Are We Ready?

Yesterday the ice storm cometh.  Today has the promise of snow.  

While we don't want to take these lightly we need not engage in behaviors reminiscint of late 1999 when plenty of folks presumed the tech nerds didn't have the Y2K situation well in hand.  

I didn't buy a generator then, nor did I keep weeks of bottled water and nonperishable food hidden away from the masses.  (In the interest of full disclosure I admit I did buy a Brita water pitcher so we could use our swimming pool water for drinking if necessary--hey, I kept it chlorinated properly!)  

But prudence has its place and winter on the Great Plains should involve some forethought.  

I've been keeping the camper plugged into house power to keep the battery charged.  That done, the recreational rig should give us the necessary backup should the worst happen (power lines snap and render us without electricity).  I'm reasonably sure I have enough propane to keep us warm for a couple of days.  The tongue has two 20-pound bottles and our camping this past year hasn't involved excessive use of the furnace.  If we have heat most of the battle is won.  Propane also allows us to use the range and I reminded Geogal just today that the refrigerator can run off of Hank Hill's favorite fuel if there's no electricity to be had.  

Yes, I know the absorption-type refrigerator and freezer in the camper takes several hours to get cold but with outside temperatures going below the freezing mark do you think that will really be a problem?  

We're even covered for entertainment.  Some months ago I bought a 24-inch Insignia LCD TV from Best Buy's web site (got a screaming deal) and having done my homework, learned even though it comes with the typical AC power cord the input jack is actually DC (the brick does the conversion).  In a pinch I can use a DC cord left over from a previous device that died and went to gadgets heaven. The camper's built-in radio/CD player also plays DVDs so no problem there.  

The only thing I'm lacking is a generator.  I've written before about doing my research and identifying the inverter generator I want, however since I want one with enough wattage to power the camper's air conditioner the price tag is a little high.  I'm putting the pennies aside and hope to get one in the spring.  

Worst case scenario I use the 300w inverter I bought for the Yellowstone camping journey back in 2010.  Take it to either my Ram or Suburban, start the engine, plug inverter into cigarette lighter socket and juice up laptop and other needed devices.  

May have to.  As I've been putting the finishing touches on this entry the power went out.  Came back on about 30 minutes later then went off again in less than 10 minutes.  Who knows how long we will play the flicker-flicker-on-again-off-again game?  Router is off now but I just enabled the hotspot on my iPhone so as long as the LTE stays active we can all be connected.