What to Do when the Power Goes Out

This is not an essay on what precautions to take if your electric power goes out, most of us are well aware what we need to have on hand for that. This article is what you can do from going nuts should your electric power goes out for more than just a few hours.

We live in a technology based society that relies heavily on the use of electricity to help us pass the time in the evenings. The lack of electricity for more than a few hours will drive most TV addicted people running for their car with a DC powered TV in hand. Hand held, battery operated games can be used until the batteries run out. Even the trusty laptop computer will only last a few hours without having the need to be charged up again. So what do you do for entertainment should your power go out for more than just 3 or 4 hours?

Let's assume that the power has gone out during the night time hours. If the power goes out during the day light hours then you could always entertain yourself outside. For the first few hours you can talk to family or household members under candle light, that is assuming you live in a household that has other members to it. Limited lighting such as candles or battery powered lamps restricts your activities quite a bit. If the lighting is strong enough you could engage in playing cards and board games. Activities such as reading and drawing require very good lighting to avoid eye strain so they may or may not be a good choice.

If you are experienced at knitting or crocheting then you could easily engage in your hobby almost blindfolded. Other hobbies or activities that you could engage in might be playing a guitar or piano.

Group activities could include telling tall tales made up at the moment. Variations on that would be for someone to start a story for a few sentences then someone else adds a few more sentences, then it is someone else's turn until you have an interesting and long story.

Things to avoid doing would be excessive talking on the cell phone unless you have a way to charge up your phone again should you be without power for several days or more. You might need your cell phone should an unforeseen emergency pop up during your power outage.

The electric power will come back on eventually so keep you wits about you and try not to go stir crazy.