Practice for a Potential Disaster in Israel

כ"ב לחודש העשירי תשע"ט

Image Credit: Mid-Continent Public Library

I'm sure you have heard this one before...

Q: What does a prepper call a power outage?
A: Practice.

One evening last week, I was welcomed home by a power outage.

But, this was a fortunate one.

My landlady still had power, so I could charge my "luxury items." Yes, that's what I believe phones and computers and the like should be called, "luxury items."

Living in the center of Israel near the coast, I wasn't going to freeze without electricity for heat. One comforter would be sufficient. If necessary, I would add a few layers, including a fleece jacket.

Yet, it was also still cold enough that my ancient half size refrigerator's little freezer compartment was still caked with ice. So, even though, there wasn't any power for 10 hours, the meat for Shabbat was not in any danger of spoiling. Hmm... I now wonder if I will ever decide to call a refrigerator a "luxury" item as well.

One of my neighbors came home to the darkness as well. She told me that the power had been out since that morning. I asked her if she called our landlady. She replied that she was busy at work. OKaaaaay. Apparently, she wasn't terribly concerned. And on one level, maybe I should adopt her attitude. On the other hand, this 36-year-old architect could just go run to her parents house if need be. Anyway, she left, assuming that others would deal with the situation for her... (sigh)

Well, we did deal with it.

The issue was soon resolved. Even though it was more that just flipping a switch or replacing a fuse. My landlady's electrician friend, who had wired the building in the first place was over within 30 minutes. The electric company representative soon followed to finish the job. The power was back even before he arrived, thanks to the temporary measure our friendly, neighborhood electrician.

The point of this story is related to the joke I mention above.

I lit a few candles, as it was pretty dark, and it also helped my landlady to see the electrical box.

The worst thing that would happen is that I would not be able to sleep, because of my noisy [other] neighbor. Running a fan for the white noise usually does the trick. But, without electricity, that would be an issue.

The key here is to examine what I need to do to improve my situation without electricity.

It is already colder, than last week, and it is going to get colder. No problem. I just need to bring my sleeping bag home from work. I could always buy another comforter. (B"H I have the money to do so.) But, that's probably not necessary. I should probably buy one to lend out to another person. That's a decision we all have to make for ourselves.

I certainly hope not to sleep at work, which is in Jerusalem. If I lose power there, I still probably won't freeze, but this native San Diegeño will definitely be uncomfortable. A situation I do my best to avoid, not to mention the possibility of snowfall. I haven't heard anything yet about snow falling in Jerusalem this year. But, I do not intend to take any chances. Jerusalem's winter temperature was one of the reasons I moved out of this city in the first place.

So, all in all, I think I'm in pretty good shape. I just need to keep up my stock of food and water, meaning food which does not necessary need to be prepared with any heat. You know, just in case.