Nice to "see" you, Bill. I was wondering how you were doing with that ice storm. Sorry you have to throw food away, but why didn't you just sit the stuff outside till the power came back on?
I am not able to do that. we didn’t think of it though. Nobody but nobody thought of a power outage this long. Can’t believe the damage. Tonight thousands are still without power. My biggest concern was oxygen.
I use a website called StillTasty for my expiry and storage questions. As others have said, you can still eat canned WW2 rations...they may have lost flavor, but they are perfectly safe to eat. I lived in my last home for over 30 years,so had some food kicking around for a while. For whatever reason, I over-stocked on canned tomato products and did not rotate stock. One night I was awakened by the sound of explosions...LOUD explosions. I got up and some of the cans of stewed tomatoes has blown up in my cabinet. Funny how one set off another and then another...I think 3 of them blew up. It was rather Friday the 13th looking. My current issue with ending up with expired stuff is that I get on a kick for a specific food item, and will buy ingredients to make several batches...then I tire of it. I've gotten into the habit of writing the Expiry/Best By Date on the front of the can or box in big numbers with a magic marker when I unpack my groceries. That way, I don't have to search the tiny print when I want to check it, and having that date staring me in the face reminds me to use the stuff before it expires.
WOW!!! I'm sorry to hear this. That's 5 daggone days!!! Is this a common thing out your way? I have a large fridge with a bottom freezer, as well as a chest freezer. I've lost the stuff in all of them once since I moved here 10 years ago. It's infuriating. But even if you can manage the logistics, it's hardly worth buying a generator, then worrying about having enough fresh gas available when you need it. I recall you mentioning your oxygen supply issue. You mentioned having a tank, but those don't last forever, huh? I'm glad it's behind you.
Not to seem self pitying or as though I'm the only one to have a stressful event, but I have been furnished a huge backup tank of oxygen, the size of these industral tanks used in welding shops or on welding trucks. I went thru two of them before the supplier ran out of large tanks. That's when they brought me five eleven hour tanks to replace the llarge tank they could no longer furnish.. I live in Norman, the supplier is in Oklanoma City, some thirty something miles away. They are the supplier for the Veteran's Administration in addition to hundreds of civilian oxygen patients. There were thousands of oxygen users in OKC and in a much larger surrounding area. This sup[lier quickly became overwhelmed by the ice storm and a vast area with out power. Everything worked great as long as I had a large backup tank that furnished continued flow oxygen regulated only by litters per minute. When those ran out I got the smaller tanks you had to breathe to activate the valve or regulator in order to get oxygen. For most oxygen users this presented no problem as long as there was oxygen in the tank. Then you chnged tanks. My condition is such that I have little oxygen in my lungs and no capacity to hold more because to little flowers like tissue in the lungs that retain oxygen are dried up. My breathing ability and capacity is so shallow I can not activate the valve that will furnish me oxygen., In order to get any oxygen I had to attempt to breathe really hard (for me) and then could only get a miniscule of oxygen into my lungs On an eleven hour tank I was on over twenty-five hours and when the power came back on it still had almost a half tank. When asleep I couldn't get any oxygen, The valve wouldn't activate. One night I went to sleep and awoke and was bare able to raisse up from my bed due to lack of oxygen. My blood oxygen was 58 percent. Another time I dozed and it dropped to sixty-tvwo percent. That drop is enough to cause a heart attack or kidney damage or brain problem if in that condition long enough. For over thirty hours I could barely breathe suffering from oxygen starvation. Thursday night I slept not at all. I was frientened, scared, knowinbg death couild be immeminate. But i got threw it. Now I'm back to normal and only drop down in to the seventy or sixty per cent range if I get up and try to do something physical. But it was a horroring experience and I consider myself lucky to have survived it. Apoligize for the long winded response.
Wow, Bill. That's crazy. And being frightened only makes oxygen consumption worse. I can't imagine the stress. I'm surprised they would deploy those smaller tanks & valves to patients with your condition. I guess they had no choice, given the circumstances.
Hundreds of patients with out oxygen, only so many tanks of each size available, Not only the VA supplier but sut suppliers of oxygen to a civilian population, all were scrambling to keep up with oxygen and oxygen tanks over that many days. They didn't have anything else to bring me. A few patients who wouldn't survive a situation like that is not that uncommon. I consider myself lucky.
That sounds like an awful time for sure, Bill... I'm glad that is over for you. Next time please call 911 and get a ride to the local hospital; don't just wait on death; there are more stories to write! Take care of yourself.
No, I've resolved to die at home and have instructed my wife and my son not to call 911. When it's over, it's over.
I understand. I used to buy that stuff at one company I worked for: Oxygen, helium, argon, liquid nitrogen, etc. There would be shortages not only of gas but of tanks as well. Demurrage rates (tank fees) would skyrocket. And that was 40 years ago, before all we Boomers put even more pressure on the market. Then when the economy expands, you got increased industrial uses, welders, etc. Our conversation caused me to go look at the larger home-bound concentrators, but as you know, they have their limitations as well. I'm so glad you're OK.
We're not gonna make any "expired stuff in the pantry" jokes here, are we? Hits too close to home for so many of us.