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Well, we kind of knew this was coming, didn\u2019t we? The debacle over baby formula \u2013 a manufactured bit of play acting, if nothing else \u2013 was disgraceful enough, but power outages and empty store shelves? In this country<\/em>?<\/p>\n This video discusses options for power outages, especially in the summer. So far, nothing like that has happened in my area that was not the fault of the electric company or the weather gods, but you never know what sort of sneaky crap is going to hit you next these days. I was quite surprised by the components that were discussed in this video, and the volume of power they are capable of providing.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RU5-21VCly0<\/a><\/p>\n This comes from two people who have been researching the simplest and most cost effective ways to survive everything from shortages in the food supply lines to power outages in all weather.<\/p>\n Where I live, the power goes out at least once a year, and it\u2019s usually in the winter. No idea why it hits in the winter, but it does, and it is always something as simple as the junction box down the street or further away, such as when a derecho shut down power in my county and two other counties (south and west), and required two full days to simply restore power. Having to toss out an entire fridge of food \u2013 well, that was painful, but the frozen stuff hadn\u2019t completely thawed because I kept the freezer door shut. But even McD\u2019s could not provide ice to us poor souls and at the gas station next door to McD’s, someone had overnight made off with every bag of ice in the cooler because it wasn’t locked. That was a classic bit of nastiness.<\/p>\n What these folks do is present possibly the most thorough and well-prepared examples of what will get you (and me) through those rough patches that we all run into. The idea that you can use a battery with USB ports to charge and\/or run some electronic stuff is right out of Buck Rogers and ST:NG.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve watched a lot of their videos and they seem to have a lot of common sense, so I’ve paid attention to their presentations.<\/p>\n Frankly, I am very glad I no longer live in The City, simply because utility rates are freakishly exorbitant at this point. My own gas bill, which is a specific monthly charge, was raised from $61\/month to $91\/month, simply because the price of natural gas has gone up. And unfortunately, I have had to run the furnace to keep the house at 70F until today, when I finally shut off the furnace. It’s fine, but there is one little glitch in this: it\u2019s supposed to drop to the low 50s tonight and not rise above 55F tomorrow and 49F on Saturday night.<\/p>\n I think there is plenty of blame to go around, but it\u2019s kind of odd right now – isn\u2019t it? \u2013 that we\u2019re having all these crises bubbling to the surface in barely two years? And when did they really start? If that doesn\u2019t make the general public snap out of their comas, what will? And if things are so bad, then how come I’m seeing heavily loaded trains hauling loaded containers north on the rail lines and sending empty cars back to pick up more stuff? Who is behind this boondoggle?<\/p>\n I don’t believe in coincidence, not one teensy bit, and ditto conspiracy theories, so who decided that it might be a clever thing to piss off the voting public by inflating costs of materials needed for daily lives – like baby formula – and engaging in scare-mongering, which only pisses people off. (If I see anyone at the Ren Faire this summer dressed like Plague doctor, I’ll get photos.)<\/p>\n Gas is now $5.209 in my area. You can check for prices at the heat map link below for Gas Buddy.<\/p>\n