Blackout Ready

During hurricane Ike a couple of years ago, we SPENT OVER A WEEK without electricity.  Thanks to the generator in the RV parked in the drive we kept the fridge and freezer going OK.  Also, the old, old, gas generator I bought 15 years ago to keep my KOI fish alive during such periods, provided enough power for lights.

No hurricanes last year but I don't have a good feeling about 2012.  On Thursday night we had some rather miner thunderstorms go through and we lost power twice.. the first time for less than 1/2 hour, but then for almost 5 hours, between 1:30 AM and 6:30 AM on Friday morning.

So yesterday I got in gear and we are now ready.  I started up the old generator after its 2 year sleep and it seems to be fine.  I determined it can handle fridge and freezer, as well as light.  I got the heavy extension cords ready (generator runs in the garage with door partially open).   I also have two, 5 gal gas cans filled with StaBil added.  These were refilled in Jan 2012 and still the gas stared the generator fine. Our outdoor grill is natural gas, so it is always available

.After Ike I had purchased a very small 7 inch digital TV and a 600 watt inverter which I now have set up to let me run 110 volt things off of any of 3 deep cycle batteries I had changed out of the RV for new ones.  I keep these charged in the garage with a "battery minder" trickle charger.  The inverter lets me keep most things charged up, as well as run my DSL modem and WiFi router so we have internet.  Our DSL is a "hard phone" line like our regular telephone line is.  Both are ok with no power as long as a tree doesn't take them out. (sorry Uverse Users).

Frozen Food, Outdoor Cooking, Lights, TV, Phones, Cell Phones, Laptop, Galaxy Tablet, Internet Access ......

Now if it only wasn't always so darn hot.......  but there is always the pool.