Greetings from power deficient Oklahoma. Going on day three after the power went out Monday morning around 7:30 am. Some on my street have power..unsure of the genius that mapped out the neighborhood wiring.

Ok, home with my 10 yr old daughter and 2.5 yr old son. Not the ideal condition when power goes...especially when he was right in the middle of his favorite movie "Cars". Ok, portable DVD fired up movie continuing...10 year old fills bathtub, while the water was still running, I wasn't taking chances. I made sure standard water containers are all full. Out to the wood pile make several trips moving wood to the patio. Start fire in the fireplace...no time for fun and games..light the match, turn on the gas. After 10 minutes, fire is going without gas assistance, kids watching a movie. Lunch was heated up on one of my many camping stoves. Raman for her, some Chef Boyarde for him.

It was interesting to watch it unfold. Wife home from work early..no power at the hospital where she works. She stopped at the grocery store on the way home...hour wait in line. Nothing major, just some convienience items. She asks if she should stop for anything else..I get her home. So I am off to the store. Coweta(rural community just south east of Tulsa) has a Wal-mart and grocery store all closed tight..no power. Rumor of some Ace Hardwares open and selling in the dark, just keeping manual records. Hmmm...maybe I need to frequent the Ace hardware and make some friends. Most Tulsa Wal-marts closed no power. I drove to the one in Wagoner(30 miles away) thought I would grab a couple extra fuel bottles..had several, but you never know. Got the last 6 in the store, but it was surreal. Some Christmas shopping, one aisle over from people frantically gathering up candles for light. Flashlight aisle looked like it had just been erected..no lights to speak of. No lamp oil, lanterns or liquid fuel. Good thing I already had all that stuff.

Dinner quesidillas(sp) on the larger camp stove, refrigirated items on the patio...32 degrees.. wake up often to replenish the fire...gas hot water heater, so hot shower felt good.

Pretty much maintaining here..some items for thought.

The sound of large limbs coming off trees is disconcerting. The amount of wood supply on hand will probably last 5 days. Need more stocks for future. The water station never went offline, however several surrounding communities being asked to conserve water, one community has contaminated water. Interesting that within half a day..no chainsaws or generators to be had. Someone needs to slap the lady on the news (watched from my battery powered b/w) who keeps saying check our website for school closings...3/4 of Tulsa without power not to mention surrounding communities. Food really not that much of an issue. I always thought that would be the largest concern of my family..but really for the 10 year old and 2 year old it seems to be intertainment and with the wife it is really warmth. We ate because we were bored.

Oh well, just like camping in the living room, but my couch is not as comfortable as I thought.