You have to plan to be self-sufficient to live in the country.
Like, Bill and I have learned to imagine power outages and other deprivations in Oh-No-We-Are-Under-Attack situations.
In over 27 years we have never been under attack out here in the tranquil Virginia countryside.
Nevertheless, we do have frequent power outages and always think we are prepared.
This week, in a howling wind storm, right after dinner when the dishes were stacked in the dishwasher and we were happily watching t.v., the lights went out.
Ho Hum.
We were smugly and snugly prepared!
- A wood stove for cozy warmth
- A generator for lights, television, computers, etc.
- Candles and Flashlights
- A little extra food in the pantry
- Water
Along with the lights, the television went black, and the dishwasher too.
And when I tried to check the electric co-0p status on Facebook, even my computer (on battery) started screaming, “YOU HAVE A VIRUS INFECTION!”
The wood stove was a life saver if you don’t count old Bill traipsing in and out for wood and by the time the fire got going good, the power was restored.
The power was off for only 2 1/2 hours.
But the television stayed dead even though Bill took it all apart. He finally called a techie who told him to put it back together again. That didn’t help either.
The 14 year old dishwasher was dead too, no matter how many buttons we pushed. Fortunately, I don’t think Bill knew how to take that apart so we called an expert in the morning.
But Bill was able to fix my computer by restarting it. My h – e – r – o!
FINAL REPORT FOLLOWING DAY:
The dishwasher man came right out and gave us 2 choices:
- Buy a new dishwasher (which he said we would hate) or
- Wait 4 days for a new control board. I am hand washing dishes for the time being.
- The t.v. is working again because Bill discovered a loose connection.
- My h – e – r – o!
- So much for being prepared!
Life is on track again but I am reminded that “Smugness is folly.”
*Quote by Dor
We have officially battened down our hatches as the winds will howl and the snow will fall in feet OH NO lol
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Oh dear. Sounds familiar. We were on a trip once and our son in law was taking care of The Holler when it got struck by lightening in a storm in the middle of the night. This fried all the electrical components in the house permanently, set off off the 16 major orchard sprinklers, and plunged all 8 acres into pure blackness. Some how Sean was able to find and figure out the incredibly complicated controls to all the orchard sprinklers in the middle of the night using a flashlight! Thank God for our heroes! Oh, it fried our modem as well!
Stay safe and warm.
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Oh dear me, Yes Dora I know the feeling.!! I have an electric oven but a gas hob just for this purpose, thinking great, if the electric goes off which it frequently does I have the gas to rely on. On one occasion I began cooking on the gas hob,the electric went off ! no problem we have gas lamps. However, we then ran out of gas (bottle gas) which runs the gas hob and it was too late for John to go and get a replacement as the shops were shut. Of all things I was cooking chips,imagine all those greasy chips, no thanks we ended up having sandwiches by torchlight.. I hate these situations nevertheless looking back when our sense of humour is better we do laugh about it.
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We used to have a lot of short term outages. It’s hard on appliances and computers. My computer got fried in one of them. I hate new things. I’ve no patience for the learning curve and they are always different. Good news that you were able to manage.
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I’m happy to hear life is back on track, Dor. And to think, people used to live without electricity…we’re spoiled.
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We are lucky to have our heroes aren’t we? 🙂
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Goodness! Smugness couldn’t possibly bring on all your woes, could it? Seemed like a powerful fallout. Just in case you are right, I’m searching my face for smugness this moment.
I’m glad your household is almost back to normal thanks to your patience and Bill’s hero-ness.
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I’m crossing my fingers as the snow piles up outside. The wind gusts on the backside of the storm is what worries me. Glad you didn’t have to wait too long for power to be restored, but sorry about your dishwasher. It seems when it rains, it pours!
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Oh my goodness, your patience was certainly tried this weekend! I’m glad you will be restored back to normal soon, and I hope you didn’t have any damage from the storm. Aren’t we grateful for the heroes in our lives?? I know mine has saved the day more than once for me.:)
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I can really appreciate what you are saying! We had a power outage here in AZ last month – it lasted from 11PM until 8:30 AM. I woke up about 2AM when the annoying beep from the security system broke into my consciousness. It beeps to tell you the power has gone off. The Power Company sent us several emails to report on the progress of the outage, but without power, we had no internet. Without power, we also didn’t have a phone (reminds me, still need to buy a cheap phone that doesn’t require power to operate.) We still had water, and a propane fireplace and BBQ!
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We like to be ready here in PA too, but funny, isn’t it, how when one thing breaks, so does another. At least you got the t.v. working!
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Bummer. So did a surge knock things out? Hard to be prepared for that. Looks like y’all have been hammered back there with winter storms. CA is getting much needed rain!
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It sounds like you have things under control for the time being!
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Wishing you well and to stay warm and safe.
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Yikes! I have little to complain about in comparison to this horror story. 🙂
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I will have to look up “hob”. Sounds like a great backup tool most of the time. 🙂
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Yes! I agree. I have declared a moratorium on learning. 🙂
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So true Jill… going back knowing what we know now would be a horrendous challenge.
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And you have one that COOKS! Yeeehahhhh!
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Dishwasher man coming today. Hurrah! I am beginning to experience dishpand hands. 🙂
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Hope the wind hit in the right place Eliza and that you are safe and cozy. 🙂
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Each storm is like having a baby! You forget the pain until the next time. And after each storm I begin to believe all will be clear skies and working appliances forevermore.
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You are ahead of the game Margy with water and the propane fireplace! Hard to imagine power outages in AZ. 🙂
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You are so right lorriedeck… never know what’s going to break and then other things inevitably follow. Only my hero gets upset now when everything falls apart. I figure we will survive. Have lived without t.v. and dishwashers before. Even lived without a microwave!
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You do get right to the heart of the matter Lilly. It wasn’t a surge. It was my hero. He went to add gas to the generator and while he was down there tinkering around, the lights that were “generated” dimmed and the t.v. went off (and I suppose the dishwasher blew too). Well, maybe it was a surge, but it was Bill-created.
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We are operating at 94% efficiency. Don’t ask me how I came up with that figure Patti! 🙂
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I should have known you’d have the calculations down to a science, Dor.
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A power outage in AZ was a big surprise! Outages are more common at home (rural Alberta), where we have a natural gas generator to run the pumps for the water, the septic and one power outlet – the fridge! We also have a big diesel generator that could run the furnaces and all the lights – the previous owner of the house had it installed in the garage after a snow storm knocked out the power and closed the roads for two days!
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🙂
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And he’s a really good cook :).
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Who knew? 🙂
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Wow! You are ready for almost anything the weather dishes out in Alberta, and that is an amazing thing. We are not even close to that level of preparation in rural Virginia.
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I got that impression…. just give me a list of required ingredients and we will turn Mikey loose in the kitchen. 🙂
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That’s no fun. Hope you recover quickly.
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All is well, thanks, Dor. Feb and Mar are always snowy here. 🙂
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