lovelyl

I was in a restaurant once and power went off. I had to add up my own check and show the cashier how to read the tax card! She was about 18 yrs. old ...

Geri B

[QUOTE=tropit;6623371]We're off the grid at our home and have minimal solar power. In the spring, summer and fall, the solar works fine, but on cloudy, rainy days, or deep into winter, we lose our power occasionally. When that happens, out come the oil lamps and the hand crank sewing machine and we cozy up by the woodstove. Personally, I love it! When I get tired of playing, "Pioneer Woman," I ask the DH to turn on the Jennie

We are planning to build a commercial building this summer in our little town. I'm certainly hoping that we can use solar power for the building. We'll have to have a Jennie, I'm sure, but I love the thought of not having PGE bills, or ugly wires in front of our pretty new storefront. That's just my humble opinion.

Maybe you could generate your own electricity with a windmill. Here in Illinois, way too cold and long a winter to go power company free...but if I could I wish I could generate electricity via windmill...get some strong winds from the west/northwest here.....

amcatanzaro

I'm 40 and I can tell you this is nothing new. When I worked at a grocery store when I was 18 (after working in my parent's store for 4 years) I was always stunned when other cashiers couldn't make change on their own. Or count it back. <--- lost art

ThayerRags

It’s not only teens that are uncomfortable counting change back.


We both count change back to the customer the old way, by stating the sales amount and then counting up to the payment denomination. We get compliments from the older set, and even some younger folks. What I really enjoy when making change, is when the ones that are not used to the count-back method stand there looking back and forth at their change in their hand and the cash register screen, trying to decide for sure that what I gave them is what the register said that I should. Tickles me every time.


CD in Oklahoma

tessagin

They have that "Deer in the headlights: look when you ask them to do that. LOL!

ThayerRags

My wife and I have talked about off-grid, and decided that we certainly DO NOT want to go off-grid. LOL! We just want to be prepared for those times that the Grid leaves us! I worked most of my adult life trying to keep the power flowing where it was supposed to go, so I want to enjoy having it in my later years. I understand your comment about the “ugly wires”, because you’re not alone feeling that way, but to me, they are the “pretty wires” that made our family a nice living over the years.


I guess a part of my interest in old people-powered sewing machines comes from my wife and I making the choice of whether to try to continue functioning with our electrical things during times without electricity (generator), or having non-electrical things to fall back on during loss of electricity (people-powered equipment). We chose the non-electrical method.


We’re getting so dependent on electricity these days that it’s becoming more and more difficult to function without it, even for short periods of time. I guess I like the challenge and the romance of going without electricity when needed. During the power outage and as I sewed on my treadle in the shop window, I couldn’t help but notice a guy walking slowly along the sidewalk across the street, first looking at his “smart” phone in his hand, then holding it up to his ear briefly before putting it back in his pocket. I saw frustration on his face. While I was having fun using old technology, his new technology looked like it was causing him to have a bad day.


CD in Oklahoma

ThayerRags

Here’s a photo of my wife setting the Singer 201K4 up to sew pockets on T-Shirts. She is test-sewing on a piece of red scrap knit to get her tensions set where she wants them.

You might notice that she still has her sweatshirt on. The power had been out for only a few hours before this, and the shop was beginning to cool off. ....And it wasn’t even extremely cold outside. The outage was caused by a cold front that brought strong winds. We have gas heat, but it won’t work without electricity....

CD in Oklahoma

misseva

My home is all electric and when our power goes off I use battery powered lanterns. Coal oil lamps don't put off much light. Sure do admire my grandmother & aunts that sewed with lamps. I do have a small generator that my son in law hooks up for me when I need it. No electricity = no coffee, no heat & no hot food. I can just barely see good enough with my lantern to sew on my treadle which is impossible to get near a window. Wouldn't want to do it forever.

purplefiend

If I want a cuppa tea, my gas stove can be lit with a match. Of course sewing will still be going on as there are 5 working treadles in my house.
Sharon

nana2

We've had several times in our lives that we have been without power for several days in a row in both summer and winter conditions. During winter time we cooked on fire place with cast iron Dutch ovens and broke out our camping coffee pot. We have some of those old oil lamps for light and later put in Franklin Fireplaces in living room and garage. (We always kept a supply of wood on hand) As long as we had running water we just kept on with live as it would have been in olden days and it reminded us how we grew up as kids. No radio, No TV. We actually sat around and talked or read by the oil lamp. I cannot tell you how many memories flooded our thoughts when we could hear those stove pipes popping as they heated up or cooled down. The only thing missing was the hooting of the old owl that use to come right up to our house at night. The quite in the neighborhood was really pleasant.

In the summer times when we have lost power for days and days, we just sat up a kitchen on our back patio. We cooked on our out door grill, heated water for clean up on the butane burner. We even laid out the water hose in the hot sun so we could have water to sponge bathe with. (Ice was brought in by the truck load and first thing every morning we made the "ice run") The part we missed most was the A/C. Just no way to be cool on the Texas Gulf Coast without it.

Each time we have found ourselves in such situations I wonder how in the world our grandparents made it. They even had to draw their water from a well, collect water in rain barrels, and bath in the creek during the summer.

All of my folks made their quilts and now I wonder how in the world they had time to do that.