I usually an ready for ANYTHING.... BUT not one Friday several months ago. I was working and still a bit under the weather from a cold or flu or whatever I had. I called to tell my husband that I had to run a few errands and then I would be home. It was around 1:00 in the afternoon. He told me the power was out. UGH!!
It was a little bit misty out and really windy, but there wasn't a storm. Surely it would not be out long. Of course I do live in rural Georgia. No electricity means nothing at my house but the wood burning stove/heater.
So I ran my few errands and got home. Donald had called our EMC and got a recording that said it would be back on at 4:45. Yeah! So we hoped in the car and went out for an early dinner. (This was our mistake) Because when we got back home at 6, still no lights and it was almost dark and the fire was almost out. We went to walk the puppies and came back and realized we'd spend no time planning for long term power outage. Nothing we usually do was done.
We hunted for candles and matches in the dark... my Donald went out again for drinking water and ice. I started the fire back as it was getting quite chilly in my house.
At 8:090 still no power. But we've got candles, a warm cozy fire and are playing cribbage by candle light. It was after 10 that our lights came back on, thankfully it was before bedtime. I larned a lesson that night about being prepared even when it doesn't look like bad weather.
Usually in the summer I keep a few gallons of "flush" water and if a storm is coming I fill up a few extra buckets in the bath tub and fill the puppies water bottle and the kitties water bottle. This time it wasn't a storm and I wasn't prepared. So now I really do have a bad weather "kit". It sits in a milk crate in the bottom of my pantry. It has drinking water, flush water, puppy and cat food, snacks, (the puppy, cat and people food I trade out every few weeks to keep it fresh) batteries ( will trade for new every 6 months) and radio, candles, lighter, flashlight & a deck of cards. It's great that it's all together in one place and I know right where it is.
I feel so much better now that I'm organized for a power outage! I have also prepared one of these kits for the office. At the office we may or may not have water when the power goes out. I guess that depends on how wide spread the outage would be.
While I was working on this I had an idea. Why not make this my new home buyer gift. I mean everyone could use an emergency kit. So I've gone out and bought some flashlights, milk crates, batteries, candles, lighters and bottled water and decks of cards and put together a "light" emergency kit for my buyers. Of course they may want or need to add items if they have pets and children. And yesterday I ordered flashlights with my company name and number on them.
But the fact that I found myself unprepared made me realize that most folks probably don't have one. And the market I work in is about 50% second homes and who would have one at their second home? So this is going to be my buyer gift for a while on Lake Sinclair.
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