Cash is still king, in a crisis...
I am typing now by candle light. I live on the East coast in Savannah and we just got clobbered by hurricane Matthew.
I love Bitcoin,Steem and various other crypto-currencies. I think that they really are the "internet of money". However, they are not very practical in real world scenerios. When the power is off and there's no internet, it is useless! Similarly however, debit cards only work with the power grid operational. This all really hit home the last few days.
It's been really tough just having fresh food to eat and keeping things edible! I rode for over an hour yesterday, following Facebook leads on which stores had ice. I finally managed to find some on the tenth stop. It had taken just as long to get gas earlier ,as most stores were out completely and the one's that had it, had vehicles lined up at the pumps and waiting to turn in.
Back to my ice search...I went bouncing inside the store all happy and was met with a handwritten note at the counter, CASH ONLY. I about lost it! There's no banks open, no ATM's working and the stores debit/credit card processer is on and looks to be working.
Mr. Patel, the clerk, uncaringly just shrugs and walks away. I went to my truck and started digging around for change. I had just robbed all the quarters at the bar the other night, feeding the pool table. All I could find was nickels and dimes. I managed to accumulate $5 worth and went back inside. This joker rolled his eyes and acted like he didn't want the change! He could see my displeasure I'm sure and reconsidered and mumbled "OK". I paid him very slowly, counting the change out and got two small bags of precious ice!
Now able to ice my cooler of sandwich meat and leftovers, I felt a little better and decided to ride over to my son's house, @jpiper20, and see if they had their power restored yet. They hadn't, so I topped his cooler off with a little ice as well. We talked a minute and he says that word is that Kroger is open!
I take off and they are open, but there's no lights on inside and people are lined up for days! I get in line and am immediately warned by others that it's guess what? CASH ONLY! Oh well, back to the ham sandwiches and tuna.
On the way back, I passed a little wing joint that was open! 520 Wings, a local place that I had never tried. I whipped in and luckily got a parking spot as someone was leaving. I step inside and there are at least 100 people lounging about the place. All looking impatient and looking at me a little funny. It's then that I realize that I am the only white person there! Everyone all turned out to be nice and friendly and they even took my debit card! The down side, it took an hour and twenty minutes to get an order of wings and fries! But I tell you one thing, those were some awesome ass wings!
I went back to work today after being off since Thursday at lunch and most places began to open back up as well. We had electricity, but no internet! No one can get into work emails or the server to send work orders, so we can't do anything really. So everyone pitched in and we cleaned up damage from the storm and went out back and cleaned up where the roof had blown off. It's lunch time by then and everyone wants to go to Taco Tuesday at a Mexican place just down the street. It was incredible and we get a call from the office while we're there that the internet is back on. Awesome! Things are starting to feel normal again! I worked until 5:30 and hurried home, certain that my power would be back on. Nope, it's not! Luckily, I had taken my laptop to work and charged it. That's how I'm able to post now, using it and a hotspot from my cellphone.
I hope this night, the sixth straight night in darkness, is the last! It could be worse, I know, and am very grateful for what I do have. Some nearby neighbors, were completely flooded out and others had trees fall across their house,truck and boat!
Things will be back to normal in a few more days for me, but many others will be weeks recovering, if ever!
Please friends, keep everyone on the east coast in your prayers.
Oh @pipertomcat!!! Glad to learn that you and your family has made it through the hurricane. You have confirmed that we all need to be better stocked-up to get through rough times like these. I know it's going to take quite a bit of time for the area where you live to recover. Thanks for reporting on the current state of affairs on the ground. :)
You're welcome, and yes I was very poorly prepared, there's a generator in my future for sure!
I think that is worthy of another blog post.
What would you do differently, now that you have experienced a natural disaster first hand?
(Buy a generator.
Have lots of small bills and change on hand.
Buy a 12 v cooler or fridge to save perishables.)
I'd like to read about the list of things you needed, what you wished you had and what solutions you came up with on the fly.
When I saw your picture of the cars and people lined up, I thought "Yeah, I wouldn't want to stand in a line-up of people waiting to get into a grocery store to buy a can of soup.
Your first hand experience is valuable. :)
yes for sure, this post got no love, hard to stay motivated for 3 cents,haha, I will follow with another post like you suggest,regardless,just for you,thanks!!
I have no words for "why" your work isn't being read.
It's exceptionally valuable and is a wake-up call for all of us.
We have experienced some wicked ice storms in the past. A generator and a store of gas are key things that can definitely make one's life easier.
Your 3 cent posted has kicked my butt. We have gotten complacent in my household and we need to replenish our inventory of gas and coin, which we will do by weeks end. Thank you for kicking my butt with 3 cents of steem. LMAO
surprised this post didn't earn more?
i think it's great
thanks for sharing
They've shunned me as of late because I defended my son's post that they were picking apart for no good reason. It's apparently like every other aspect of life, you have to be in the "click" or kiss ass I guess. I post too emotionally and truthfully and it pisses whales off. Go figure if that's not it....thanks for reading and your kind words. I really haven't been getting any return for my time invested posting lately,that's for sure!
wow, glad you made it ok and sorry for all those folks who are still struggling! these are great reminders, thank you!