On Wed, 20 Aug 2003 08:37:17 GMT, wrote:

On Sun, 17 Aug 2003 18:05:49 GMT, ospam
(Pine106887) took a very strange color crayon and scribbled:

But I could use some suggestions. The supermarket said they have no idea when
they'll be getting supplies (and then who know what the prices will be).

Panicking a little early, aren't you? The power's back on now...

For next time, stock up on canned and/or dried foods and bottled
water. The recommendation of survival experts seems to be a week's
supply if possible. If you keep foods that you would normally eat
anyway, they don't have a chance to go stale, otherwise unless noted
on the package, assume no more than 6 months viability under normal
conditions.

I see this is an old(ish) thread, but I agree with Therese that the
poster was panicking a little early. While it's difficult to predict a
blackout, it doesn't hurt to have a few non-perishables on hand. In
fact, for the first few days (of a 9+ day electrical outage), it was
perfectly possible to eat much of what was stored in 'fridge or
freezxer. Supermarket supplys *were* a little slow in coming after
power was restored, but were certainly no more expensive than normal.

The OP mentioned " NO milk/soymilk, eggs, juice, butter, margarine,
ice cream!!" Well, ice cream's a goner, and milk after a couple of
days. Butter, margarine (I think), and eggs do *not* need to be
refrigerated to be perfectly edible. My neighbors and I finished up a
half-gallon of orange juce several days into the experiment. Look at
all the supermarket stuff in cans, boxes, and bags. As it happened, I
have a gas stove, so could boil/heat, make coffee and tea and rice
pilaf. Emergency services kicked in after a while, and ice was
available (free). Suggestions: a cooler and some sort of camp stove.
Again, in the computerized world, emergency services are generally
available to prevent death from starvation. Now about lack of reading
light and extreme boredom...

My power was cut off for 26 hours, and I couldn't buy perishables for about 3
days after that. (And then when I did, the "fresh" milk I bought had to be
tossed after a day. Yuck.)

Also, it doesn't hurt to run a thread that makes us think a little about our
modern conveniences.

pine