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

Vintage Massage Devices!

Unearthed these from one of the boxes. Not sure if they still work and one even requires 110 volts 😅

#BeKind #StaySafe

Thinking of Getting a New Laptop

The last time I bought myself a laptop was in 2013. It was a touchscreen laptop which I mainly used to manage my photos. It started getting buggy just a year after I got it. The service center had to change the screen. Good thing it was still under warranty. It still served it's purpose until the keys started to break down and it eventually died on me early last year. 

Since my laptop was buggy I would just use Sweetie and Miggy's discards. I'm typing this post on Miggy's old Toshiba Chromebook. It still works well and the battery life is still amazing. The only drawback is it's been hard to edit videos on it. I've been using Sweetie's old laptop now to edit videos, but it's been cranky the past two months. I wait an hour before it turns on. 

Ten years ago I used to spend so much money on buying branded desktops. I wanted my gadgets to work smoothly. I'm not so patient with building computers. My friend who used to build them for me moved elsewhere so I stuck to buying branded ones. They worked really well for me. My needs changed though and that's why I've been able to survive using old devices for my personal use. 

I know the Toshiba Chromebook (2015) still have a lot of life in it. I'll continue to use it for writing and non-editing tasks. It's auto-update policy though expires in September so I expect it might start slowing down more. So I'm now searching for a new Chromebook. I'm choosing between the Google Pixelbook Go or the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2020 (not the Samsung Chromebook 2). 

The Google Pixelbook Go option is a no-brainer, but it's certainly more expensive. The auto-update policy ends in 2026. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2020 expires in 2028, but the specs are lower than the Pixelbook. Sweetie said he'll have to compare the specs of the two before he makes a recommendation. I know though build-wise the Pixelbook Go will give me less issues since it's built by Google (that's why I stick to Pixel phones). 

Oh well, have you acquired any new devices? What do you use?

Day 20 Gratitude Challenge, A holiday you love. The holiday I love most is Christmas! It's just always a happy time to be with family. I love the traditions we built around the holiday. We always have a family picture with our Christmas tree every year. Last year since we were incomplete Miggy worked on adding himself to our family photo. It was hilarious and fooled a lot of people haha. My one wish this year is to celebrate Christmas as a complete family. 

CB///*Yr2/103 #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/126 #NewG343 #Home101 #StayHome #BeKind 

Gadgets I Can't Live Without at Home

I'm very fussy when it comes to purchasing gadgets. I usually take so long to finally decide on buying one. I grew up without them and like to keep my home simple. Would you believe I had to be far away when Sweetie made the executive decision to retire my legendary LG TV (c1997). It had gone under water during Typhoon Ondoy, but after drying it under the sun it still worked. I hand on to things until they die on me. 

It was a good thing Sweetie retired my TV. Technology has changed a lot in the last two decades, especially for things we use at home. Here's a few things I can't live without now:

Google Chromecast - I got to try this amazing gadget because of work. The first version was just for audio and I enjoyed it. Eventually the one for video came out and that was even better. We don't have a cable subscription here in SG and we stream what we watch from Netflix, YouTube and HBO via Google Chromecast. All our TVs have Chromecast connected to it. 

Google Nest (previous called Google Home) - I mainly use this as audio for Spotify. I listen to music and podcasts on it. I haven't bought a speaker for many years now. We also use this to play YouTube on TV, ask questions, set an alarm and play games. Sweetie has played around at using it to make our home smart, i.e. connecting the fan and air filter. 

A tablet - I haven't used a tablet for many years. Sweetie got one last December and I got envious, so I got one for myself too. I use it mainly as a remote control for YouTube/Netflix/HBO, shopping and looking at Pinterest. I don't have any social media apps installed on it. It's my designated "me time" gadget and I watch a lot of reflections on it while eating breakfast. 

Fitbit Watch - the watch and app to get me moving all day. I was forced to get one because my favorite version 2 MiBand finally gave up on me. I didn't like the newer ones and thought it'll be more useful to get  a gadget that could measure more health metrics. I've used the data with my doctor and PT in the last few months. Great to see improvement through this gadget. 

Miggy's Old Chromebook - my personal laptop died over a year ago and I never needed to buy a new one. I can live on hand-me-downs haha. I'm still using Miggy's old Toshiba Chromebook 2. I use it mainly to blog and edit vlogs. It's set to end auto-updating this month (OMG!). It will still work, but I guess it means I have some justification to buy a new one haha. 

One thing I learned in the last few months is to spend more time offline. Being too wired isn't good for your soul. I like looking out of the window to watch the clouds and check out the trees in the park. Would I live in a gadget free home? I don't think I'll survive, but I can manage a few hours without electricity if it happens haha. 

CB///*Yr2/70  #StuckAtHomeDay/Yr2/97 #StayHome #BeKind