What else can go wrong?

[Catherine]

The cities do have a harder time. Any form of gas stove is too dangerous in a city apartment. The carbon monoxide builds very quickly. Sadly we lose some people every year because of carbon monoxide poisoning.  Even the chimney for a gas furnace needs to be maintained and kept clean. People are careless and sometimes birds, squirrels and raccoons have built nets and blocked the chimneys.

People are starting to make plans. They are fixing and restoring their fireplaces because they know the power will go out eventually. A lot of people have BBQs so they can cook. We have a BBQ, but I never use it so I don't know if it has gas or not. It is a propane BBQ. I have neighbours with gas stoves so I can get hot coffee. I have some battery operated lighting, but I want to get more. They have the new LED bulbs so they are very bright. 

I am still stuck with hot water as my heat source. It works in small spaces. We never have the gas and electricity go out at the same time. In fact the gas never goes out. It could only happen if a gas line was cut and that is very rare. We would all have to be evacuated anyhow. It happens during construction if someone is careless about digging, but that  kind of work happens in the warm weather.

Being prepared is really a matter of thinking of alternatives and solutions. If I do a bit of thinking before hand I will be ready if there is a problem. 

Talk about being ready, I just found a supply of jelly beans in my desk drawer. I wonder when I put them there. They are all black ones so I couldn't see them.