Well, that time of year is here again. Summer is over, fall has arrived, and winter is on its way. In our neck of the woods that doesn’t usually include snowfall measured in feet, but we’re pretty well guaranteed a few nice storms. In fact, the winter storm survival scenario I wrote about was based on a real storm we had here. Now is the time to make sure your winter preparations are in place and to get a head start on next summer.
It’s a good idea to make sure your generator is running. You do have a generator, right? Make sure that you have enough fuel stored on site to run the generator for a few hours a day for several days. You never know how long your power will be out. Don’t forget to change the oil and verify that your big heavy duty extension cords are in the right spot!
Owning a chainsaw is also worth considering if you live in an area with lots of trees. It gets pretty darn windy here and trees blowing over is inevitable. It’s nice to be able to cut those up and get rid of them or put them up for firewood if you have a wood stove. Being able to help out a neighbor in need is valuable too.
Winter time is the time to be prepared for interruptions to your natural life. At least in our area it is! We aren’t faced with being cut off from civilization for months at a time but for us it’s reasonable to expect to be house bound for several days. Don’t let your fresh food stocks get too low, make sure your vehicular maintenance is up to date, and be jealous of your old high school buddy who lives in Arizona.
I mentioned up above that now is also the time to get a head start on next summer. At the end of summer retailers are trying to dump summer items cheap. Now is the time to take advantage of those sales, get the things you need for next year or things you’ve been procrastinating on. Craigslist and other sites will often have summer centric items for cheap once fall and winter hit, so keep an eye out there too.
My day job, aside from being a loving father and adoring husband is a very technology centric occupation. I work at a desk and it is somewhat difficult to find jobs in my field outside of urban areas. This does not fit well with our desired lifestyle nor do I find the suburbs a particularly inviting place to be if anything were to happen to the standard way of life in this country. My wife and I have a plan in place to move out to some land which we have already acquired and are currently using recreationally.
Our family, like many others in this day and age, tends to enjoy various forms of electronic entertainment. Computer games, Xbox, Wii, movies, TV shows … the list goes on! That’s all well and good but what happens when the power goes out? It’s important to keep low tech entertainment options around. And plenty of them! Here are some options to consider.
