Power Off!

[Pyro]

My power just came back after about a half hour of total outage. I was pretty amazed at how helpless I was without it. When it went out I was in my basement using the computer, and suddenly I could see anything. I had to wait for my parents to come with a flash light to get me out. Not a fun experience. Anyway it wasn't all bad. I lit some candles and toasted marshmellows over them. So I wondered " What else do people do when the power goes out?"

This is where you come in...

[RandomNPC]

if it wasn't for electricity we would all be watching tv in the dark!

i usually go outside and do something i've been putting off.

if its cold or dark out then i play with fire for a while before going to bed (after putting the candles back out.)

board games are also fun.

[Nomrom]

Last year, at college, the entire town lost power. They had a generator explode or something ridiculous like that. In our dorm we decided this would be a good time to play capture the flag in the hallways. Sports are usually prohibited in the hallways, but we figured in the dark they wouldn't know how was doing what and we could get away with it. Unfortunately, all of our RA's, even the ones from other floors decided to preemptively stop us (We were the group who usually caused all the problems in our dorm.), so we could never get it underway. Instead we went into the basement floor, found the darkest spot in the hallway and sat there talking until the power cam back. Than we all did the homework we would've done earlier but couldn't because we had no power.

[Em Blackleaf]

Since I'm usually sitting at a computer, I gasp at the sudden off-ness of it, and then I listen to music, with the power of batteries, or read by candle-light, or flashlight.
Or if it's nice outside, I'll be the kid I am and draw with chalk... If I have chalk at the time.

EDIT: I just remembered that my dad always suggests we watch TV. :smalltongue:

[Ego Slayer]

I haven't lost power for any long periods of time for while... Usually just read, or something.



Or if it's nice outside, I'll be the kid I am and draw with chalk... If I have chalk at the time.
I make pretty art with chalk. It's fun! :smallbiggrin:

[Nomrom]

It really sucks to lose power at work. I work at a machine shop, so without power we can't do any work at all. Wait, did I say really sucks? I meant best thing that could possibly happen at work.

[Crispy Dave]

well ive gone a week without power befor when i lived in tahoe and i found alot of things to do I went threw my list of houses to tp quick and asked my dad and we decided to drive to reno and stay at our friends house

and the moral is drive to reno kids

[Archonic Energy]

My power just came back after about a half hour of total outage. I was pretty amazed at how helpless I was without it. When it went out I was in my basement using the computer, and suddenly I could see anything. I had to wait for my parents to come with a flash light to get me out.

you mean you don't have a UPS?

i doupt i'd notice a power failure till my UPS's battery dies then i'd think
"hmmm... that's strange"

[Exachix]

He he...

We are right by a water tower, and if that's stuck by lightning, we can lose power (actually we turn everything off so that it doesn't blow up).

I sort Magic Cards.
That can take ages.
And ages.
and ages...
and ages...

[Rex Idiotarum]

I don't care if it's still light out, I light fires.

[Castaras]

Boardgames.

Suffer from withdrawal symptoms.

Draw. Read.

Tidy my room. Sit around and think.

[Lensman]

Tidy my room.

Hmmm. That confirms that we haven't had a power outage in years! (Struggles to fight his way pastthe accumulated clutter, mess and junk pouring out of Cas' bedroom door!)

[Miklus]

In the big storm of '99 I was without power for three days. No computer, no TV, no music, no hot food :smallfrown: That sucked. I actually read a book!

Then the autorities decided to get power to the COWS before the people :smallannoyed: because they need to be milked or their udder explode or something!

[evisiron]

Living in the countryside, the power has gone off more times than I can count. Thankfully, we have gas cookers for hot food, a backup generator running on petrol for longer periods or emergencies, and a general "Meh" attitude towards the inconvenience until the power is back up again.

[PlatinumJester]

If my mates are round we have pillow fights.

[Heineken]

Making Babies :smallbiggrin:

[Kitya]

When I was a kid, we'd all sit around and play "20 questions" by candlelight. *chuckles* Now, I just light a bunch of candles and either read a book or play with the kidlet. Oh, and call the electric company so they know the power is out. *chuckles* It's amazing how many people assume someone else has done that. Our company has an automated thingy and tells you what time the first call came in. Quite often, it's me.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I remember when I was a freshman in high school, we had a really bad storm in the spring, and we lost power for almost three weeks. We ended up having to get everything out of our regular and chest freezers and give it to a family friend so it didn't spoil. Having to do everything in the bathroom by candlelight for that long is definitely an interesting experience.

[RocketBard]

The last time that my community had a power outage, we (my family) lit some candles and ate sandwhiches.

[Akaziel]

I somehow oversleep and miss the whole ordeal.

Same goes for earthquakes. I wonder why.

But on those not-so-rare occasions where I'm awake for those power outages, it's usually day-time, so I just study and listen to music via iPod.

[Ceres]

Um... D&D? Duh? :smalltongue:

At least if your gaming buddies don't have power either. Call them on the cellphone and play some atmospheric D&D in candlelight. Really, on this forum I'd suspected it to be suggested earlier. :smallsmile:

[Chaos Perfected]

My power once went out for a good three weeks. In the extreme cold. I piled up blankets on myself, sat by the space heater, and read at least twenty huge books i'd been putting off. Eventually I got a generator for the TV. And took a shower at some one elses house.

[Cruxador]

I usually call people up and we hang out and enjoy ourselves.

Often there is alcohol, demilegal substances, and Craft(baby) checks.

[Aramil Liadon]

Heh... I lost power from 4:30 to about 7:45 yesterday. It way cold, so I couldn't go biking or tree-climbing, leaving me to prepare insidious traps for my PCs. And read books, until the light went. After that I was stuck doing my geek thing, which I think I will not explain. A little embarrassing, actually.

@^^: Wow, you too? That sucked. We had to sleep in the kitchen, all on the same mattress next to the fireplace. On the plus side, I got about 11 hours of sleep each day.

[tannish2]

portable gaming systems, and books... and screaming because i havent saved in an hour, thats also a big one

[ForzaFiori]

last time we lost power was in an ice storm last winter. I wound up hanging at a friends house (b/c he had power), but my mom and step-dad managed to make coffee and toast over a fire using some of my old boy-scout mess kits, lol. In other power outages I'll usually read, listen to music, play my gameboy (if i can find it), or just sit and ponder the ponderables.

[Nibleswick]

A couple winters ago our power was out for a few weeks, and it was very frustrating because the power company wouldn't believe us when we told them the power was out. So ya, a lot of board games, and a lot chopping firewood.

[The_Chilli_God]

I usually just go to my room and either study or practice on the guitar.

Not really sure, though, since we haven't had a power cut in ages, and when we do, they're always at nighttime when I can just go to sleep anyway.

[Mad Scientist]

At my parents house a power failure is no big deal. They have a gas stove so you can cook, a gas fireplace so it's warm in the living area, an emergency generator for the water pump so you have water, and a gas water heater so the water is hot. The only annoying thing is showering by candlelight and remembering to not open the fridge too often. So, when the power finally comes back you just have a bunch of dirty dishes and laundry. I remember reading and studying a lot and drinking lots of tea with the cat on my lap.

[Ranis]

When my power goes out, I whip out Illuminati. That's more than enough to keep people entertained for quite a while.

[phoenixineohp]

I was at a summer camp when the eastern seaboard went down in 2003. We didn't have a lot of things that ran off of power, being in the middle of the woods with no tvs and all. However, what did run was essential; our water system and fridge.

So 150 kids age 4 to 11 with no good water, in the woods, during a heat wave, out in the sun all day. No working toilets. All the food for the week melting...

It would have been pleasant if it weren't for that small glitch. :smalleek:

[Vonriel]

I'm boring, when the power goes out I'll either find a flashlight if it's dark or go out onto the porch if it's light and start reading. Well, at least, that's if I happen to get my curiosity piqued by a good book I haven't read in a while. Otherwise, I pick up my trusty handheld gaming device.

Note that this is only for outages longer than a few minutes. My favorite outage was when I still lived in VA, and we got the remnants of Hurricane Rita I believe it was, and the power was out for a massive 18 hours. Why was it my favorite? Because school was closed for four days during the outages :smallbiggrin:

[zillion ninjas]

Note that this is only for outages longer than a few minutes. My favorite outage was when I still lived in VA, and we got the remnants of Hurricane Rita I believe it was, and the power was out for a massive 18 hours. Why was it my favorite? Because school was closed for four days during the outages :smallbiggrin:

Speaking of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, let me tell you about Hurricane Wilma. The power in three South Florida counties was out for two weeks after the storm passed, and some people had to wait three weeks to get power back. Driving was absolutely crazy with trees and power lines fallen on the roads and without working traffic lights, even in broad daylight. I spent a lot of that time reading, after the initial cleaning-up-debris and damage assessment stage. And appreciating not having to go to work, at least for the first week.

Fortunately, it was relatively late in the year for a hurricane, so the weather during the outage was reasonably cool (or at least, not unbearably hot) and the lack of air conditioning wasn't a big deal. If this had happened in August, we'd have been boiling. As I recall, my biggest problem was sleeping. We had to keep the windows open, and about half of our neighbors had noisy gas generators running for most of the night, for two weeks straight. >_<

On the other hand, this was just two months after Katrina hit New Orleans, so we all knew that our situation wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Most peoples' homes were still habitable, apart from needing their roofs reshingled. Comparatively speaking, we got off easy.

One other positive note - with all of those lights off, we had an absolutely incredible view of the stars every night. It was like the night sky when you go camping.

[Nomrom]

So I found out something interesting about the Dominican Republic where I'm going to be staying. Apparently, the energy system down there is not very reliable, and just about every day they will lose power for a couple of hours.