So if the power went off (indefinitely) how long would you last on the basis of what you have in the house?

[atticusclaw]

So the power's gone off. Everything is suddenly dead, shops can't sell you anything since the electronic tills don't work, petrol pumps don't work, lifts don't work, traffic lights don't work, tap water won't last for long since the pumps won't work, mobile phones won't work, gas/electric heating won't work (and most oil and solar systems also need mains electricity to make them work unless they're off grid systems) - MN won't work!!

How long could you last with what you have?

There are no zombies, this isn'"t necessarily a "top yourself now - who would want to live?" scenario since the power could be restored at any time….or it could last months…

NO!

Cats would taste awful, though I suppose you might not care at that point.

I could shoot the fecking pigeons in my garden... Roast them on the BBQ and eat the veg from my veggie patch that the buggars had not tried to get to before me.

Ok reporting first casualty of this hypothetical how long you would last if the power went off.
After ordering loads of survival items after being inspired by this thread, a utility knife came today and I was trying to see what things it did but struggling to push the tool things out I managed to push the knife out into my finger!

To say I'm annoyed is an understatement as the bloody first aid refill packs I ordered haven't come yet!! So I'm patching my finger up with Disney plasters.

Just realised I'm the one who dies first in films for doing something stupid like checking out what a knife can do and end up stabbing myself

exmrs - I don't know whether to laugh or cry along with you.

I hear that seagulls taste fishy. There are too many where I live.

I also hear that you can substitute rabbit for cat. Rabbit tastes fine.

Not at all, exmrs. The one who stabs themselves doing something stupid lacking in insight is the one who develops gangrene and has to be left alone in the wilderness with a can of soup and a spluttering fire while the rest of the group move on.

You die about fourth.

At least they won't eat you.

Lweji

You bury gannets in the sand for a couple of days before roasting to remove any wrong taste. I'm sure it would work for seagulls also.

Assume you draw the gannets first

Even so, there are going to be some dodgy innards around (for a multitude of reasons) if the balloon goes up. Our gut flora and immune systems are probably different these days to a few hundred years ago.

Anti-diarrhoea meds should probably be in everyone's rucksack just in case.

Gannets would probably work quite well in a paella

Hah!

You get to catch the prawns.

Aren't woodlice just land prawns on a smaller scale?

Gone off the idea of paella now :(

I'll confess that I'm fascinated to hear what you'll substitute for rice, Stratter5. I suggest that if you join a group after the balloon goes up, you don't put yourself forward as the chef.

Rice is rice, unless it's orzo. Hugh Featherystroker Whittingstall made a quiche with woodlice in it, same episode as placenta pate iirc.

I put our case of water, spare packs of batteries and candles from our Cyclone Pam preperation in the attic space along with one tin of beans and one tin of rice pudding.

I sincerely hope the power stays until I have a bit more up there. I'll last 10minutes if I'm lucky at this rate.

Be careful with the tinned goods and water? Attics can get very hot, which leads to spoiling.

We're coming into winter in a house with no insulation. The attic space is like a freezer at this time of year. Will think about where to store it for summer though.

Gosh yes ours is also like an ice bucket. I am going to fill it with loo roll though. You don't want to be facing the apocalypse with no loo roll.

Stones, atticus, stones. (Prreferably with a fairly flat side to them.)

Oooo! chilly on the bits!

Don't bother with woodlice.

I ate one by accident once and it was bitter. Ugh.

I am reading The Knowledge. It's fascinating, so thank you v much, recommenders. What I'm finding most fascinating is that an awful lot of this material was covered at my school under the guise of science (which of course it is, only I'm sure it was never on the curriculum). I'm about 100 pages in and hadn't covered any of the stuff about batteries and electricity generation but have nodded in recognition about everything to do with lime and soap and a lot of other stuff too. I wonder if they thought we were facing potential nuclear war or something. It was clearly dinned into us as I remember loads of it thirty years on.

Ooh, I've got that on order, sounds like it's going to be a good read.