We all knew it was coming. From Day
One, we knew it was only a matter of time before we lost electrical power. Last
night, at approximate 8:00, everything browned out, flickered, and then went
dark.
If you are late to this blog, you
might be asking, “Then how are you powered to transmit this?” Thankfully, our
store was outfitted from the beginning with an emergency backup generator. It
is powered by propane so in one of our first sortie missions into the outside
world, one of our leaders “acquired” a propane truck from one of the local
businesses in Langley. Fully stocked with 5,000 gallons worth of propane, we
feel we have more than enough juice to get us through. I have no idea how much
propane we will burn but even using 50 gallons a day (which seems excessive),
we are good for 100 days. And there are massive service tanks in Langley, Big
Cabin, and Adair that we can refuel with if necessary.
Now, it is a little different. Not
every light is illuminated. We have gone through and shut down as much of the
equipment as necessary. Coolers that are empty were taken off line months ago
for fear of a Freon leak compromising the whole system. We have one small
walk-in freezer going in the bakery. We have been condensing stock down in the
frozen food section since this whole thing started and we have taken all empty
doors offline. Produce and dairy have been empty for six months and what was
left was condensed down into what we considered the “main” coolers months ago.
We basically dismantled the entire DSD
operating system which powered the registers and the store’s computer systems
but we did keep the store’s internal intercom system powered.
The majority of the power goes to the
lights, bakery (for cooking), and a few spare outlets. Thankfully, my laptop is
mobile. And while I have been hijacking the store’s internet connection, I
checked last week and my portable internet card is still active. I just bring
the laptop down from my bunk to recharge.
I would say we have about one third of
the lights up and running. Everything is pretty much muted for lack of a better
term. It is not dark. Zoms are not going to be lurking in the shadows. One of
the saving graces of this place was the lack of entrances and openings that
could be breeched by the zoms. We now experience the flip side of that coin.
There is very little natural light. I am expecting more time spent on the roof
or in the perimetered parking lot by our survivors.
We are still in good shape. We all
knew that this was going to happen. It was a planned contingency. To be honest,
I am amazed it lasted this long. I was really concerned that generator-powered
heaters would not be enough to keep this place warm and the spacious halls
would become a liability.
But we are through that weather phase
and so now it is just chugging along. Stay thirsty, my friends. More soon…
