Gustav – Day Six

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Electric power and air conditioning are still working fine. We take these conveniences for granted until they are no longer available.

In the general Baton Rouge area, the overall situation is considerably improved. More and more houses have electric power although many – perhaps even most -- are still without power. More gasoline stations are open and waiting lines are virtually non-existent.

Now we have Hurricane Ike to worry about. My wife and I decided to restock today in anticipation of Ike. We bought groceries and general supplies. I bought $85 worth of gasoline for the generator. $85! How times have changed! I was happy to get the gasoline.

Although many stores and businesses are closed, I did a bit of shopping. Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Lowes and Home Depot are open and doing a brisk business. All have generators. Roughly $800 for a 5500 watt generator – somewhat the same as my own. Interestingly, no stores have large gasoline cans. I saw several people buying a generator and a “bubble pack” of six two gallon gas cans.

The general operating procedure with a generator is to power a refrigerator, a small window unit air conditioner, several fans, a few lights and a radio. If you also have a freezer or two window air conditions then you alternate between those units. Gasoline consumption is roughly six to eight gallons per 24 hours of operation.

I finished the day by doing more yard work but some of this was routine. I’m ready for routine.
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