@on the cusp

#2 Thanks so much.

@mimi

There’s a lot to feel comfortingly nostalgic about, because of the 'simplicity' of the past and the resilience it built. But as long as we are addicted or slaves to modern technology, we might as well make the ‘best' of it, whatever that really is. I would certainly miss seeing my daughter and granddaughter if we didn't have the technology available now. On the other hand back then the limitations of viruses and passports were not such an issue.

It makes sense that you feel nostalgic in your family home.

#2 I live in the house my parents bought 1954. It was built 1936. I regret that the things it had were all replaced with 'modern technology devices'.

It had a huge furnace that needed to be filled with coal in the morning to heat the house. A whole room in the basement was filled with coal, which was enough to bring you through at least 8 to 9 months with temperatures below 18 degree Celsius. Trucks came with bags of coal and those were emptied out into that 'coal room' through a basement window with a device that made it possible to empty the coal bags from the outside into the 'coal room'. Not only was there a huge furnace fed with coal to heat the whole house, but there was also a herd-type cooking stove. All of it was removed and replaced with 'modern' devices. I really regret that. My aunts and the parent (wwII) generations carried coal bags from the basement into the fourth floor. It was awfully hard to do that for the elder folks, but you could survive independently in winters, as long as coal was available.

Our dependency on the networks and phone technology is a suicidal sickness, imo.
I yearn for the times I could directly talk to the people I care for and not to be dependent on phone conversations. YMMV.

@mimi

NEVER AGAIN!

#2 I live in the house my parents bought 1954. It was built 1936. I regret that the things it had were all replaced with 'modern technology devices'.

It had a huge furnace that needed to be filled with coal in the morning to heat the house. A whole room in the basement was filled with coal, which was enough to bring you through at least 8 to 9 months with temperatures below 18 degree Celsius. Trucks came with bags of coal and those were emptied out into that 'coal room' through a basement window with a device that made it possible to empty the coal bags from the outside into the 'coal room'. Not only was there a huge furnace fed with coal to heat the whole house, but there was also a herd-type cooking stove. All of it was removed and replaced with 'modern' devices. I really regret that. My aunts and the parent (wwII) generations carried coal bags from the basement into the fourth floor. It was awfully hard to do that for the elder folks, but you could survive independently in winters, as long as coal was available.

Our dependency on the networks and phone technology is a suicidal sickness, imo.
I yearn for the times I could directly talk to the people I care for and not to be dependent on phone conversations. YMMV.

@NYCVG
Use it only in open air. Slow burning charcoal is notorious for creating a lot of carbon monoxide. You will have no warning. Just gently fall asleep.

#3 #3 in a city high rise:

During the Hurricane Sandy outage what I found helpful was to understand where the cold creeps in from. In high rises like mine, the biggest culprit can be our fire-proof front doors. They rarely fit well enough to prevent drafts. Our windows, OTOH, are double paned and draft free.

During the 6 days without heat I rolled up a quilt and propped it across the bottom part of my entry door. After the hurricane was over I found a product in Bed Bath & Beyond that addresses this issue better. It has a fanciful name, "Door Snake" I think it is. It is a thick heavy roll more than the width of the door and in between uses it has a handy loop on each end so it can hang on a hook in the closet.

Also, I bought weather stripping and applied it on top of the door and on the open side.

On cooking---during the Hurricane we lost heat, water and electricity, but the gas stayed on. All we had to do was unplug the electric starter (for safety reasons) and I used long fireplace matches to light the burners.

A hibachi is a great idea for when G & E both fail. I'm going to look for one.

Also keep ground coffee on hand even if you generally prefer to grind your beans daily. Ground coffee and a Melitta system and no electricity will be needed.

What to do when your high rise toilet stops flushing? simple. First---keep a brick on hand that will go into the tank. Then, any fluid can help flush. Use water to wash with and then add that soapy water to your tank. Make every drop count. Of course, have plenty of stored water. Use common sense. Flush only after a major deposit. Living alone with the lid down, that is easier than I thought it would be.

The best kind of prepping is to live with eyes open and know how many things work, so you can deal with whatever comes that can be dealt with. Pampered City dwellers call their Maintenance workers for every little thing. This will not work out well as a life plan anyplace we happen to live.

@Lookout
I prefer the freezer method. I found that pulling the relief valve sometimes damages them. I just take my time. It takes about 3 times to fill. I also weigh them at the end to ensure they don't go over the gross weight and get overfilled.

#4

https://theprovidentprepper.org/kerosene-stoves/
I do occasionally see them at trade day, but they tend to have an antique based price.

For those that have a propane camping stove, you can refill the one pound bottles from a larger tank on the cheap.
https://gomidwestfishing.com/refill/

good luck, but it sounds like you've got your bases covered.

@on the cusp

There are 12V electric blankets that can run off a solar generator or battery system. We have both USB and cigarette lighter plug 12V fans. There are also fans that use drill batteries.

For extreme heat I like a mister in front of a fan which can be as simple as a unused clean garden sprayer or a battery powered mist fan like this:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-ONE-18V-Portable-Bucket-Top-Misting-Fa...

Stay cool!

#5 Survival techniques have no limits!

@usefewersyllables
if/when I move to Alabama I will get a generator also. my daughter is trying to go off the grid. Power was lost in the last Hurricane and was not restored for 6 days. Hurricane wasn't near them but messed up the AL power grid. She was particularly browned-off because she could see downtown Anniston all lit up the second day, within walking distance. But her area is low income and no one gave a big rat's ass.

She says natural gas lines are not reliable so I might have to get a diesel generator.

A service tech comes out every September, changes the oil, checks the battery and runs a test. It runs every Saturday at 11:00AM for five minutes like yours. The annual service keeps up the warranty. Some of my neighbors have gasoline generators that you pull the cord. I imagine pulling that cord at ten below. No. I have enough trouble with the lawn mower.

EDIT:
BTW daughter doesn't want a generator. she's going for solar/wind/conservation.

#7

I installed a 30KW diesel backup generator, and an automatic transfer switch so that power outages were seamlessly swallowed by the genny: the lights would blink and come right back up in a few seconds as the genny spun up. We needed that to make sure the well pump would run to keep the critters watered, as well as for domestic use. This was fine, because I'm an engineer and a decent diesel mechanic, so maintaining it was straightforward. It had a 50-gallon day tank, so we could run for a long time without refueling- and the 300-gallon bulk gravity tank for the tractor was within the fueling hoses' length of the genny's day tank filler. And the transfer switch controller would autostart it and run it for 5min a week. So we were in good shape.

But with any generator, the thing is only worth what you put in as preventive maintenance. Old diesel gels in the winter cold (without treatment), gasoline goes bad, nobody ever checks the propane tank until they need it, oil leaks out. The maintenance has to become religion. It is nontrivial work.

BTW, I set up an electric transfer pump so that I could empty the day tank back into the bulk tractor tank, and then refresh it with fresh fuel. You don't want diesel to lay around for years. I always laugh when I see commercial places with the spiffy prepackaged diesel gennies that have clearly never been refreshed- good luck if the power *does* fail.

With all the consolidation in the cellular industry, you can often find used diesel backup gennies from decommissioned cell phone sites for a song. It's worth keeping an eye out for. Just avoid, at all costs, the no-name Chinese gennies: they are not a bargain. Generac, Kohler, Cummins- real companies make gennies. The Chinese make oily paperweights.

Now that we had to sell the property, are broke, and renting a place in town, I have a 1.75L bottle of Johnny Walker Red for power outages. It's less work...

@The Voice In the Wilderness preserves nuts raisins

#13
I have a lot of Sam's Club canned flaked chicken. it's not great but it's food. When cans get close to date, I open them and use them for soup thickener. I keep a supply of boxed cereal too.
And, of course, canned tomato sauce, canned fruit, and canned vegetables.