Blackout

The whole city and county had a big blackout yesterday that started at 3:38pm and lasted through the night. I was fortunate to have been working from home because the nanny had an emergency, so I was with Em the whole time. Ryan, on the other hand, had a doctor's appointment and got stuck in gridlock traffic at the other end of town with all the traffic lights out. It took him 3 hours to get back home on a route that would usually take 30 minutes. He didn't make it home til after 8pm.

If I were at work, it would have been the same for me. So it was simple luck of events that I was able to be with Em. We did have to fend off the 90+ heat since the A/C was down, but Em and I had fun hopping into the shower with cold water. Her first time in the shower and she LOVED it. Couldn't get enough of stomping on the water and sticking her hands in the shower stream. We took an evening stroll in the backyard after the sun went down since outside was cooler than inside now, and first time again for Emilia, to be walking around after dark. She could tell that something was different (maybe the headlamps and flashlights gave it all away...) and she stuck close to me, but still did her thing and continued to have fun.

Long story short... this reminds me that we need to be more diligent in having emergency preparedness readily and easily accessible. There were rumors of a fire as well, and we are in a fire hazard area where we need to be prepared to evac at a moment's notice.

I have to just note, that lanterns are absolutely AWESOME. Candles too, but a little more cautious about candles. Headlamps too are AWESOME.

So here's a checklist (mainly for me to remember) to get a bin full of emergency stuff:
1) headlamps/flashlights/lanterns with extra batteries
2) candles and lighter/matches
2) battery-operated AM/FM radio
3) water/food (3 day supply)
4) first aid kit with basic medications
5) extra sets of clothes for everybody in the house
6) copy of important documents (birth certificates, passports, insurance paper, inventory, tax, hard drives.. computer backups)
7) emergency blanket/sleeping bag per person
8) emergency tools
9) Goggles (for high wind or blowing embers)
9) work gloves
10) duct tape