it some thought.
ReplyDeleteI hope your daughter is feeling much better now. X
He sure knows how to make himself comfortable, doesn't he? Not a care in the world!
DeleteThank you; the asthma attacks weren't too bad and my daughter is feeling almost back to normal, although she still has a lingering cough.
Being prepared for an emergency like having your power go off is a good thing. Extra batteries and some food that can be eaten without having to cook it, first, some spare cash on hand, and warm blankets if you don't have a fireplace to keep you warm!