You Think You Know Your Neighbors

Dredger

We were sitting down watching the Clemson game last night and the power goes out about 15 minutes into the first quarter! This has happened exactly 3 times in 4 years and was down for about 30 minutes max each time. However, after surviving hurricane Hugo and losing an entire freezer full of food, we have two back up generators. We called the phone line to the power company and the recording said power would be back on by 11:00. Hubby (Clemson grad) was freaking out, so we moved one of the generators to the deck to crank it up and hook up the entertainment center for the game. Much to our surprise, the entire neighborhood sounded like a construction site with all of the generators running, lol. I guess we're surrounded by rabid football fans or preppers. Power came back on during half time, so all was well. Turns out it was a downed power pole. Clemson won and peace was restored in the kingdom!

RRP

LOL - I thought this was going to be one of those threads about "so we knew the freezer food would be a lost, but we had a kazillion pounds of lump on hand so we fed the whole neighborhood" threads, but I guess not...

Scottborasjr

Greenville? My mom's family was from the Kershaw/Pageland area. That seems like somewhere I should know, but at this time of the evening I'm to lazy to look it up. 

Dredger

@RRP, that's exactly what happened when Hugo hit. We were in Charlotte and a lot of the city didn't have power for two weeks. Everyone just dragged their grills out in the road and cooked what was in the fridge and freezers until either the fuel or the food was gone. All exits were blocked by downed trees, so we all just made the best of with one heck of a neighborhood bbq. @Scottborasjr, we were in Charlotte at the time. The outage in Greenville was due to a traffic accident. Just found it a bit odd that so many neighbors have generators, lol.

northGAcock

You didn't miss much

YukonRon

You have got to think before every game, "Are all resources in place?" Your hubby is a great man.
bourbon - check
food - check
Ice - check
Generator - check
Proceed
 it always necessary to be prepared to analyze adapt and apply.
glad it turned out well!

DaveRichardson

I've told all the Santas that I know that I've been a bad bay and needto get lots of coal for Christmas!

I'm preparing for what typically happens here in Atlanta.....  We get a little snow / ice and the whole freaking town shuts down for 3 days.  Power is usually on for the first day until some jackwagon slides off the road and kills a pole, just like what happened to @Dredger!!!

Dredger

@YukonRon, you are so right! He is a great man and saved the day. As per protocol, the power flickered on and off 3 times, then we grabbed the flashlights and candles and went to work. We were up and running in 10 minutes. The power came back on, but we let the generator keep the TV going for a bit "just in case". @DaveRichardson, we are lucky that we don't have much in the way of snow and ice, but when we do, our area is in the same boat as Atlanta. Nutballs that can barely drive anyway have just got to take to the road and wreak havoc. My dear old Dad used to have a saying that went like this. "When the precipitation in South Carolina hits 100 %, people's brains melt and run out their ears." Still true today. My Dad had a weird sense of humor.

DaveRichardson

I love Dad's line....  I think I'll start adding that into my routine.  Might even share it with our local traffic team on the radio!

I think I have that same sense of humor!

Dredger

Might even share it with our local traffic team on the radio!

@DaveRichardson, that would be fantastic. It might also help them clear up some of the confusion regarding drivers, lol.

DaveRichardson

Amen, Hallelujah, and Pass the Hot Sauce!

Little Steven

We had an ice storm two years ago over Christmas. I had all the in-laws staying with me for two weeks. Sold the damn generator.

luckyboy

Have that generator ready on 31Dec., 8:00pm

Botch

Little Steven said:

We had an ice storm two years ago over Christmas. I had all the in-laws staying with me for two weeks. Sold the damn generator.

I haven't laughed this hard in awhile!  

stevesails

luckyboy said:

Have that generator ready on 31Dec., 8:00pm

Yea.  Go green

JohnnyTarheel

Remember Hugo well in Charlotte. We grilled for two weeks every meal... I have to admit I didn't grill for 2 months after that.... 

YukonRon

My next door neighbor, when we lived overseas, had a massive amount of lamb stowed away, for whatever reason. We had a massive storm with  incredible  mudslides, that wiped out all power within 50 Km, every direction. The entire area was messed up from the feet up.
I built a pit, got coals going for a couple weeks, and roasted lamb every way you could possibly imagine (except while standing in a hammock or canoe) and fed a lot of people. I will admit, lamb is no longer a "go to" for me, but at the time, it was as good as it gets. I still have dozens of recipes from that time, stored somewhere, but honest as I can be, I have not felt the urge to find.

Dredger

@Little Steven , that is too funny. That's why the kids don't know we have a generator, lol. @luckyboy, it's always ready and waiting. @JohnnyTarheel, I hear ya, buddy. Candlelight dinners began to get really old. Since then, I have always had two manual can openers. When we were finally able to get out of the neighborhood, you couldn't find one in a 20 mile radius. @YukonRon, you did good saving the lamb and feeding hungry people and I certainly understand why it isn't so appealing now.