Well, that sucks. I hope the outage is not for long. Do you have a generator? What about power banks for you iPhone?
We drove to Lincoln, about 25 miles away, where there is still such a thing as electrical power, and ate at a Chinese restaurant there, hung around on Kindle for a while, and by the time we got back home, the power was back on.
We have a generator but not a whole-house generator. It's more for keeping the freezer going or charging something. It only connects to one outlet in the house - one that is not connected to the power grid. I have a few power banks that I use when camping or hiking, but I don't know whether they have a charge now.
Just keep the banks or batteries charged, @Ken Anderson. I have found I can run my modem and router almost all day on a simple garden tractor battery. I keep the little back-up batteries charged to power and charge phones and kindles should they be needed. I DO have a whole house generator, but it is not an automatic one and I don't need the hassle, especially in the summer.
It is interesting that these days people freak out about loss of phone use or computer. I worry about my freezer.
One's freezer can stay frozen for quite a while, especially if it is a full chest freezer and not opened. Upright freezers are immediately compromised the moment they are opened, so keep them closed if the power is out. If we are out of power for hours, I usually start the generator to get the pump, fridges and freezers, and the furnace going if it is winter.
I have to go over to the farm and haul the generator from over there. There is no electric in the barn but the chickens can do without lights for a while.
I noticed a couple of days ago that my driver's license was due to expire on the 16th (tomorrow). Since I was cutting it a bit short to get the required eye test, it required me to go to the DMV to renew my license, where they could do the test there (in Maine, at least, if you have the test done by an optometrist, everything can be done online, with eye tests required for elderly gentlemen like myself. The DMV is in Bangor, about 65 miles from here. On the way there, I stopped by the optometrist just to see if I could get in as a walk-in, but, as I expected, that was a no-go. I couldn't get an appointment until September 26, at the earliest, so I scheduled that since it's time for a new prescription anyhow. Then I found that the DMV had moved since the last time I was there. It turns out that they only moved a couple of blocks, so that wasn't a problem. However, as is probably the case with DMVs everywhere, nothing moved very quickly at the DMV. My number was 100, they were in the 50s when I got there, and, more than two hours later, they were only in the 70s. When they called the number of someone who was no longer there, rather than calling the next number, they would take a break, and the average time per person, according to my admittedly prejudiced estimation, was from 30-40 minutes. Nearly everyone who went up to the window hadn't bothered to fill out any of the paperwork they needed until they got to the window, and then, rather than sending them on their, way, everything came to a halt at that window until the paperwork was completed. The same was true for those who needed to back out to their car to get additional information, for registering cars or whatever. After about five hours, I was pretty much sick of the world, and I was thinking that maybe I was the only one there with working brain cells, and then I found out that I was wrong. When it finally came to my turn at the window, I learned that my license doesn't expire until next year. In the event that my wife doesn't find this post, I don't think I'll tell her.
Hmmm……time challenged much? Not only the wrong year but the wrong day. Tomorrow is the 15th, not the 16th. Note: Of course you could always rationalize the day thing by saying that you like to stay a day ahead.
I was thinking ahead, I guess. I had planned on going to the DMV tomorrow but went today instead. As for the year, one of the reasons I needed a new eyeglass prescription is that I am having some trouble reading small print. Rather than getting my magnifying glass, I thought I read 23 when it actually said 24. It would have taken less time to pull the magnifying glass out of my desk drawer than sitting in the DMV all day. With a year to go, I'll be able to have everything done ahead of time next summer so that I can do it online.
We were both able to renew our drivers license online here in Alabama. They just reused the same picture and other information and sent out new license cards with the new expiration date on them. I have been renewing the vehicle tags online, but didn’t know until this year that we could also renew driver’s licenses that way.
@Ken Anderson I was wondering why you didn't get notification in the mail. Now we know. @Yvonne Smith I think some of us posted license renewal requirements from our states in another thread. The frequency of in-person renewal in Virginia accelerates with age. So far I've been able to pass the vision test without my glasses (I don't want the restriction noted on my license, even though I never leave the house without my glasses), but I fear next time I may need them to pass.
I passed the eye test without my glasses last time, although I've worn glasses since I was ten. With contact lenses and Lasix surgeries, I don't think the police focus much on the eyeglasses requirements anymore, anyhow.
Forgive me. I laughed at your pain. We have the same processes at our DMV. But as far as I know, our office is only about 15 minutes away. I still don't have my 'real id' license. I put that long story on SOC somewhere. But I will have to bring in alllllllllll my paperwork to renew my license next year to get the combo. I seldom know what day it is and often ask hubby or am corrected by him. It is not alzheimers. It is laziness preventing me from going alllllllll around the table to look at the calendar on the wall. Or going though my bag to find my phone. I know the date is on there somewhere.