Power in my neighborhood went out around 11:15 last night. My TiVo, which is plugged into one of my many uninterruptible power units, recorded Stephen Colbert's show without getting Stephen Colbert's show since the cable was out along with the power.
I finished what I was then writing since my computer's plugged into another uninterruptible power unit. Then I shut it down and sat here in the dark, reading and answering e-mail on my iPad and blogging. I had a bit of light since I have these all over my house…
There are several brands of these things but these were the cheapest when I bought them many years ago and they've worked fine for me. These are Capstone 561 Eco-i-Lites. You plug them into outlets and they do nothing while your electricity is on except stay charged and if you wish, act as night lights and convenient flashlights. When the power goes kablooey, they turn on and you can grab the little flashlight out of its charger/holder and not be in complete darkness. They're very handy and here's a link to order one if that sounds like a good idea. Or maybe you'd like to shop around for a better price because I haven't looked lately. Some other brand might be cheaper now or better suited for your set-up.
So I phoned the D.W.P. and got a recorded announcement that told me crews were working diligently to restore service and they had an estimated time of 3:04. The ":04" part surprised me with its precision but I figured they just ask someone, "When do you think the power will be back on at Evanier's house?" (I'm sure that's how they ask it) and someone else says, "Oh, about three hours" and they type in a "3" and some computer automatically adds three hours to the current time and gets 3:04.
At least, that's what I thought. I was asleep when the power came back on but various lights and sounds woke me up and according to my iPhone, it was 3:04. So maybe this was some kind of planned outage to do repair work. If that's what it was, they could have told us somehow. Seems to me the same computer that told me 3:04 on the phone when I called up and navigated through a lengthy maze of prompts could have sent out an e-mail or text to everyone who'd signed up for notices.
Anyway, I was asleep and as a few of you may remember — I haven't mentioned this in a long time here — I have sleep apnea so I doze with the aid of a CPAP unit. If you don't know what that is, this will explain it to you. If you do know what that is and use one, the following paragraphs may be of interest to you.
I have a couple of Auto CPAP machines, sometimes referred to as APAPs. My usual bedside one is an older but fine model but I recently purchased a new travel one which is unbelievably lightweight and it can also double as a backup for my bigger APAP device…and last night, did. It's the Z1 CPAP, made by these people. It's small, it weighs only 10 ounces, it's very quiet and — and this is how I was able to go to sleep last night before my power came back on — it can also run off a battery unit they sell.
That's a photo of it in the Powershell which you also need to purchase if you also buy the optional battery or batteries. They say that a fully-charged battery gives you a full night's sleep. I stayed with mine last night even after the electricity was working again and the battery ran out after six hours. That's more than a usual full night's sleep for me but you might need a second battery to swap out. I believe I read that the higher your pressure, the faster your battery drains.
On my recent trips to Baltimore and New York, I threw caution to the wind and left the Powershell and batteries home so it's even smaller and lighter than what's in the picture. It works with any CPAP mask and — so far — does everything I ask of it. If you use a CPAP, browse the sites of companies that sell equipment and you might be surprised how cheap it is. But also note that with the Powershell and two batteries and a few extra supplies you might want, it could get costly. Maybe you have good insurance. Or maybe it's worth it to you to have a good machine that can get you through a night, sans electricity. Just thought I'd tell you about it.