The power goes out...then what?

I came home tonight and was sitting in the living room talking to Ros and all of a sudden that buzz happened, you know, the one where all the electronic stuff in the house powers down at once. No power. So what do you do when the power goes out?

We both sat there for a while and then a light bulb went on in my head (only in my head because the power was out!) and I realized that we needed light. This is when I was very happy that both flashlights, my phone (with its convenient and very bright flashlight) and the one lighter we own were all in their proper places. Five minutes later, we had a cozy, candlelit living room. Only problem was that Roslyn's uniform was drying in the dryer when the power went out and she needs it for work tomorrow...at 6 am...

So...on with the headlamp and she trekked to the basement to retrieve her clothes and find a warmish place to dry them. I found a battery operated radio - yup, they still exist - and we found a station, but no updates on what was happening. Our downstairs neighbour knocked at the door to make sure we had light and to exchange phone numbers and we settled in for a night in the dark.

But really, no power is kind of nice. I might have to "pretend" the power goes out sometimes. It's so nice and quiet in the house!

And I discovered that we had lit enough candles that I could KNIT IN THE DARK! Yipee...a good thing since I'm attempting to finish Roslyn's Christmas gift (from Christmas 2005) and it's a cold weather garment and it's getting to be spring here. Oh well...better late than never.