Lesson #10 Cash is king in a power outage. Carry some spare cash on your person or in your car. I simply keep $50 in $1 dollar bills in a sandwich baggie in the center console in my car, and I feed off that as required - $1s are useful exchange at the weekly farmer's market, and cash is an absolute after a power outage takes out the cash register, credit / debit card readers etc. Try it: when getting home, take any dollar bills and put them in a drawer, do that for a few weeks and see how many you have. Then put those in the baggie, and put that in your car, or keep them in the drawer for a rainy day. I like to keep them in my car because I'm often out and need a few bucks for lunch, the farmer's market, parking meters, etc etc.

Lesson #11 Keep your flexibility, patience, and a sense of humor. And maybe a calculator. The guy behind the check out counter is not your enemy. True story: my brother went into a store during an outage to buy some food. The check out clerk said I'm sorry, the register is down, we aren't selling anything. My brother offered cash, rounding up to the nearest dollar or two (the store would get their prices and may be a just a little more). I'm sorry, there's no way to verify the amount of your sale. My brother tallied up the prices marked *on the items* he wanted to buy, and added 10% (for local sales tax). I'm sorry the clerk said, I can't trust your totals. My brother pulled out his phone, and did the necessary calculations, with the clerk watching. Yes, I'll take your money - but it will mess up my register at the end of the day. At this point an exasperated octogenarian watching the entire exchange said something to the effect, 'oh for f*ck's sake, have you lost the ability to add, or were you never able to? Give him his crackers and cheese!" At which point the clerk gave in, accepted payment, and my brother went on his way.