Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The big freeze

Fifteen below is cold enough, I reckon.

The power outage caused by the extreme cold overnight on Monday is causing folks some discomfort. Imagine if a cold snap like this lasted a few days with no power.

An inconvenience quickly turns into an emergency.

Last night’s events are a strong argument for a wood stove and alternative means of cooking food and heating water. And for a backup supply of water if the well pump goes out. And a supply of extra food if the grocery store is closed.

Sure, you can go to the local Red Cross center, but isn’t it better to be prepared to shelter in place? This morning we stoked up the wood stove, fired up the propane burner and boiled some water for coffee, cooked some soup and all was well.

It’ll still be well if there’s no power tonight and the temperature sinks below zero.

Modern conveniences based on electrical power sure are nice, but it doesn’t pay to be totally dependent on them.

Jim Cornelius, Editor

2 comments:

  1. good points - one of the reasons why I insisted on propane when I built my house a few years ago. It might be dark, but I still have heat from my gas fireplace, hot water, and can cook. Now if only the internet would run off propane...

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  2. The real beneficiary of this CEC calamity is Sweeney Plumbing !! When we all finally get power you watch how many hundreds of calls they will have for broken pipes. Gosh, could the "substation" that is causing all of these problems be the new fancy one that just came on line back in July ? You know the huge, ugly eyesore that was so desperately needed to avoid future interruptions of power ? Every winter this happens and every winter CEC rolls out Guggenheim with some rosy story about when the power is going back on. His first report was it was going to take several hours. We reported our power out at 2:30am, by his 9:30am report it had already been several hours. The 550-4888 emergency line, while staffed with nice people have no clue when the power is to be restores and whom might be the unlucky ones that are without power overnite. Note to CEC: We live in a cold area during the winter, you might engineer accordingly in the future !! Also, when our pipes brake, which individual should we send the repair bills to ? I don't personally believe its our homeowners responsibility, I believe its CEC's.

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