Wow what a mess the snow caused us.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-15-2010, 11:11 AM

The power went out Thursday night around 9:45 here in my part of East Texas. Anyone who knows anything about this area knows we do not "do" snow well at all. We go years without any and even then it really never sticks. Well it did this time.

I lost all the food in my fridge but I was able to move the freezer section to the deep freeze and kept the lid closed until dh got home at 6:30 and we hooked up the generator we have had for 2 years but never used-in the dark-and the cold.

It seems a wifes place is not only beside her husband but she should also be holding a flashlight! LOL

LOUD..did I mention LOUD generator???? The neighbors behind us and the road on the other side of us in front had power and they were saying Sunday at nooooooon. Heh...no. Generator for us and my neighbors with power could just deal with it!

We finally got power back Saturday evening thank heavens and only had to fill the generator 2 times. Dh said the last 5 gallons can go in my gas tank of my car.

I am really trying to lessen the sting of lost food and cost of gas as well as eating take out twice due to no cooking.

So to make lemonaide from lemons I scrubbed that fridge and it hasn't been so clean since we got it! LOL. Wednesday I go shopping for what I didn't have in the stockpile and replace stuff.

UGH snow is over rated and I don't want anymore!

**dcompton** · 02-15-2010, 11:29 AM

Yeah, snow really snarls up the south. Here in Shreveport we only got a couple of inches and I never lost power. I didn't hear if anyone else did. We really had the best of both worlds -- beautiful snow, but the roads, except for overpasses and bridges stayed mostly just slushy. They did shut down highways, an inconvenience for some people, but minor compared to what other places had to deal with.

I glad you got power back that soon. I remember the ice storm years ago when some people in our general region were without power for up to three weeks.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-15-2010, 11:44 AM

Yes that was me. I am only about an hour from you in Longview so we tend to mirror you guys in weather.

**freebs** · 02-15-2010, 11:48 AM

yeah we lost power and were without for about 8 hrs. We dont have a generator but we do have a inverter we can run from a car battery so we would at least have a light and run the fan to move the air around from the woodstove. We also ate out 2 times since we had no idea how long it was gonna be out i didnt want to be opening the fridge at all. We didnt have school friday. I am glad the roads here were pretty bad!

**NikoSan999** · 02-15-2010, 12:09 PM

Glad you made it thru it. Don't miss snow at all. Once again the stockpile came in handy. Hugs, miss you on here!

**EarthIncentives** · 02-15-2010, 12:26 PM

You could pack that food that's in your powerless fridge in the snow!

**savvy_sniper** · 02-15-2010, 01:49 PM

You need to learn to crank up that generator! That is THE first thing I did when we got mine. It might kill me to drag it out, but I can crank that baby up in a heart beat. We start it up every month.

**frugalwarrior2** · 02-15-2010, 02:39 PM

Yes. Why did you lose the food.? It will stay in the fridge if you don't keep opening the door. And a cooler w/ snow keeps things cool also.

**NewLeaf** · 02-15-2010, 03:49 PM

We put our food in a cooler and some right in the snow (in containers). The power co. said the food is good in the fridge for 24 hours as long as you don't open the door constantly. But, we had a foot of snow to put the food in.....

I'm glad you guys survived the power outage, it really is no fun.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-15-2010, 10:31 PM

Originally Posted by frugalwarrior2

Yes. Why did you lose the food.? It will stay in the fridge if you don't keep opening the door. And a cooler w/ snow keeps things cool also.

After almost 24 hours it was very warm in there and I just couldn't risk the family to bad food.

As for packing in snow. It took awhile(over night) before there was even enough snow to really gather and I was not about to drive on bad roads. I just don't know how.

I did save the freezer side by getting it into the deep freezer though. We lost eggs milk cheese and condiments(most which are in stockpile) as I have not gone shopping for this month yet(yeah!)

**Cricketlegs** · 02-15-2010, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by savvy_sniper

You need to learn to crank up that generator! That is THE first thing I did when we got mine. It might kill me to drag it out, but I can crank that baby up in a heart beat. We start it up every month.

While we have had it over a year we had never used it(still in box on crate in back) so we had to do all the wires and rods and cords and fill up the gas can etc.

Well...I just held the flashlight!

**frugalwarrior2** · 02-15-2010, 11:08 PM

Sorry my perspective is SO diff. We lose power at least a week per year and it's better than it was. I'll never forget the year my DH cracked ther handle right off the stroller because it was so cold it had gotten brittle.

Hopefully,it wasn't too much food. We always feed the dogs the stuff as it gets warm. You can cook the meat on the grill and shove it in the freezer too. Just tuck in the bottom under the previously frozen stuff.

As far as the generator goes. Yes.I sure agree. When you have them all around you going at once the racket is horrendous. My neighbor refuses to shut down periodically. i even caught him leaving it running when he went to work and checking it at lunch. It has "stalled'" oops. sometimes because that is hugely dangerous. Our neighbor down the street blew the front of his house off because he was runnig it in an enclosed horse trailer. Live and learn??

**rowdy35** · 02-15-2010, 11:58 PM

sorry you had to go through that. what a pain ! sorry you lost the food too !!

**pat in east texas** · 02-17-2010, 08:33 AM

I'm near Gilmer - not too far from Longview. We lost power for about 14 hours. Cooked breakfast on the outdoor gas grill. It has a burner attached, so that was easy. When it got too cold in the house we went to Longview, shopped for a few non-refrigerated items, ate a late lunch-early dinner a Papacita's, came home to still no power, so I fixed the bed up with fleecy blankets in place of sheets, piled on more blankets, went to bed and just as we were getting toasty, the power came back on.
Our power company is Upshur Rural. Usually when the power goes out,it's back within an hour or two. 14 hours is the longest outage I can remember, but that snow was particularly wet and heavy on tree branches and the power lines.

**Cricketlegs** · 02-17-2010, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by pat in east texas

I'm near Gilmer - not too far from Longview. We lost power for about 14 hours. Cooked breakfast on the outdoor gas grill. It has a burner attached, so that was easy. When it got too cold in the house we went to Longview, shopped for a few non-refrigerated items, ate a late lunch-early dinner a Papacita's, came home to still no power, so I fixed the bed up with fleecy blankets in place of sheets, piled on more blankets, went to bed and just as we were getting toasty, the power came back on.
Our power company is Upshur Rural. Usually when the power goes out,it's back within an hour or two. 14 hours is the longest outage I can remember, but that snow was particularly wet and heavy on tree branches and the power lines.

We go through Gilmer all the time. We have a camper parked at Lake Fork. I used to use Upshur Rural when I lived in Ore City.

Glad you got your power up and running too!