Off the grid: No phone, no light, no internet, not a single luxury

Just returning to the 21st Century for the first time since Saturday night, when surprise storms blew my house back to the 1840s.

After the cell phone went dead early Monday morning, it dawned on me: there ain't a hell of a lot you can do without electric power in our society today once the sun goes down. I have a half-dozen flashlights stashed around the house, but you can only burn through batteries so fast.

Going to bed at 9 p.m. is a bit of an adjustment if you're used to 3-5 a.m.

Yeah, you can go sit in the car and listen to the radio/stereo, but you're burning gas at about a nickel a minute (or risking killing THAT battery too).

While the sun's still up, you can read books. I knew I was keeping those things around for SOME reason. But once the sun goes down, it's time to go to sleep (although I actually got in some quality stargazing Tuesday night. Blacked-out city means less light pollution). Luckily it only got down into the mid-40s and I have plenty of thick blankets.

Breakfast? Cold ravioli from a can. Yummy.

The power company's automated response system assures me I should come home to a fully powered-up house tonight. But Monday afternoon, they said everybody would be back on line by Tuesday noon. So I ain't holding my breath.

 

Maybe you could have gone for a three-hour boat tour...

 

This is exactly why, in the 1840s, the married couple had 53 children.

 

Only if Mary Ann and Ginger were among the crew. The rest of that bunch can stay on the pier.

 

... a three-hour tour.

 

Feel your pain, Starman. After Katrina, at my house we had 6 days with no running water, 3 weeks without electricity and 2 months with no internet. We had a Coleman stove, though, and plenty of fuel, so we could fix hot meals and make coffee. Wasn't fun, but we got by.

 

And 50 of them would die of dysentery.

 

Exactly. When my power was out last week, so many people chimed in with, "Back to the pioneer days! You get to see how people lived back then!"

Then I pointed out the average lifespan back then was about 45 years.

Fuck pioneer days.

 

Of course, you didn't need to lock your front door throughout those 45 years.

 

Because your nearest "neighbor" was 3 miles away and you rode horseback to get there.

 

And ... that was OK ...