“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” – Edward Abbey

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Without Electricity

I get frustrated living without electricity. Getting about and doing things is a bit like a choreographed dance, but it takes practice. Everything needs to be in the right place at the right time or you end up working very inefficiently backtracking to get a flashlight, for example.

We have several flashlights and lanterns. Each needs to be staged at a certain place in the house so we can always find it. And, if you want to go to a dark part of the house, like to the basement, or into a closet, you need to remember to grab the right light. Of course, this would work if we always remembered to pick up the light when venturing into a dark place. And, if we always put lights back in their known staging location—which I, at least, don’t.

And, making sure the right kinds of light are available for cooking or cleaning can be a challenge. I know it sounds silly, but having to backtrack from the closet where I went to get some shoes all the way downstairs to get light, then back up to rummage in the closet can get frustrating and tiring.

To this, add the fact that without electricity we have no running water. In preparation for Sandy, we filled both upstairs bathtubs with water. This is for two purposes. One is to refill the toilet tank after flushing (which we do only when necessary), the other reason is for emergency water in case we go through the 15 gallons or so in plastic water “cans” also filled in prep for the storm.

The issue here is making sure you have a small bucket of water with you when you go to the toilet. With three bathrooms and two bathtubs and only two buckets, it becomes a complex asset management problem to take a crap.

Now, try making sure you have a water bucket plus some form of light each time you go to the toilet in the dark of night. They are never in the same place. And, you may need to go upstairs to fill the bucket from the bathtub prior to doing duty. Sometimes I go to look for the bucket forgetting to take a light.

The dogs seem to have it easy. They can pretty much see in the dark and don’t feel a compelling need to flush.

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Posted under: New Jersey • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/31/2012 at 10:59 AM
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