Winter Tech Tips to Make It Through Our Historic Texas Artic Blast

 Winter Tech Tips to Make It Through Our Historic  Texas Artic Blast

If you have not heard or maybe you are not from Texas, Texas currently went through (still going through) a historic Texas winter blast. It has been tough, but there has been some silver linings in it all.

Some in our state had no power at all, some in our state had rolling outages that were one hour on and two hours off, some in our state had rolling outages that were fifteen to twenty minutes on and fifteen to twenty minutes off, and some in our state had power unless something went down. It was all different depending where you were on the grid, and each day was a little different with times.

I have learned some lessons, and I have read different articles that I want to share.

Tech Tips:

1. Charge your cell phones when you can.

During the rolling outages, charge your cell phone. This way if you  have an emergency, you can call out. 

2. Use your car to charge your cell phones or other small devices.

Your cars have enough battery to keep your cell phones charged while you are out of elecricity. Just remember to start your car outside of your garage (never run your vehicle inside your garage).

3. Use those power banks you got three Christmas gifts ago. Those power banks and extra chargers can save you when the power goes out for an extended time. My husband got a mophie for Christmas, and it never lost charge during the roll outs.

4. Use a power surge on your devices when you can. The rolling outages take a strain on your devices, so use your power surge to keep your laptop, cell phone, and hot spot charged and safe. 

5. Hot spots work better if your outages are short durations of time. I found that my hot spot (when I conserved my data) was more effective than relying on my wifi to turn on for ten minutes before the power went out. 

My Other (Non-Tech Tips):

6. Check on your friends, family, and neighbors. It was so good to hear from my friends, family, and neighbors during this crazy time. It kept us all connected, and we learned so many tricks and tips from each other. I have heard of neighbors giving neighbors fire wood to burn in their fireplace, neighbors giving each other water, apple juice, and whatever else was needed, and neighbors helping others with busted pipes, and more. 

7. Learn where your water shut off is located and how to turn it off. This is different for every house, but find out where your water shut off is and how to turn it off because you never know if you will have to turn it off at a minute notice. 

If you have taken care of the essential, then-

8. Get out and walk. I was getting stir crazy, and not being able to do much with no elecricity, it helped to just get out and walk around in the sunshine. Please do it carefully; we heard of so many falls- stick to the grass and try to avoid sidewalks and roads. 

9. Read and play board games with your kids. If you have light during the day, read that book that you have been putting off to read. Text your librarian for suggestions, if you have a short enough power to download an eBook on your phone; I promise they have suggestions for everyone in your family. At night, get the candles out and play that board game you never have time to play with your kids. We had to dust off the Monopoly game we had sitting in the closet, but man we had fun.

*I have probably left off a lot more, but this is what I have learned so far.  Please share what you have learned that can help others; I will add it to this post. This was written during the rolling outage "on" time.