It's been a week since the lights went out. We no longer have gas for the stove so I have been cooking outside on the rocket stove. I will use it as long as I can before turning to the grill. It's getting colder out but we still have not used the kerosene heater. We are holding off on using it as long as possible. For now we are sleeping with extra bedclothes on the beds at night and we are dressing in layers during the day time. When we are sitting round reading or playing board games at night we wrap in in blankets or throws to stay warm.
John has been trying to go with out his oxygen as long as he can each day. He is trying to wean himself off of it. I don't no if it will be possible but if it is he will do it. One good thing is coming out of the power being out and the stores not being open. I have been rationing food so that no one can pig out and we are all starting to lose a little weight. We are all a little over weight so losing some is not going to hurt any thing.
None of our kids or grandkids have made it here yet and I am really starting to worry. John offered to try and go after our daughter and her family but I don't want him going alone and I am afraid for us all to go with him. We may have nothing left if we make it back. My son moved his bed down stairs so he could be closer to us in case some one tried to break in. I now have all the windows covered with the plywood and I have placed more boards with nails sticking up in them inside the house under all the down stairs windows. If they happen to make it past the nails on the outside they will have to deal with the ones on the inside.
Two of our outside doors have those 9 pane windows in them. I had gotten my bil's son to make to two solid metal panels to screw over them. He drilled a small hole that we can look out and see who is out there. I has also gotten him to make two steel braces for each door and I installed them the other day. I bought some thick metal poles at the junk yard a few months back and the braces hold them tight so no one can open the door from the outside. The braces are screwed into the studs with 4 inch screws.
Things are starting to get a little hairy in out small town. For the first few days we saw cars coming and going left and right. Now we hardly ever see a car going past. Teen age kids are roaming the streets in big packs and some fights have broken out. None of us have left our house or yard. My son's best friend came over yesterday to check on how we were doing and to let my son know that him and his parents were moving in with his grandparents who live out in the country.
He told us that when he drove through the center of town he could see all the business had been broken into. Windows were busted out and you could see that most of the shelves were empty. We only have one grocery store in town and he saw people climbing out of the busted windows with arm loads, bags and boxes full of stuff. Some people were even loading up the shopping carts and taking off with them. The gas station where my son had worked had both front doors broken out of it and people were looting it to. So far he had no heard of any homes being looted or any one being robbed but its bound to happen soon. In a town of more than 2500 people how can it not?
John has been trying to go with out his oxygen as long as he can each day. He is trying to wean himself off of it. I don't no if it will be possible but if it is he will do it. One good thing is coming out of the power being out and the stores not being open. I have been rationing food so that no one can pig out and we are all starting to lose a little weight. We are all a little over weight so losing some is not going to hurt any thing.
None of our kids or grandkids have made it here yet and I am really starting to worry. John offered to try and go after our daughter and her family but I don't want him going alone and I am afraid for us all to go with him. We may have nothing left if we make it back. My son moved his bed down stairs so he could be closer to us in case some one tried to break in. I now have all the windows covered with the plywood and I have placed more boards with nails sticking up in them inside the house under all the down stairs windows. If they happen to make it past the nails on the outside they will have to deal with the ones on the inside.
Two of our outside doors have those 9 pane windows in them. I had gotten my bil's son to make to two solid metal panels to screw over them. He drilled a small hole that we can look out and see who is out there. I has also gotten him to make two steel braces for each door and I installed them the other day. I bought some thick metal poles at the junk yard a few months back and the braces hold them tight so no one can open the door from the outside. The braces are screwed into the studs with 4 inch screws.
Things are starting to get a little hairy in out small town. For the first few days we saw cars coming and going left and right. Now we hardly ever see a car going past. Teen age kids are roaming the streets in big packs and some fights have broken out. None of us have left our house or yard. My son's best friend came over yesterday to check on how we were doing and to let my son know that him and his parents were moving in with his grandparents who live out in the country.
He told us that when he drove through the center of town he could see all the business had been broken into. Windows were busted out and you could see that most of the shelves were empty. We only have one grocery store in town and he saw people climbing out of the busted windows with arm loads, bags and boxes full of stuff. Some people were even loading up the shopping carts and taking off with them. The gas station where my son had worked had both front doors broken out of it and people were looting it to. So far he had no heard of any homes being looted or any one being robbed but its bound to happen soon. In a town of more than 2500 people how can it not?