Possible electricity outage

Well, we're about 20 hours into this blizzard, and our electricity has started blinking off and on. I'm thinking we're gonna have an outage. I'm gonna log off now and bring out the candles. Might go on and prepare dinner. Meanwhile, everyone have a snug and warm day!

I'll log back on when I can.

Blizzard hits Colorado. Life stands still.

... ... at least, that's what Channel 7, ABC, thinks. Just because a little snow fell and is still falling, they think all regularly scheduled programming should be canceled or put on hold so they can keep showing the same weather map and pictures and film of slow-moving traffic. Hey, DENVER CHANNEL 7... pay attention! The people watching your TV station are the same people that are snug at home! The people that need the weather information will listen to the radio or check online.

Geez. Idiots.

p.s. Yes, where I live we already have 12 inches of snow, with it not supposed to stop until tomorrow late, but I'm a prepper and am completely ready. Bring it on!

Critter Invasion

Just wondering...

A friend who lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains has noticed more than the usual amount of mice and spiders in her house, and foxes and coyotes in her yard. Bears grabbing anything, and rutting elk charging anything that moves. After we chatted about this for a bit, we surmised it could be because animals are usually better at knowing when winters are going to be rough. Perhaps they are getting ready for this difficult winter?

Has anyone else noticed an unusually high invasion of critters in or around their home?

Snow in Denver and Golden?!?!

Unbelievable. I knew a storm front was coming through but I didn't hear it would have snow. And now... read: http://coldcoloradan.com/stormchase/stormblog/?p=65 - snow is expected to continue thru this afternoon in the Foothills of the Rockies. SNOW!

Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn. Technically, today is still Summer. Do you still have doubts that the weather patterns have gotten weird? We barely had enough hot days this Summer to grow the usual vegetables and fruits. We had a few more days of rain as compared to last year, but they were pretty much clustered.

Glad we at least knew it would be cold. We brought in the potted plants and installed the grow lights. We plan to eat fresh through the Fall and Winter: strawberries, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, string beans, and garden peas. The strawberries and cucumbers already have littles ones growing - should be ready to eat in a week or two!

Anyway... note that... this 2009/2010 Winter in Colorado will start early (done), be hard, and last long. Add the H1N1 Flu virus on top of that, and we'll be spending a LOT of time indoors.

Be prepared.

Preparing for a Winter Storm

Winter will be here soon.... at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Take note of these preparations:

1. Remove anything from outside that could fly around and damage your home, car, or neighbors property or people. Trash cans can actually fly when the wind gusts get big!


2. Bring inside the outdoor furniture, unless it’s specifically made for winter or aggressive outdoor use. The garage, basement or shed is a good place for these.


3. Check your yard for splintering or dead trees. If they fall, what would they fall on? Look at the entire radius. Cut them down or hire someone like a professional tree service to do it.


4. Check your supplies, especially flashlights, extra batteries, a hand-crank radio, candles, lighters/matches, and alternate source of heat during a power failure. That could include a space heater or generator and fuel (store in garage).


5. You need extra bottles of drinking water – one gallon a day per person for drinking and sanitation. If you know the storm is about there, do your cleaning and showering, then clean the tub and fill it up with water. Use that water to flush the toilet.


6. You’re stocking up for a blizzard or even a light winter snowstorm so you definitely need rock salt and sand and special items to melt ice on the driveway, porch and steps. Remember to include brooms and snow shovels.


7. If you have a long driveway or live in the boonies, book a snow-plowing service in advance of the storm. The biggie: food! Keep enough at home, especially items you can prepare without electricity. There are many different ways you can heat a can of soup using candles or sterno. Research and practice before you have to rely on them for your life. Remember your can opener.

Anything else you can think of?

Tornados in Colorado

Seems like last year we had only a couple of tornados here in the Denver area. At the most, two. This year, in the past 3 weeks, we've had at least 5. That's a lot isn't it?

Just came inside from getting 2 tons of rock delivered (to make our back porch area look purty to sell the house) and sat in front of the TV thinking about what to do next. A weather warning was flashing so I turned up the volume.

Tornado warning:
As of 1:20 p.m.:
Castle Pines, the Pinery, Surrey Ridge, Sedalia, Ponderosa Park, Parker, Elizabeth, and South Central Aurora

Unbelievable. It's happening again.

When the tornado warning happened up here 2 days ago, it passed within a mile of our home. That's not good, considering my Tween is very terrified of tornados. As soon as we found out, we grabbed our stuff (him books and a pillow, me my purse laptop and the emergency radio) and headed to the basement. We had just finished getting that room cleaned up so I could hang curtains, so it was quite comfy. I plugged in the laptop and kept abreast of the situation. My cell phone kept ringing from concerned hubby and his mom but I didn't want to talk since I didn't bring down my cell phone charger. Tween wanted to go up to get it, but I refused. I'd rather have him safe.

What did I learn?

Grab my cell phone charger too! Keeping calm helps keep the Tween calm. Books help pass the time. Everything can be replaced except for people.

What did I do right?

Pretty much everything. We have our supplies down there - our portable potty and toilet supplies. Food. Water. Communication devices. Flashlights, batteries, candles, lighters. Books. Blankets and pillows. And if the tornado actually hit, we could quickly get into the crawl space under the house for added protection.

Be safe, peoples!

A Hot Day in Colorado

Here in the Denver area, we're expected to pass 90 degrees today. It's already hot on the ground floor of our home so I'm really dreading going upstairs.

But it got me thinking...

• I have some candles stored on the top floor. They got kinda melty last year in the triple-digit temperatures; if this year is already starting out so incredibly weird and hot, then they'll just downright melt. I need to move them to the basement.


• While most of our food is stored in the basement, we do have quite a lot in tubs on the ground level. We need to move those to the basement.


• We put away the swamp coolers last year without cleaning them. We need to do that before we use them again, or we could be introducing mold and bacteria into the atmosphere.


• We have the hats handy for when we're out doing yardwork and gardening. But they don't cover the back of our necks, as evidence by Tween's burn from last Friday. I really should add a "flap" of material/fabric to the backs of the hats. May look stupid but we don't really care about looks anyway!


• I was planning to wait until Memorial Day weekend to finish planting the garden, but with the weather going as it is, I'm thinking we really should do it this week.


• Our horse-puppy (the 50-pound 5 month old Dalmatian-Rottweiler-Alaskan Malamute) just threw up on the living room floor. We think it's because he's so hot. Maybe a good brushing would help.


• When the tempearture goes up, tempers flair. Yes, even mine! And it's already started. Too bad we don't have a pool!

Thursday and Friday are supposed to be cooler, in the 60's, with rain. I think we'll get a lot done then.

So... what's on YOUR list of things to get ready for this already-here very hot weather?

Note 7:20 p.m. Just checked the thermostat upstairs and it reads 87 degrees F. Un-friggin-believable!

Prepare Your Home for a Flood

Floods have been in the news a lot in the recent years, especially in 2008, and before that, fallout from Hurricane Katrina. They are a very common natural disaster, killing many people and costing a ton of money. Prepare!

• The waters of the floods aren’t the only problem – it can uproot trees, move houses and boulders, and cause slides.


• Check with your local planning and zoning office to see if you’re in a flood plain – above or below the flood level. See also if your area has ever been involved with flooding (a history).


• Contact your insurance company, depending on the answers you get on the above question. Most homeowner’s insurance does not include flood insurance.


• Find out what the warning signs are in your area in case of floods. Remember rivers and streams can also flood.


• Learn your area’s evacuation plan.


• Keep your important papers (insurance policies, birth certificates, passports, will, etc.) in a waterproof box or bags where you can easily access them. This would be a good item for your 72-hour kit/bug-out bag.


• If you live in a flood area, and your furnace, water heater and/or electricity panel is in the basement or first floor, move it to the attic or second floor where it will be less likely to be damaged by flood.


• Prevent floodwater from backing into your drains by plugging sewer traps with check valves.


• Check with your planning and zoning commission to see if you can build flood walls or other barriers to stop water from getting to your home.


• Protect basement walls by waterproofing walls and windows, especially cracks.


• Keep a battery-operated or hand-crank radio handy.


• Discuss a meeting place with family so you will all meet at the same place. This could be across the street at the top of the park, or in another town.


• Prepare your 72-hour evacuation kit / bug-out bag. Check your supplies regularly.


• Don’t get in the floodwater, if at all possible. It most likely contains sewer water, snakes, and depending on where you are, alligators. Plus, it could be moving much faster than you might see.


• Don’t drive in the floodwaters. Even a heavy vehicle could get swept away before you realize it.


• Stock up on empty sandbags and learn / practice filling them.

Did I forget anything? Would love to hear from flood survivors!

Protect Yourself From Lightening Strikes

I was struck by lightning in 1981, while standing a bus stop, waiting in the rain for the bus to take me to class at the University of Louisville. My hair stood on end, the umbrella melted, and I smelled smoke for days. I was one of the lucky ones.

Lightning kills nearly 100 people in the United States each year, and injures another 300. Most lightening injuries and deaths can be prevented. Take a few minutes to review the following so that you can protect yourself, your family, and your home. Don’t become a victim:

• Get indoors and stay there. Be inside with windows and doors closed.


• Don’t use the phone during a storm. Electrical surges can enter through your phone line and electrical wiring. It can cause your entire system to melt.


• Stay away from metal pipes. Metal conducts electricity, which is lightening.


• Avoid water: showers, washing hands/dishes, pools, or any other source of water. Water and electricity/lightening do NOT mix!


• Turn off electrical appliances and equipment, then unplug them. This includes power tools, power strips, computers, etc.


• Did you know that you don’t have to be in the middle of a storm to be in harm’s way? A bolt of lightening doesn’t travel straight, and is five-times hotter than the surface of the sun. It can strike as far away as 10 miles from the center of a storm.


• Hook your electrical equipment up to surge protectors – including your computer, air conditioner, etc. In the event that you’re not home to unplug items, the surge protector will automatically shut the electricity down. This will help prevent fires and other damage.


• Get lightening suppressors, which help diminish the damage caused by a bolt of lightening. Use them on your TV, cable antennas, phone system, etc. Protect your entire house.


• Don’t underestimate lightening. One bolt is strong enough to power a 100-watt lightbulb for about three months.


• Check your weather forecast before planning any outdoor activities, especially swimming in a pool.


• Stay inside during a storm, if possible. If not, wait in a vehicle with a hard top.


• If you are outside and unable to get into a car or building during a storm, stay away from trees, anything metal like light poles, bleachers, goal posts, etc. The lightening’s charge will go through the metal and could get you if you are close or touching the item.


• Never lay on the ground. Instead, drop to your knees with your hands on them and bend forward. This will minimize the area of your body that is in contact with the ground.


• Take a first aid course. It should teach you how to work with someone that has been struck by lightening.


• If your hair stands on end, you are probably about to be struck by lightening. Watch out!

Be careful!

Preparing for a Home's Power Outage

With the freak blizzards, and the Spring storms, let's prepare for a power outage in our homes:

1. Gather emergency supplies like food, can openers, water, candles, matches, flashlights, batteries, and radio.
2. Know where your fuse box and/or circuit breaker is.
3. Learn how to reset a circuit, and how to change a blown fuse.
4. Find out NOW how to override an electric garage door. If there isn’t a way, figure out what to do to get your car in or out of the garage.
5. If you think a power outage is about to occur, turn your refrigerator and freezers to the coldest settings. This will help keep food cold longer. Be sure to not only the fridge/freezer doors except when you absolutely have to, and do it quickly – quick in and quick out.
6. You should have most of your electrical equipment and all of your entertainment and computer equipment hooked up to surge protectors. This will prevent a sudden surge of electricity from hurting or frying them.
7. Keep extra blankets and old cardboard boxes (with an x-acto knife) and duct tape to cover windows in case the heat does go out. This will prevent drafts.
8. Figure out which of your home’s rooms are the most insulated. Inner room, or the family room with the fireplace. Make that where you spend most of your time during the power outage.
9. Once the power does go out, turn the thermostat pretty low, and turn off the circuit breaker for the water heater to reduce the demand for energy once the power is restored. An overload could send it back to an outage. However, leave one light on, or a radio, so you’ll know when the power has been restored.
10. If the outside temperature is expected to stay below 35 degrees, place items from your fridge (milk, cheese, etc.) in a cooler on your back porch to keep things cold.
11. Cover the freezers and refrigerator with blankets to insulate them.
12. If you small gas, do NOT use matches or flip switches (including flashlights). Call the gas company, and turn off your utilities manually.

Did I leave anything out?

Snow and Weather in Denver

Yes, yet another post about weather. I tend to do a lot of those. Especially when I wake up to a whopping 8 degrees F. in the Denver area, with a wind chill of minus 4. Some snow fell over the weekend, and we're supposed to get some more today. Even with this little bit, we're still far behind what we should have.

But, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the mountains have gotten an above-average amount of snow so far for January. With 120% of average snowpack, this current snowpack is the highest since 1997.

That's good, since most of our surface water supplies come from melting snowpack in Spring and Summer. While the mountains didn't get much in the Fall (very dry), enough was dumped to make up for it in December.

This is good news, right? Too bad the plains and other areas of Colorado aren't get much (besides damaging wind gusts).

Colorado's 2009 Winter

This Winter has been weird. Here it is the 18th of January, and it's been in the 50's and 60's, with the occasional dip in temperature. In the Denver Metro area, we've barely had any snow, and although the Rocky Mountains have gotten some, it hasn't been the usual precipitation expected.

And even though all the signs (heavy yields on cherry trees, birds flocking early, thick wooly coats on caterpillars, etc.) were there for a heavy winter, we still haven't gotten much.

Is it still coming?

Here's a link: http://www.almanac.com/weatherforecast/us/12 - they have the following graph on their site plus predictions:

Last summer was unbearably hot, with very little precipitation. We need the snow pack in the mountains so that we won't be on water restrictions in Summer 2009.

Just a feeling... maybe we'll get a heavy snow in March. Something like December 2007 that stopped Denver in its tracks, or March 2003 (?) It snowed so much that it covered a 4 year old past the top of the little hat-covered head.

We need the snow. Hello, up there!?!