As I sit here writing this evening’s blog posts, the lights in the living room are flickering. With each flicker, I wonder whether that is the moment in which we will lose our electricity to Hurricane Sandy. Since I am in Vermont, there is still plenty of time before the storm passes, so losing power is well within the range of possibilities. In fact, I went through my day today with the notion that it’s not a matter of if the power goes out, but when.
After Hurricane Irene struck Vermont last year, we were without electricity for about ten days. Of course, with so many friends and neighbors losing much of what they had during that storm I was thankful that power was the only thing that we lost. At that point, my husband and I had talked about getting a generator, you know, after they made their way back into the stores. Other purchases took priority, and we have not bought a generator yet.
Investing in a generator is a great way to keep your home – based business up and running during a power outage, but it is not the only way. Right now, I am in a better position to keep going strong all through this storm than I was last year during Irene. The reason for that is that I have a new laptop, and the battery lasts about three hours. I can even get online, as long as my cell phone is still working because we have mobile broadband. That small change alone will get me through tonight, even if we were to lose power right now.
If you are anticipating a power outage and you are wondering how you can keep on working through the storm, plug in all of your electronic devices right now so that they can be as charged as possible by the time the lights go out. Also, check your computer, phone, and tablet to see what programs you can turn off so you can make the battery last as long as possible. Using the internet only when needed can go a long way to help here, as can turning off GPS. If the power outage outlasts your battery life, you may be able to charge one or more devices at a time using a power inverter in your car. If you choose to sit in your car and work, as I have done before, please do so safely and only in a well ventilated area.
Photo by colossus on morguefile.com.