Had our first power outage here in 5 years and I was totally unprepared as all flash light were scattered who knows where in the dark and im sitting on the couch in total blackness here in the desert. So I groped and stubbed my bare feet toes to that garage where I found a tire gauge that had an LED read out. Man how precious any light is when your in total blackness.
Following the dim light found my Mini Mag and big box of AA batteries and started lighting those tall glass enclosed religious candles you can buy for $2 on sale, but found out the hard way that only white candle wax put out good light and that open white candles without glass enclosures work best, however open candle in 90 degree heat without AC are soft and sag.
I was tempted to take my scooter across the Colorado River 10 miles to the NV side where the casino's have their own power and AC but I couldn't leave my 8 aquariums totaling 1200 gallons without air and had to spend those 2 hours of darkness rigging those cheap battery powered air-pumps I thought I would never use but they truly work in emergency. Just about the time I finished and pulled a drink from the still cold fridge, the power came back on.
Lesson leaned, keep your flash lights and batteries in a known location, buy open white candles, and if you can afford it install and emergency power source, if not make sure you have those battery airpumps. Im seriously thinking of installing my own 12V DC solar panels and DIY battery shed with a separate 12V house lighting system self installed for about $2000
Following the dim light found my Mini Mag and big box of AA batteries and started lighting those tall glass enclosed religious candles you can buy for $2 on sale, but found out the hard way that only white candle wax put out good light and that open white candles without glass enclosures work best, however open candle in 90 degree heat without AC are soft and sag.
I was tempted to take my scooter across the Colorado River 10 miles to the NV side where the casino's have their own power and AC but I couldn't leave my 8 aquariums totaling 1200 gallons without air and had to spend those 2 hours of darkness rigging those cheap battery powered air-pumps I thought I would never use but they truly work in emergency. Just about the time I finished and pulled a drink from the still cold fridge, the power came back on.
Lesson leaned, keep your flash lights and batteries in a known location, buy open white candles, and if you can afford it install and emergency power source, if not make sure you have those battery airpumps. Im seriously thinking of installing my own 12V DC solar panels and DIY battery shed with a separate 12V house lighting system self installed for about $2000
