The coleman dual burner propane stove is probably the one stove everyone should have, it's almost like an icon in the camping world. But if you only plan on using it as an emergency stove indoors, and not as a normal camping stove, here's another option to consider

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BVC...G5Y327HZYZ9VVG3

You can find these stoves in a lot of the asian supermarkets as they're used for tabletop cooking. They're cheap and easy to use, you can go from opening the box to cooking in under 10 seconds. Just load the canister, flip a switch and turn the dial it's ready to start cooking. It self ignites so you don't even need matches or a lighter. Fuel bottles are less than a buck, and last for a few hours. Big 5 and other sporting goods stores sell the exact same thing, but at somthing like 3x the price.

I will sometimes pick this stove over the dual burner coleman for short camping trips. It's small, light and completely self contained, so if I'm not planning on doing a whole lot of cooking for a lot of people this stove is much easier. The downsides are it doesn't get as hot as propane, and there's no windscreen. You can use the case stood on end as a makeshift windscreen, but indoors it won't even be an issue. As a bonus they make a great second burner during a BBQ, like for boiling water or heating up a frying pan of something.

Butane does have some disadvantages compared to propane (i.e. cold weather and high altitudes), but since you live in San Diego I can't think of a more perfect place for butane. I don't know the exact shelf life of butane, but I've used 20 year old cannisters on another stove with no issue, so I'm guessing it's pretty long.