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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   1571 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for July 22, 2026

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My power went out on Sunday at about 8:30 PM and was out until 3 AM. The entire street was pitch black because the transformers in town got knocked out by a severe thunderstorm that came and went in under 30 minutes.

Lights in the house:

  • my phone (other phones were low on charge and could not be used for long)
  • two OLight Mini 2s (very useful! marginally brighter than my phone's flashlight)
  • decently bright thin rectangular flashlight
  • an oil lamp

Observations:

  • I went out to check on the neighbors a little ways in, and went along the sidewalk to look closer at a fallen tree, and unwittingly I walked in between two downed power lines. Was this a failure of situational awareness, failure to have a bright enough flashlight, or just plain bad luck? The town guys came to look at the damage, and the first guy investigating had a flashlight that was very bright and could light up almost a whole block. The OLight Mini 2 is useful, but its capabilities are limited.
  • I really could have used something that could light up an entire room in the house. If I had that, we probably wouldn't have needed the oil lamp. I consider oil lamps to be fire hazards. But they're really useful fire hazards. The kerosene provides a light for a long time.
  • Having a nice, organized room helps you find stuff in it even when it's dark. I did not have a clean, organized room.
  • The power going out is a good excuse to play card games. Or do the exercise that you were putting off, supposing the exercise wasn't with powered equipment.
  • Surge protectors are good investments.
  • It occurred to me that the house was uniquely vulnerable, and I didn't have any loaded pistols at that time, and loading in the dark would be awkward. I have a "nightstand gun" with a flashlight, but you typically don't have that in a holster. What I realized was that I could have used a pistol that had a flashlight that could fit in a holster so I could just put it on "just in case" when the power goes out. But I don't know anything about holsters. I have one holster for my CZ P10-C, but if I put a flashlight on the gun, it wouldn't fit in the holster.
  • Sleeping was difficult because they were chainsawing a fallen tree through the night and obviously the white noise fans I have need power. Also it was pretty hot and humid without air conditioning.

I watched a Paul Harrell video about three-day-survival-packs, and he showed this product, and I realized that such a device would have been pretty useful for a power outage. I'm weighing that, a very bright and long-reaching flashlight, and certain weapon attachments due to the power outage. Likely, I'll get all that and then the next power outage will come and I'll find I didn't think of something else, too.

Apparently many people just start up their generators when this happens. Meh.

A good opportunity to inform folks around here about step potential. In short, downed power lines can still be energized, and walking by can cause current to flow through one leg and out the other.

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