I am so imperceptive

[fafner]

The next week we purchased a big ol' Generac Guardian propane-powered generator, which set us back over $3,000 but can power the whole house for THREE DAYS!!

Talk about back-up! No more blackouts for us!!

D'oh! :d oh: My tiny UPS the size of a shoes box can't compete with that

Remember the huge power outage that struck the Northeast quadrant of the US and part of Canada about 10 years ago (think it was '02)? My poor husband, loaded down with deadline illustration work from clients in (Vancover) Canada, Illinois and California, had only 30 minutes via the battery backup and then had to wait until we got our power back with everyone else.

I remember that one. Here in Europe we used to make fun of USA and their big power outages at the level of entire states. Until we got our very own outage, sending in darkness entire Italy with some parts of France and Switzerland for hours

[Astro Forever]

Hours? That's not too bad!

My province has been spared of the 2003 one, but we'd been hit in 1998 after two icestorms in a row. For a few days, I think half the province didn't have power, and some people went weeks (2, 3, sometimes 4 I believe) without it. In the winter! A lot of people bought generators since!