inclement weather preparedness

Looks like we're getting something tonight. Maybe snow, maybe ice, maybe just rain. I think rain is most likely, though snow would be fun, and of course ice has me worried. Enough ice to cause major power outages is unlikely I think. But still, we were caught so off guard by that big ice storm two years ago (or was it 3?) that this time I was bound and determined to be prepared.

Here's the Casa FunnyStrange Ice Storm Checklist:

• candles (check)
• firewood (check, thanks to Georg the wonderful, who split a big stack of wood today)
• kerosene (a bit stale, but check)
• groceries (check, and may I suggest avoiding Whole Foods the day of a storm. HT was fine)
• kitchen clean (check -- last time we couldn't stand washing dishes in the icy cold water, and the kitchen got disgusting fast. This time I washed all the dishes, cleaned up the kitchen and even scrubbed down the stove. Which will work if the power is out! Hooray for gas!)
• cell phones charged (check)
• battery power supply charged (check)
• clean laundry (almost done)

I think that's it. The only thing I forgot was reading material, but Georg has some newish books I haven't read yet. I'd love to have a fire going right now, but we have reservations at the Brazilian steak place for my birthday dinner, weather permitting. And I wouldn't want a fire going while we weren't home, so there's no point lighting one now.

One last tip: if the power does go out, unplug your computer! In the last ice storm there was a power surge when the electricity came back on and my computer got fried. It was on a power supply/battery backup at the time.