GenX Guide to Surviving Brownouts

As a GenXer, I've experienced long periods of no electricity in the 80s, 90s and during typhoons and crazy flooding incidents. I remember waking up drenched in sweat as a child because there was no electricity. In high school, I finished reading Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by candle light. By the time I was in college (university), I'd write reports on my Mom's Olympia typewriter by candlelight. 

Not having electricity for hours was just part of life. You just need to go with the flow. The difference now is a lot of gadgets that help you be more comfortable during power outages. We always worried about it because my health condition requires me to be kept at a certain temperature and the air has to be clean. Bad air quality is my kryptonite. 

We lost electricity last night for 3 hours. I was resting on the couch and watching the news when it happened. Here's what we have on hand that made the 3 hours bearable:

Emergency Lights

We have an emergency light that also functions as a radio. It was unfortunately not charged last night, so I instead used a Neewer video light panel. I installed it on a camera stand and focused it on the ceiling. I learned that trick when I was a child. Focus the light on the ceiling because it'll light up the room better. 

We also have other rechargeable lights (bulbs/flashlights), spotlights that can be powered by a power bank, solar lights, and a Firefly rechargeable light with radio. The solar lights we installed around the perimeter of our house proved very useful and our neighbor was surprised it would automatically light up whenever a cat passed by. 

Rechargeable Fans

We invested in Xiaomi rechargeable fans a few years ago. It has saved us a couple of times already. Just make sure you condition the battery so it lasts long. We also have Firefly rechargeable fans. It's smaller, but we each like to have a personal fan (this is Sweetie's favorite fan since he brings it around the house). Miggy and I each have a handheld Tylex fan. I got it three years ago and it's still working well.

Radio

We always have a battery operated radio on hand. Back when CCTVs were expensive, we would leave the radio on at home when we had to step out. Sweetie and I both grew up in households that would tune in to AM radio during power outages. We're both martial law babies, so it was always important to know what was happening. 

Sweetie got a walkman a few months ago from the Australian Surplus Shop in Muntinlupa. He couldn't find our old radio (plus the emergency light was dead), so he brought the walkman out and we listened to DZMM. At that time mobile phone signal was down, so having a radio proved very useful. 

Powerbank

Always have your powerbanks charged. We got an extra powerbanks for our go-bags. Sweetie had to use his go-bag power bank since he was still charging his everyday powerbank (we were at the hospital earlier in the day). I used mine to charge my phone to keep in touch with family/friends.

Portable Air Purifier (useful for those with asthma!)

My lungs are wrecked, so it's important for me to breathe in filtered air. As soon as the power went out I started coughing. The air quality has been bad the past few days. I brought out my portable Tylex Air Purifier and that helped end the asthma attack.

I'm curious to know how other generations deal with power outages?

#BeKind #StaySafe

14 Hour Brownout

At 3:57 am (+/- 2 minutes) I was jolted awake by a loud crack and something falling to the ground. I thought it was a tree since our neighbor's 12-foot tree fell due to the heavy rains. Sweetie and I both got up to investigate.

Photo from a neighbor 

I looked out the window and saw our neighbor outside with a flashlight. Whatever fell wasn't across or beside our house. Sweetie went outside too and saw a huge tree had fallen. We later found out it was an old duhat tree.

A few minutes later a kind neighbor went to the area. The tree brought down a Meralco post. Some neighbors said they heard a loud bang. It was probably the transformer. The affected neighbor asked for assistance so I called the barangay's rescue and fire department. They came to check on them and called me after and said the tree and post blocked their way, but they could walk out if really needed. 

I tried to sleep again. I kept waking up because bursts of rain started falling. It was disconcerting since there's an electricity post across our house too. I just prayed for protection. We were told to stay indoors since some wires were dangling.

By early morning, we heard the Meralco vehicles and crew arrive. We were told the repair would likely last until the afternoon or early evening. I prayed for the protection of the crew since the rain would come in strong bursts.

Part or the gallant Meralco team

After 14 and a half hours, electricity finally came back. Thank you Lord no one was hurt and we are all safe in our neighborhood. Please send extra blessings for the crew that toiled hard to install a new post and repair the cables. And big thanks to our HOA, Meralco and our neighbor who made sure to restore things back to normal. (Luckily our phone line wasn't affected).

More rains is expected this week and possibly another typhoon. Good thing we have rechargeable lights, fans and a radio. We also have a covered pail with water in our bathrooms for emergencies. They were very useful to provide some comfort. The cool weather helped keep my lungs from flaring up, whew.

Stay safe everyone!

#BeKind #StaySafe

What to Do When the Internet is Down at Home

I was going bonkers the other day when my internet connection at home kept going down. 3G connection was of no help either since signal was very low. I had to go out to the street to ping my colleague to call me up because I couldn't join the Hangout. Anyway, it was hard, but I survived the one hour call.

I just could not, not do anything so I tried to do some work that did not require me to be online. There was only one task I could do offline -- edit a video (the result). It took a lot of time (and help) and by the time we finished with the video (around 3 hours later), internet was back.

I thought I'd list down some stuff I could do whenever the internet goes down. I remember when we moved to our new home it took the telco 3 weeks to move our line and so I had to survive on 3G for a few weeks.

(1) Cook - during that time because I had to be disciplined about my time online I had the chance to try out new dishes.

(2) Chores - with more time in my hands I had the chance to do more chores and organize my stuff.

(3) Gardening - spent time weeding and planting new stuff in my garden. I had my Mom adopt most of my plants since most of them started to die when I moved to Singapore.

(4) Read books - this is one thing I do whenever I travel. I get dizzy when I try to use my laptop in-flight, so I just read. (A bit curious though about the Kindle since that would be lighter to bring).

(5) Sleep! Or go to the spa - this I have not tried to do.

Well... have a relaxing weekend everyone!