Ontario Ice Storm 2013

I was very glad that I had purchased that kerosene heater for the house.
Big problem was that the husband did not want to use it.
I have no idea why, probably because it's fuel.
Very frustrating.
So once again, very important to communicate with everyone in the house hold as to how things work.
I was able to convince him I'm not a scatter brain and that i'm not going to burn the house down.
it worked great.
a bit of a smell, but ok.
one thing i wish we had was just a small indoor burner to heat water. I got a butane burner now for that.
our water stayed on so that was good.

I know this was only a minor power outage, but did anyone who is in town wonder, ..... when do we leave?

hridika,
What brand & where did you get the butane burner ?

Also, how about using a sterno stove for indoors ?
While I have outdoor cooking options, it is always nice to
have something you can use indoors in power failures.

I sat here watching the news this morning really baffled.
How come so many threw out all their food? It was cold outside. There was an abundance of ice and snow. Why not put some ice and snow it in containers and put it in the fridge and freezer? Why not put your food in coolers or boxes and stick them outside? Even in the trunk of the car if animals are an issue.
People were complaining about losing food. I was wanting to scream at the tv.
I understand somethings would go bad (lettuce, some herbs) but damn near everything else in the fridge could be frozen or close to frozen.
A woman was complaining about not being able to cook, only having a BBQ. HELLO!!!???!?! Use the friggin BBQ! It is not a seasonal thing.
These are the people that frustrate me to no end. It is common sense. Basic short term survival. Imagine what would have happened if it had lasted 2 or 3 weeks! Practicing to cook on the BBQ with a pan and a pot is a skill everyone should have. It has saved us so many times. Anything I can make on the stove or in the oven, I can make on the BBQ.

hridika,
What brand & where did you get the butane burner ?

Also, how about using a sterno stove for indoors ?
While I have outdoor cooking options, it is always nice to
have something you can use indoors in power failures.

Goldie, I got a blue color , single burner butane portable in a plastic case, at princess auto last summer, halfprice, and they still had some in stock on last sun day .$30 reg. ....but no canisters. It's simple, easy to operate we just set it on the stove top and propped open the vent outside to take out some monoxide.

I sat here watching the news this morning really baffled.
How come so many threw out all their food? It was cold outside. There was an abundance of ice and snow. Why not put some ice and snow it in containers and put it in the fridge and freezer? Why not put your food in coolers or boxes and stick them outside? Even in the trunk of the car if animals are an issue.
People were complaining about losing food. I was wanting to scream at the tv.

You and me both. They're talking about giving them $ to cover losses. Our tax money.

mamazie
Thanks so much for saying what I was thinking
People have no survive left in them its got to be on a silver platter

You and me both. They're talking about giving them $ to cover losses. Our tax money.

Exactly! Where is that money going to come from? A tax hike? A hydro hike? Well looking at the Liberal (I call them Fiberal) track record I would say BOTH!
It is only people in the "big city" of Toronto that are getting any sort of compensation right now. What about the rest of the province?? I mean really, if the gov feels so bad for aged infrastructure why not compensate all that lost power? There was plenty of grandstanding and photo ops the past couple of days, time to show some love to Brampton, Flamborough and Oshawa, No?

mamazie
Thanks so much for saying what I was thinking
People have no survive left in them its got to be on a silver platter

I was definitely not making friends with that opinion this morning and actually still this evening. Oh well.
I can not believe the pity party and poor me attitude that is considered the "norm". Pfft!
I am not saying "Ohhh look at me I am set for a year nanananannana!" (cause I am so not!) but how hard is it to put a few boxes or coolers outside with the food in it to save it? Candles are a buck at the dollar store, 5$ for a big jar candle at Giant Tiger or Liquidation World. Buy a couple, it will not break the bank!
Like really! What else did these people have to do for 2, 3, 4, 5 days?

*steps off soap box*

For those unaware, the compensation is $50-75 for a single person and $100 for a family... 200,000 gift cards were ready to hand out this afternoon and some people on assistance got $100 cash deposited directly into their accounts.

I struggled long and hard on whether to post what I think/feel.

In a small way you can't totally blame the people.
They have been 'trained' to not think or do for themselves.

That conclusion was more firmly set in my mind while watching Little House on the Prairie one night.
Yes its only a TV show..but it set a fine example.

The Olsens adopted a daughter. Mrs. Olsen then proceeded to do all this daughter's homework for her.
She ended up by taking away the child's ability to think for herself.
The more she did for said child, the worse the child became in doing anything for herself and depended totally on the mom (or anyone else) to do things for her. She whined and carried on til she got Mom to do more and more.

Had the mom helped her to learn to do it herself..the child would have gained not only respect for her own thinking/accomplishments, but to know how to attack said problems now and in the future.

Now, isn't that what the g'ments have been doing to the ppl?
Turning many in to spoilt brats, like that little girl, that only know how to whine and complain and say gimme, gimme, gimme, while stomping their foot demanding more.

Do I say this is an excuse..? Heck NO, but it sure explains it.

Until one hits a real rocky road and no one to turn to except themselves, they never will learn...and sadly maybe not even then.

It's been years since I went to school, so correct if I am wrong. They use calculators to figure out problems. Give a person a problem w/o the calculator and they are stuck w/o that calculator to solve the equations.

I understand there is no more home ec. or shops? So where do they get that knowledge from now to learn how do to things, be it cooking, sewing or building?
They are not getting it from the parents, as the parents have gone thru the same thing...so how do they teach their young?

Everything has to be instant gratification in this world, no time to set down and figure things out.
They can't figure out how to get a job?? Well why not just turn to g'ments to help. 🙁

Now I am not saying g'ments should not help those who truly need help, but they have gone over board and take away any ambition/pride from the ppl to do for themselves.

Help is fine but with set limits for those able to work.
Or in exchange for g'ment help you have to take courses to look after oneself and family. No course, then no help, no exceptions.
Throwing yet more money at problems will not get any where fast, except much worse.

Sadly many ppl have lost all common sense to see and figure out what's right in front of them.

As others mentioned...snow, ice and freezing out but can't keep food from spoiling??
A couple 2L pop bottles stuck in ice/snow in freezing weather will soon have that bottle solid! That can be tossed in a freezer/fridge while the next few bottles are in the 'out door cooler'. Any container actually that can be frozen.

I have taken a rubbermaid tub and set outside (yes even with hydro on).
My freezer is full from last years garden and now I can buy up foods on sale and put into a tub (the 'outdoor freezer') until I can get my freezer food all canned.
So why can they not do they same? There is no need at all to have food spoil in winter...none!

So instead the g'ment yet again....makes it all better for ppl not thinking for themselves.
One maddening vicious circle that will never end.

Ppl have long stopped thinking 'what can I do to solve problems?' but now seem to be on auto pilot to think 'what will the g'ment do for me.'

I agree; people have become way too entitled. We were just discussing this in light of xmas, kids in the store wanting more toys on boxing day(outrageous), people not able to do for themselves in an emergency.
Thankfully, there were no outages for us, but accidents and road closures galore(staying inside, thank you very much)
we actually were considering locking some food in the car trunk over the holidays(there was a good sale and we ran out of room lol) it was cold enough, it boggles the mind that people don't consider these things..

Well said Oldtimegardener

One of the few neighbours that I speak to on a regular bases brought up the food card topic. Until then, being TV free, I hadn't heard of it. Her strongest thought was "come on now, what are these people stupid? Just put the food in a box & put it outside". She is not a prepper, just someone with common sense.

One of the few neighbours that I speak to on a regular bases brought up the food card topic. Until then, being TV free, I hadn't heard of it. Her strongest thought was "come on now, what are these people stupid? Just put the food in a box & put it outside". She is not a prepper, just someone with common sense.

I had no idea either until I read it here.
No TV here either for many years, just DVD's

I had to reread it over again to be sure I was reading it right about the g'ment handing out $ for ppl being stupid...or should I say rewarding them. The message the g'ment is sending out when doing this, is scary. When does the g'ment foolishness stop?

To tell you the truth, OS, that was kinda my reaction too, as your neighbour had..
'what gives with these ppl, did they freeze their brains as well.'

I agree; people have become way too entitled. We were just discussing this in light of xmas, kids in the store wanting more toys on boxing day(outrageous), people not able to do for themselves in an emergency.

If you see the adults and how they act on those days..its not surprising how the kids act. 🙁
Yup car trunks do come in handy often here too.

---------
Salads and such can be set on the cold floors in a cardboard box, it will not freeze as a rule if you have any kind of heat at all in that room and still be useful. I believe almost everyone can get cardboard...free.
Still to cold? set it on something to get a bit further off the floor. Phone books come to mind. Most everyone has phone books..yes?
Then eat those things in the first few days til they are gone.

I do that all the time in winter when I get a lot of greens. Set it in the back room on the floor in a plastic pail. Never had any go bad on me thru out the years.

I really wondering, in my life time, if I will see ppl taking back their lives and start thinking for themselves. Somehow I don't feel hopeful. 🙁

OTG

a few comments from the Hamilton Spectator, one statement really got my attention

By Stan | JANUARY 01, 2014 06:37 PM
Don't forget folks it looks good on their resume its election year and by the way my outdoor freezer worked great!

By Bob | JANUARY 01, 2014 06:16 PM
ALRIGHT!!!! The Government agenda is CLEAR. Rewarding and reinforcing STUPIDIDTY!!!!!! This was a test to measure the dumbing down of society and the people PASSED with flying colors. Instead of a certificate though each graduate gets a voucher. Sadly I used what God gave me and won't qualify...

By Sam | JANUARY 01, 2014 05:28 PM
Dave, You can not be a politician. You use your brain. This is going to be a joke to see how the city and government try to implement this.

By dave | JANUARY 01, 2014 03:21 PM
OK I understand there was a crisis here, my family lost power for three days. But it is hard to understand how some lost food due to this because it was below freezing outside. Didn't anyone think to get the food from the fridge and put it into there garage or outside to prevent it from spoiling.

Here we go again, storm coming, extreme wind chill etc. Remember to keep an eye on your animals, dogs and cts can also get frostbite, bring your critters in and keep them warm.

As for the gift cards - one more way for govt to turn people into sheeple and at a cost to all of us. Though on another note do you think this will turn more people into preppers or at least a lesson to some. Will people use this as lessons learned?