The Table Top Battery Powered Lantern

I shopped this weekend for a table top battery powered lantern.  I went to a couple of stores, and found one at Academy Sports.  It was a Coleman Lantern,  and it had a feature that was just the ticket:  when it is shut off, the battery drain stops, so the battery life is not effected while it is in storage.  And, it takes 4 D cell batteries, instead of the weird batteries my other battery powered lantern takes.  It was a little more expensive than I wanted to spend, but the battery drain feature will pay for itself.

Taki Likes to be Brushed

Earlier this year, I purchased two brushes for the cats.  One was for Haiku because she had become terribly matted.  She is still terribly matted, and hates being brushed, but the brush (or comb) does help with the mats.

What surprised me was that Taki loved to be brush.  She has thick, short hair, which really does not mat, but sheds incessantly.  Brushing has helped with the shedding.  Taki would sit on my lap and let me brush her for an hour or more, unusual for her.  She started wanting to jump on my lap, so I could brush her, even when, some days, little fur comes off of her.  She has also started just wanting to sit on my lap.

The other thing that has happened is that she is more social.  She used to hide away when I had someone in the house.  Now, when I have company, Taki comes out to visit the company, and sometimes, even smells them and lets them pet her.  Haiku has been good about that, and I am glad to see Taki being more social. 

I am not sure what brushing her has to do with her increased socialization, but I am pleased by it. 

Power Outage

On June 24, 2019, about 730 PM, the power went out.  We were experiencing an electric storm, and rain and hail, so this was not so unusual.  I was using the laptop, and although it was fully charged, I shut if off.  I moved into the living room and read for quite a while. I did not need a light, I just opened the blind.  

As it became dark, I dug out my flashlights.  I have an emergency light, that takes 6 D cell batteries, and everytime I replace them, the next time I try to use the light, the batteries are dead. So, I was able to continue reading by flashlight.

I have 2 camp lights, one fueled by propane, the other fueled by white gas.  I hate to use them inside, for several safety reasons:  the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning and the fire danger. If the cats got scared and started jumping around and knocked a lamp over, that would be a real problem.  I also have a battery powered camp light, which is not very bright and takes several strange batteries.  So, I dealt with flashlights.  I also pulled out a fresh package of batteries, in case the flashlights needed a re-charge.

As I was reading, I fell asleep.  I woke up about 9 PM, and was not at first sure if it was still evening or I had slept through to the next morning.  It was evening.  I could tell by the cell phone, and the sun setting in the west. 

After about an hour and a half, the power came on momentarily, and then went out again. What was really frustrating about that was the houses across the street to the north, and across the alley to the south had electric power.  

The power came on in my house about 10 PM. 

That was a somewhat surreal experience.  I have been through power outages before, and they are always a little surreal.  One of the good things in this day and age, is that I can check the outages on the Lubbock Power and Light website. I can also call them, and their automated line will indicate if if they are aware of the power outage in our area, and provide a call back when the outage is repaired.  I asked for the call back, but never got it.  I don't care,, the power was restored. 

So, I  decided I want a table top battery powered lamp, although power outages are few and far between. 

Blogging

I have not blogged in a long time, since January, in fact.  I have just not been very interested in that or many other things, but when a friend questioned me about blogging, I decided I was ready to start again.

I just needed a break.  So, we shall see how steadily I can blog after 5 months away from it.