Surviving power outages and the World Economic Forums cyber attacks

[Dirgni]

I have got electric torches with LED lights, a recharchable battery and a generator which could be loaded with a crank lever. The loading of the battery is noisy and takes quite some time until you have enough the battery loaded enough to use the torch. I used it during a blackout some time ago - useful.

In the past people heated one! room in the house - usually the kitchen, which could be also a used as room for indoor working.

I found that a (horse) stable in winter is still relatively warm in winter. So many people in a small room may heat it a bit but do not forget that you need air for everyone. Too much CO2 / CO kills.

You sleep better when not shivering. So enough blankets or a sleeping bag may be useful. About 70 years ago my family warmed their beds in the unheated, cold sleeping rooms with bricks, which were heated in the wood stove (cooker) in the kitchen. The bricks were put into a towel and were moved from time to time to make the whole bed war. This was done some time before going to sleep, so the beds were warm when going to sleep.

My Grandmother had a rack on the balcony to put food on it in cold weather - some sort of low-tech fridge. You just need to take care that animals do not get the food before you. Before we had electic fridges there were "fridges" with a large stick of ice - ice boxed. The large ice sticks were sawed out of lakes or pond in winter and kept in storage with sawdust between them.

 

[Gwenllian]

You sleep better when not shivering. So enough blankets or a sleeping bag may be useful. About 70 years ago my family warmed their beds in the unheated, cold sleeping rooms with bricks, which were heated in the wood stove (cooker) in the kitchen. The bricks were put into a towel and were moved from time to time to make the whole bed war. This was done some time before going to sleep, so the beds were warm when going to sleep.

That's what people do in the romance novels! Perhaps a hot water bottle made of rubber is an option? My grand-mother still had one and put it in her bed before turning in. In the old days (see the romance novels) people were also wearing night caps to keep their heads warm.

 

[Dirgni]

That's what people do in the romance novels! Perhaps a hot water bottle made of rubber is an option? My grand-mother still had one and put it in her bed before turning in. In the old days (see the romance novels) people were also wearing night caps to keep their heads warm.

Yes, a rubber hot water bottle or anything you can make hot and put into your bed does work fine. It just needs to keep the heat for some time. People 70 years ago were not so different in their ways than people in the romance novels IMO. People in the old days (see the romance novels and before) had beds with curtains to keep out the drafts and cold beside wearing night caps.

We own a rubber hot water bottle like in your picture. When someone is feeling cold or maybe like a cold begins, then a rubber hot water bottle near the "cold body part" (feet, chest) and wrapping a blanket around you may get you better. Worked for me and my family well quite often.

Not only a night cap or a hat may keep you warm, also putting something around your neck - a scarf or a cowl - could hinder the warm air moving away from you. Also several layers of clothes may keep you warm. Do not forget mittens or mitts to keep your hands and arms warm. People in the old days tended to keep their bodies warm and not their rooms.

Another thing. In the days before the internet the people communicated via land line phone. Before that in case of emergencies the used telegrams or wrote letters or post cards like people in the romance novels. I was told that after world war II prisoners of war wrote letter and when they were transported, they threw the letter out. Other people picked them up and gave them to people traveling in the direction of the letter receiver. Not all letters reached the receivers but some did. So you do not necessarily need an organized post system but people helping each other did also work. Letters are a low tech possibility to keep connection when Internet is down for a longer time period.

When our high-tech is disrupted for some time a less high-tech or low-tech solution of our ancestors may still work. For example a bicycle is still working when the cars and trains and planes do not anymore because their electrical / electronical circuits are fried. You can also use it to transport goods and push it. And you can travel quite far in one day, farther than with horse coaches in the romance novel times.

 

[Ursus Minor]

Another thing. In the days before the internet the people communicated via land line phone.

Thank you for your words of advice. I especially liked the one reminding us to keep the body warm, not the room.

Sadly land line phones today are hooked up to the internet as well.