I was lucky enough to miss the last two blackouts. The first one we were in Reno and the second our daughter was having surgery so we were out of town. The second time we were out of town for pleasure. For this one, we are in town. I took notes from the kids as they texted each other so I'd be prepared when the time came. Since it is due to start tomorrow, we started preparing today. It is a beautiful day. The sun is out, the temps in the upper 70s and it may nudge 80 by 5:00. There isn't any wind, but we are told it may not be windy here, but elsewhere where the transformers are located. Since I am a dutiful little foot soldier, I don't complain.
Karen, the best friend and I, headed to our closest town, Grass Valley where we went to the gym, hit the dollar store for sugarless candy and candles and headed home. Dennis, the husband, got gas and primed the generator. He filled up the cars and hit the grocery store for extra necessities. We have two gas stations in town and both have bought generators as has our grocery store. They think the generators will last long enough, but they don't know for sure. The kids told us that last time, cars were at least 40 deep at gas stations all around the county. We are not doing that. The husband gassed up today. Two weeks ago, my poor daughter-in-law had gas in the back seat of her brand new car. She came to a stop and the gas can fell over and drenched the floor of the car. She has refused to haul gas for anyone. We understand, Jamie. We really do. We are still learning about generators. We're not sure if we can run the refrigerator on the generator. We think we can, but we're not sure. It's all about the voltage and amps. I listen and nod like I understand what he's saying. I don't and that's fine. "Can I run the coffee pot?" I ask. He nods. "Awesome." That's all I care about. As for the generator, I'm a hands on person. I'll learn as we go. I made macaroni salad and plan to have hot dogs on the barbecue for Wednesday and ham hocks and beans with cornbread or rolls for Thursday. He thinks the generator will support the microwave. Candles are placed in strategic places with all the lanterns we'd bought for the great evacuation two years ago. . Daytime should be fine. I can work on my books or read or even garden if I want. The water stayed on last time which means the pumps are on a backup generator and will work. I have a water purification kit in the closet if necessary. So that's it. I hope I haven't forgotten anything, but if I have, so be it. I could go into a long political discussion about the hows and whys of how we got here, but what's the point. Because of Paradise the action is necessary. Power shut offs, like needles, urine, and feces in the street are now the norm. We are living in a 3rd world country in California and there is no solving the problem for the foreseeable future. PG and E says to expect this for at least 10 years. So, we stay and suffer or we pick up and move to Nevada. There is another option, we privatize our electrical system by city or county. But PG and E is a public utility, overseen by the government. Once the government takes something over, they never give it back no matter the shape they've caused it to take. As a Libertarian, I do not believe in large governments. I don't trust them. The reason being, they screw everything up and you have to admit California is completely screwed. All you have to do is live here. That will convince you Democrats are all about the money, not about the people. The last election we voted in a new gas tax because it was to be used to fix up our roads that are in horrible shape. Our idiotic governor signed a bill last week to move the funds to the stupid bullet train that no one will ride. They tried the same thing with Amtrack many years ago and like most things this state nurtures, Amtrack is in horrible shape. I thought about running for office, but with my plethora of autoimmune diseases, I'd end up fainting and vomiting all over the assembly floor. I will have to leave the solving of California's future to the young and either learn to live with this or Nevada here I come. Comments are closed.
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