It sounds like we will be losing power for a few days

I heard the new CA governor say on a news station yesterday that he was in agreement with the Gas company to turn off power in 70(?) counties because there was no other alternative. Then earlier today I saw him speaking again but this time angrily saying that it's all about greed.

I had to leave for an appointment so I didn't hear anymore than that. I'm guessing the gas company executives didn't keep up the maintenance over the years because it's costly and although they had the money they wanted to keep it for themselves.
 
I was trying to get ahold of my daughter all day because she lives in Santa Monica but was hiking in Topanga or Ojai somewhere for her birthday and all I knew is that the largest CA fire was in LA but didn't know where. I finally heard from her late tonight. She's home safe in Santa Monica and was clueless about anything going on. She says she doesn't take any tech gadgets on the hike because there's no service there anyway. Grrr.

Heard from her again and she's finally tracking the fire because she now smells smoke and sees it in the air with the sunset. She's right on the edge of poor air quality.
 

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Well,we survived! It really wasn`t too horribly bad,but that was because I prepared for it. We ended up with still having our bathtub full-didn`t even need it. The frozen gallon containers I had frozen previously kept the fridge cod and the ones I left in the freezer kept everything but the ice cream frozen. So we didn`t lose much. Our daughter lives less than a mile away and they do have a generator,so we could have showered there if we wanted to,but just pretended we were camping and took "horse baths" lol. Hubby missed TV though,so I guess a generator is in our future. I didn`t want to be storing fuel here, but our garages and storage barn are far enough away from the house that I guess it`ll be OK. Also,we could drive less than 30 minutes away for meals-the next county over-or at least the main city in that county-had power as they have their own company-not PG&E. Son in law,who is a lineman for PG&E says this will not be the last shutdown we have this year. We`ll see.....
 
Well,we survived! It really wasn`t too horribly bad,but that was because I prepared for it. We ended up with still having our bathtub full-didn`t even need it. The frozen gallon containers I had frozen previously kept the fridge cod and the ones I left in the freezer kept everything but the ice cream frozen. So we didn`t lose much. Our daughter lives less than a mile away and they do have a generator,so we could have showered there if we wanted to,but just pretended we were camping and took "horse baths" lol. Hubby missed TV though,so I guess a generator is in our future. I didn`t want to be storing fuel here, but our garages and storage barn are far enough away from the house that I guess it`ll be OK. Also,we could drive less than 30 minutes away for meals-the next county over-or at least the main city in that county-had power as they have their own company-not PG&E. Son in law,who is a lineman for PG&E says this will not be the last shutdown we have this year. We`ll see.....
So glad you got through it! Highly recommend a good generator to make those dark days way better. We have a Yamaha and its wonderful when you need it. It kept our big screen TV, freezer & fridge, fans, lights, and other electronics going strong. The fuel really lasts, too. We've had other generators that were so noisy and really ate up the fuel, but this little compact "hummer" is leaps and bounds above it. Just be sure to run it dry when the lights come back on and follow the manual for "long term storage" on any generator you might buy.

Usually that means draining the carburetor. We've done that and store it in the house. Of course you hope you don't need it but it really makes everyday living more normal by far to have it churning through the power outages. Sounds like your hubby will love being able to watch his fav shows too.
 
Well,we survived! It really wasn`t too horribly bad,but that was because I prepared for it. We ended up with still having our bathtub full-didn`t even need it. The frozen gallon containers I had frozen previously kept the fridge cod and the ones I left in the freezer kept everything but the ice cream frozen. So we didn`t lose much. Our daughter lives less than a mile away and they do have a generator,so we could have showered there if we wanted to,but just pretended we were camping and took "horse baths" lol. Hubby missed TV though,so I guess a generator is in our future. I didn`t want to be storing fuel here, but our garages and storage barn are far enough away from the house that I guess it`ll be OK. Also,we could drive less than 30 minutes away for meals-the next county over-or at least the main city in that county-had power as they have their own company-not PG&E. Son in law,who is a lineman for PG&E says this will not be the last shutdown we have this year. We`ll see.....
How long was your power shut off, Mrs. R?
 
It's amazing how we get used to and take things for granted. A water main sprung a leak a mile from me recently and for miles around we had no water for maybe 17-24 hours. I kept finding a reason to turn on the tap and then remembered there was no water. It made me think of people before us with no running water or electric or phones or cars and NO AC!

Glad you didn't have to wait 5 days like they said.
 
I'm glad you got your power back and things went ok. Mrs. Robinson I hope your animals didn't get to thirsty. We finally got a generator after many years. I don't no why we waited so long. Just one snowstorm a few years back paid for the generator in food we would have lost and I'm sure my poor bird wouldn't have made it through.
 
57 hours is a long time to be without power.

Since it appears the fire that hit our area was sparked by power lines, DWP (Department and Water of Power) will likely start shutting off power during Santa Ana events, so I need to start thinking about alternate power sources.
 
57 hours is a long time to be without power.

Since it appears the fire that hit our area was sparked by power lines, DWP (Department and Water of Power) will likely start shutting off power during Santa Ana events, so I need to start thinking about alternate power sources.

Yes,time to start thinking about it. I didn`t want a generator but now I`m thinking we may get one anyway. We did OK,but if it had been 5 days,or if it had been really hot weather,we could have had a problem.
 
Yes,time to start thinking about it. I didn`t want a generator but now I`m thinking we may get one anyway. We did OK,but if it had been 5 days,or if it had been really hot weather,we could have had a problem.
We share similar concerns about storing fuel on our premises. With a barn and outbuildings your property is obviously much bigger than my under 1/4 acre postage stamp. We were gifted a brand new generator about 20 years ago in case of emergency, but hubby has surely not fired that sucker up in 15 years. Maybe I'll give him a push on it...
 
We share similar concerns about storing fuel on our premises. With a barn and outbuildings your property is obviously much bigger than my under 1/4 acre postage stamp. We were gifted a brand new generator about 20 years ago in case of emergency, but hubby has surely not fired that sucker up in 15 years. Maybe I'll give him a push on it...

And now we know what it`s like to try to GET fuel during an event like this. Fortunately,I did take their warnings of a possible shutdown seriously (most people didn`t)and filled my car up a couple of days before. Hubby still wasn`t driving then because of his knee surgery so we were OK on his truck. But the lines at the stations that WERE able to pump gas were horrendous-people had to wait forever to get gas. And then,of course,there were those people that would come in the back way and shoot into a space as a car was leaving and proceed to fill their tank. Nice. So there were fights. My son in law says they are being told there will be at least one more shutdown this year,so we`ll see....
 
And now we know what it`s like to try to GET fuel during an event like this. Fortunately,I did take their warnings of a possible shutdown seriously (most people didn`t)and filled my car up a couple of days before. Hubby still wasn`t driving then because of his knee surgery so we were OK on his truck. But the lines at the stations that WERE able to pump gas were horrendous-people had to wait forever to get gas. And then,of course,there were those people that would come in the back way and shoot into a space as a car was leaving and proceed to fill their tank. Nice. So there were fights. My son in law says they are being told there will be at least one more shutdown this year,so we`ll see....
I didn't think about making sure that our vehicles remain topped off. Thanks for the tip. Wouldn't want to revisit the experience of gas lines from the 1970s - it wasn't all that much fun the first few times...
 


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