Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

[neadods]

Power has held with only the occasional brownout flicker so far, but the worst of the storm hasn't hit. I hear Sandy's been downgraded to a tropical storm, but that still means 70+ mph winds howling over us starting in about an hour. I'm going to assume the worst; it's easier to dismantle preparations than pull them together.

I'm probably going to shut this laptop down and go quiet in the next 30 minutes or so; I want the battery to be at full strength if our power goes down. Not so I can use it -- the router will go the way of all flesh without power -- but so I can jack into it via usb cord and drain the battery to keep the cell phone up and running. My little netbook has been plugged in for the first time in ages for the same reason.

There's an oil lamp in a clear bowl in the bathroom. (The bowl is to help keep the flame isolated if I light it.) The freezer in the basement has been packed to capacity with the food we want to keep and the nooks and crannies filled with baggies of ice. Untouched, it should hold the cold for two days.

redpanda13's hubby and I have been keeping an eye on each other's situation online and via the phone. We'll be checking in with each other in the morning as well.

I WANT BATTERY CANDLES AND A CRANK USB CHARGER FOR CHRISTMAS!

Comments

[harmonyfb.livejournal.com]

In a pinch, you can power stuff off your car battery, too. Stay safe!

[redpanda13.livejournal.com]

To our shock, and touch wood, the power was out for only two hours-- but I keep waiting for it to go out again. I would have been content with anything less than 24 hours.... And almost every time our power does go, including that one, I hear a kaboom, which means it's a transformer, NOT the trees PEPCO keeps blaming.

We have a crank light/radio which has been useful. Also a headlamp which I got cheap when a camping store went out of business-- looks silly but quite useful and hands-free. And some booklight clips for reading.

As for the storm doors, I remember the surprisingly mild Hurricane Bertha (much scarier name than Sandy) during a con in Norfolk about 1996-- we woke in the middle of the night to find the fifth-floor sliding glass balcony door bowing in and out. Even weirder, the water level in the toilet bowl was going up and down and up and down....

Good luck to you and all others in range of this big bugger! Here are some impressive satellite photos: http://www.space.com/18261-hurricane-sandy-menacing-frankenstorm-satellite-photos.html

[neadods.livejournal.com]

the water level in the toilet bowl was going up and down and up and down....

That just freaks the heck out of me.

Your power still good? Ours is holding if you need to shelter.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention the car-battery thing too. That kept our cellphones going during the chaos after Ike.

[fyrdrakken]

You remind me that I should get around to finally buying that crank radio/USB charger that I'd been eyeing since I ran across it on ThinkGeek. (Sold out on there months ago, but I found it again on Amazon.) Not that we've had so much as a power outage since I restocked our candle stash and got a oil lamp last year.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Check out the Olde Brooklyn Lantern. I've got bids in on a couple on eBay. Also available on Amazon. No open flame for the win!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

That's not a bad idea! Have you seen the reviews on Amazon? They're not kind.

I was thinking that the battery candles could also be used for party ambiance - the column ones are actually halfway convincing if you can't see the wick.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Interesting reviews. This one might be a better buy.

The battery candles look interesting, but I couldn't read by something that flickers.