Taking electricity for granted

Yesterday afternoon, most of Solana Beach lost power because of a ruptured line of some kind. I learned these things:

-keep tons of candles in the house, not just for romantic purposes

-also keep plenty of matches/lighters. what good are candles if you can't light them?

-keep enough batteries for whatever flashlights you have (the correct sizes would also be useful)

-never place your candles directly under a fire alarm

-don't get mad at the power company. they try as hard as they can to fix the problem, and humans have survived without electricity before...

-put simple games, like UNO, in an easily accessible place. we played by candlelight.

- DO NOT open your fridge or freezer. you'll let all the cold escape. the food will be fine unless you open it and let all the refrigeration out, or unless the power is off for more than a few hours.

-go out to dinner. nothing works in the house anyway, so let someone else stress about it. Bonus: you don't have to clean up.

What's funny is how dependent I realized I am on electricity. When I got home and tried to turn on a light, the first thing I thought is "oh no, what are we going to do?"

We ate at CPK, came home and lit candles, played Yatzee and UNO (I quit Yatzee early to prevent a tantrum as a result of no luck) and went to bed. We actually had a really nice time. We talked, where on any other night, we would have turned on a movie and droned out.

Plus who doesn't look FABULOUS by candlelight?!

No wonder so many babies are born 9 months after a city-wide blackout!