Woefully unprepared

The power in my neighborhood went out for six hours yesterday. By about hour two, I realized that I am totally unequipped to deal with even the smallest, common, non-emergency situation.

I felt like I was having a monthly broadcasting tests, “This is a test, this is only a test. If this were a real emergency, I would be completely freaking out right about now.”

Sure, I’ve got cans of food in the basement courtesy of Costco and a variety of different band-aid sizes ready to go, but I realized that I am way too reliant on electricity. In my mock emergency, I found two dim flashlights, had no way to find out why the power was out and looked at all my neatly organized food storage and thought, “How can I make anything?”

And now that I have a child, the fright factor of facing a real emergency is that much greater.

So, help me. How can you communicate, cook, heat, cool, and stay sane without being able to just flip a switch? What are some tips — or products — you’ve found to help when the power goes out?