Going from a single family home to an apartment complex brings many adjustments, one of which we discovered a couple of weeks ago. One evening we were spending a quiet evening at home while my daughter was having a great time with her friend that was staying over for the night. All of a sudden, the power went out.
I ran through the house lighting all the candles we had. Thank goodness I went through a Partylite phase and had candles in each room of the house. My husband was concerned that we were going to run out but I had another whole box full of reinforcements just in case. My daughter and her friend had a blast searching for toys that lit up or glowed and gathered them in the huge fort they had made under the dining table. When the power came on about three hours later, they were disappointed and kept trying to turn the lights back off. Kids are so funny!
Now, this was not the first time we had ever experienced a power outage but the fact that the entire complex lost electricity created some problems which we had never given thought to. If we walked out of the gated area, we would have no way of getting back in as the entry is controlled by electronic remotes. The same is true with the underground parking, so our two cars were basically stuck in there until the power was restored. This would mean my husband would not be able to go to work until then.
Another main problem was that we were virtually cut off from any communication. Though there is strong cell phone reception in our immediate area, the buildings that we live in were constructed with materials that somehow block all of that – creating a complete ‘dead zone’ inside our apartment home. To get around this we have a device from AT&T that acts as a mini cell tower so we have full coverage when at home. But, of course, this runs on electricity as well and was therefore rendered useless during the outage. We couldn’t rely on our in-home Wi-Fi either for the same reasons.
We were very fortunate that the power went on only a few hours later but this past experience definitely gave us some issues to consider as we prepare for the next time this might happen.
6 comments
That’s so interesting that you’re so stuck when the power goes out. Let’s hope that it’s a very rare thing!
Me too. It’s just one minor thing. We actually love our new place and the pros/cons are about equal when compared to a single family house for us.
That is awful .. I know when my power goes out I am scrambling trying to entertain the three kids – because the 3 & 5 yr old will use up their flashlights I have for them in a heart beat … and are too young for candles. Glad it was only three hours but sometimes three hours can seem like a lifetime depending upon what time of day it happens.
True, it wasn’t too bad. Well, the nice thing about Partylite (what sold me on them way back) was that the wax doesn’t get so hot it burns. We have a few good flashlights with LED light so those last pretty long. Still, I only have one so I can imagine you keep very busy in a blackout 😛
I love the resourcefulness of kids when the power is out!
I know – they had a great time 😛 We were glad our daughter happened to have a friend over as it was just an excuse for another thing to play together.
Comments are closed.