When the lights go out...

Alot of bands write songs in the dark.

Come up with the next greatest ever song? :D

oh, but acoustics look so nice by candle or campfire light :)

Three days is a long time without electricity in any weather, let alone winter! Hope your weather has been as unseasonably mild as ours has been the past few days. Would at least make a cold house somewhat more tolerable.

We've been running around without coats, let alone mittens or gloves, and the grass is green. Definitely not normal for January.

Margaret

Lucky you had that acoustic. This reminded me of a storm last year when lighning hit our house or some electricity lines leading to our house. A lot of eletrical equipment got fried, like the TV, VCR, computers graphic card, the computer screen and the DSL modem. The first thing I did when I heard the thunder was to pull out the cord to my guitar amp and the multi-fx. Just 5 minutes later the lightning hit. Still, I could use my electric guitar, but I didn't have any internet for a month after that! Always unplug all the electric cords when you hear thunder.

The weather is weird here in Sweden too. Usually it's like -5 degress Celsius and half a meter if snow. Now it's 5-10 degrees and it rains instead.

oh, but acoustics look so nice by candle or campfire light :)

Too true! I had this realization that the importance of music in the life of a musician way back before the advent of electricty must have taken on a whole new meaning. Without television, the internet, or even radios, once the light of day was gone, I can only guess that making music would have been one of the greatest comforts to a not-so-modern-day musician. Kinda cool :smile:

Glad your electric is back on, how did you stay warm? :shock:

Back in the 70s they had a big gas shortage, you were only allowed to buy gasoline on certain days of the week according to whether the last digit on your license plate was even or odd. Also, all the gas stations were closing around 5 P.M. You were limited on how much you could buy as well.

It got so bad for awhile that we would take a few hours off in the middle of the workday just to get gas. It was not unusual to wait 2-3 hours in very long lines to get gas.

Anyway, I used to always bring my acoustic on those days I had to get gas. I would sit on the hood of my car and play while in line. Sometimes people even came up and joined in singing.

Acoustics can really be handy sometimes. :D

Wes,
That's a pretty cool story! I'm sure you're playing not only kept you entertained, but might have also helped keep the mood light in a situation that might have easily snapped under the frustration that usually comes along with those scenarios.

As for heat, we had a kerosene heater that kept one room nice and toasty. Other than that, it was just lots and lots of blankets.

Wow! Down here we have been very warm for this time of year! Glad to hear everything is back in order though! A MicroCube would have worked perfectly in your situation! The batteries last for a long time too!

Jason

you got it jason, i bought a micro cube just for that, i put a guitar strap on mine, so i can jam while i walk my dog, people look at me like i'm an idiot 8)

We had a tiny windstorm up here in the Pacific Northwest. We were luckier than many (only w/o power for 36 hours), but my son and I pulled out our acoustics for the first time in ages and played for the family and some neighbors. It was fun. I've put the acoustic on my guitar stand and I playing it several times week. I forgot how much I liked it.

you got it jason, i bought a micro cube just for that, i put a guitar strap on mine, so i can jam while i walk my dog, people look at me like i'm an idiot 8)

:D :D :D

Great idea. I love slightly eccentric solutions!
We had a huge icestorm this last week where I live and the power was out for a little less than 3 days.

Ouch, that must have caused quite a few problems round the house. :( We sure are dependent on electricity these days.

We quite often get power loss here - because of falling tree branches etc, and I finally got sick of it and bought a generator. Always fancied one, so it was a good excuse... Now I just go out there and start the motor, and switch the house over to our own power. Can't run everything at once, but it keeps the lights, fridge, freezer, amps and computers running. :)

Cheers,

Chris

Wow! Down here we have been very warm for this time of year! Glad to hear everything is back in order though! A MicroCube would have worked perfectly in your situation! The batteries last for a long time too!

Jason

I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I just might have to finally go for it.

Rocker, that's hilarious! I love it when people aren't afraid to show their love of music.

Chris, those generators do come in handy. Some of the more rural towns around here won't be getting full power back for an estimated 3 weeks from the ice-storm, so they're brining in these massive diesel generators. They're something like 2 million watts and they guzzle 80-100 gallons of diesel every hour. I couldn't believe it! There's one town I was reading about in the paper that have 4 of them already and a 5th on the way (they got hit really hard). It's a town of about 6,000, yet the generators still only provide enough electricity for the basics: water heater, heating, minimal lighting, etc. I'm definitely counting my blessings!

you got it jason, i bought a micro cube just for that, i put a guitar strap on mine, so i can jam while i walk my dog, people look at me like i'm an idiot 8)

OMG it would be worth the drive just to see that....LMAO.

I've got a little Danelectro Honeytone that not only can run off a 9V battery, but came with a belt clip. If you want to be an electrified strolling minstrel, you can.