when the power goes out

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we lost power for about 20 or so hours wednesday night into thursday afternoon. That night we bundled up the baby and she slept with us in bed to keep her warm. Before my wife and I went to bed, we watched a couple of movies on my portable DVD player. The Family Guy Star Wars special and The Exorcist. The next day, we went to the in-laws to stay warm and to take a shower. No biggie.

I was wondering what you do during blackouts to stay entertained.

Last week the entire area blacked out, except the communal lighting in these flats (which must run off some sort of auxillary battery) - lucky the luftwaffe didnt visit that night.

My philosophy is: its night, im probably supposed to be asleep anyway. Otherwise its a good prompt to do some reading.

I'm not going to sleep when it gets dark. That's around 5:30 here right now.

Play cards? Catch up on things with family members? Go out?

One blackout occurred during the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower. I was so happy that the light pollution was gone and it was actually dark enough to see the night sky in its natural glory that I celebrated by standing outside and stargazing.

It's not quite as much fun in bad storms or when you need to get up early for work the next day and don't have your second alarm clock to fall back on ... But in such cases, I light a candle for a while, have a flashlight handy, call the electric company because if I don't report it am not sure anyone else in my apartment building will care enough to, go into a state of half-sleep, get up and go to work super early.

One Christmas my mom gave me what she called an "End of the World" lantern, which was supposed to stay illuminated for millions, billions, trillions, and gazillions of hours on just one set of batteries. The first time I needed it, it didn't work. So I teased my mom about it, brought it back to her in exchange for an actual working one, and now have actually successfully used it during the last power outage.

BTW, how long does sterno last? I bought some in 1999 during the time we were all being warned about the Y2K scare when supposedly civilization as we knew it would all come to a crashing halt as soon as the clock struck midnight in the year 2000, and I still have the sterno stored away.

i usually watch a documentary on my laptop

blah lol

Sit around and think.

Last time the power went out I lit up a candle and made a wax mould of my hand. It was fun

Well, get out my portable lamp and headlight. Then I can check the fuses. When it is a general failure I can enjoy a good book. Or just continue cleaning or whatever I was doing.

Or just go to sleep early.

We haven't had a blackout for ages.

I would probably play my DS, if I get really bored.

Lit some candles and play board games. Thats what I do.

Join an angry mob of boneheaded torch-wielding consumerites and burn down the mayor's mansion.