Surviving without electric

[Larwee]

Recently we had the biggest power outage in the history of this area. It began with some very violent storms followed by more violent storms two days later. At one point about 600,000 customers were without electric power. Some people had to wait 9 days to have their power restored.

It was very hot and soon became obvious that this was going to be a very long outage, so I decided to make the best of it by catching up on things both inside and outside that I had been putting off which didn't require electricity. I ended up getting a lot of things done that I needed to, but I would have much rather had the electric.

I don't have a laptop and the convenience a battery would give, because I am a rather strange person and my reasons for not wanting one might sound a little weird. They are just too small and too easily taken. It happens often. You only hear about it in high profile cases, with concern about the files they contained. I just don't want it to happen to me, so I don't have one.

I was still able to do some things online for about an hour a day because I have six uninterrupted power supply units, which I was careful in using since I didn't know how many days I would need to use them. Each one was good for 100 minutes, so I had a total of 10 hours available.

Some people in other parts of the country have also been having some power related problems recently, and possibly in other parts of the world. Some 5 Star members might be among them. If so, you might want to post your experiences. You might also post how you were able to handle your webmaster related duties during the outage as well as plans you might have to do things differently in the future.

I have six computers in my office. That is why I have six uninterrupted power supply units. There is one for each computer. Some of them support other office equipment as well.

This power outage has made me decide to purchase about four more uninterrupted power supply units so I will have more time available should I happen to need it.

You can find them in office supply stores and electronic stores. They have reasonable prices and can really come in handy.

How about you? Do you have any special plans to deal with a power outage that will still allow you to perform some of your webmaster related activities?

[sarahk]

I don't have any special capability because outages are very rare but we recently had one that affected 3 of the small cities that make up Auckland, well over 600,000 people and people were complaining that it would never happen in America - yet it has and it does. Webhosts were criticised for not having alternate power supplies (ie Generators) yet we see MySpace go offline when LA had their power problems. If they don't have decent hosting then who does?

Personally I took the time to clear my desk, make some phone calls (because most people have atleast one phone that doesn't require electricity and the exchanges were still up) and kick back.

[Larwee]

While outages in my area aren't common, they do happen. But there are things which could be done to prevent some of them or keep them from being as serious when they do happen. That is getting a lot of attention now.

I am in a large metropolitan area. While more than 600,000 customers were without electric at one point, there were still plenty of people who had electric power. When it was restored, some got it restored sooner than others. But it still took a long time in those cases as well.

My webhost is hundreds of miles away from me. But I never worry about them and a possible power outage because they do have an alternate power supply, as do many webhosts. That is one of the many important factors people need to consider when they are selecting a webhost.

This recent power outage brought out the good in some people. It also made it possible for some people to get to better know their neighbors.

Temperatures were around 100 degrees and very humid during portions of the power outage. A lot of people were spending time outside and having block parties.

Some people say I miss out on some things because I avoid a lot of situations. I don't smoke and I never have. I don't like to be around people who are smoking. I don't drink and I have never had a drink in my life. I don't like to be around where people are drinking alcohol. But I can and do still have fun.

A lot of sick and elderly people needed help during the outage and people were anxious to help them. There were people who had problems getting food, and people with heat related problems. People went out of their way to be helpful to these people.

Many people are extra nice during difficult times. It would be great if everyone was as nice as possible towards everyone else all of the time and not just during times which are difficult.