Journal

[Lilaena De'Ville]

November 16 2012

Its unlikely that anyone will read this, or if they do they probably won't understand much of it. I just know there has to be a record kept.

Sorry about the splotches and messy writing. I'm used to typing on a keyboard. <strike>Nothi</strike> None of those anymore! Well, there are, but they don't work.

So. Sunspots. Who would have thought! There's a lot of sciency <strike>technbabbly</strike> technobabble to explain what happened, and I hope someone else is keeping track of that because i can only say what i know happened. There was a lot of unusual solar activity predicted because of the sun's magnetic cycle coinciding with its 11 year super sunspot activity cycle for the end of 2012 thru 2013. Hurf durf, 2012 wow really? Even though I guess NASA warned us no one really took it all that seriously.

THEY SHOULD HAVE THOSE BASTARDS.

Well, the military was prepared, but I guess they're always prepared for anything. They even still have vehicles I hear, though they won't be out and about until after the solar flare <strike>activitty</strike> activity settles down. Sometime next year I guess. Anyway, so the sunspots are bad and they cause (? create?) solar flares. There was a massive one a few days ago.

Had the effect of a huge EMP going off, knocking out all the power on the daylight side of Earth. Which <strike>boggled</strike>boggles the mind. Oh and not just the power - all the machines, anything that runs on any sort of battery or anything more computer based than a wind up watch. You get the basic idea. Instant dark ages.

Hence the paper and pen approach to this journal. Not a blog, a log. I think I'm sidetracked again.

Everything from I think about Japan to England was put into the dark. That would have been November 13th. GEE I wish everything I keep records of wasn't on a computer. And don't get me started on digital photos. I doubt the fireproof safe is keeping them safe, but then, you never know. We're not opening it until the flares are done, which might be - might NOT be for another year.

I gtg, kids are crying. Owen wants Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but of course can't watch any TV.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Nov 16th, continued

Wow, I started this off rather melodramatically didn't I? "Oh diary discoverer in the far and distant future, take the time to decipher this tome of utmost significance!" Anyway, the kids are taking their naps, so where was I?

The Americas got a bit of an advance notice on the solar flare storm or whatever it is. I believe (from what I've read in the past) that once a flare starts, the Earth only has about 8 minutes warning before the effects hit us. Generally those haven't been very dire in the past, but I guess this is one of those 'perfect storm' scenarios. I read a book like this once, called Solar Flare (I think?). One of my favorites.

We were up late watching the 11 o'clock news when they broke in and told us that there were massive power outages in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Cellular service had gone down. The internet was staggering to a halt (though it didn't go away completely until about 5 hours later). No one really knew what was happening, didn't guess the magnitude of it. Some talking heads said there was a massive <strike>sloar</strike>solar flare-up that had knocked out all the electronics on the sun-side of the planet, but NASA was on the case and we shouldn't panic.

However, like I said, I read a book like this like 15 years ago. I threw on my shoes and coat and headed to the store. I mean, it doesn't hurt to be prepared, right? We needed some things anyway, and Ty stayed with our three kids. I loaded up on bottled water and canned things, and diapers. And dog food. I even bought batteries, but I don't think I was thinking very clearly at that point - it got to the point where I was just grabbing stuff off the shelves.

WinCo was starting to buzz by the time I got to the check out, the workers were looking worried, but they dutifully rang up my purchases. I couldn't bag up my groceries fast enough, and I got home as quickly as I could.

Ty met me outside, he was talking to the neighbors from across the street. They weren't sure what was going to happen when the sun came up, but admitted it probably wasn't going to be good. Ty told me that shortly after I left the sat TV went out. Air channels were still up though, and they were broadcasting wall-to-wall news coverage. No one had gotten any word out of the day side of the planet in about two hours. I made some sort of joke about trans-Atlantic carrier pigeons.

We unloaded the Jeep and Ty took off. He'd pulled <strike>down the big coolers we use during camping out of the attic</strike>the big coolers we use for camping down out of the attic. I stacked up the water next to them, and was pretty glad all of a sudden that I got bit by the canning bug this summer. We are stocked up with all sorts of good things from our garden.

Ty was gone for hours. When he got back he picked up the Pontiac and our empty propane tanks and gasoline cans and left again. The Jeep was loaded for bear - generator, a shotgun, a .22 rifle and a handgun of some sort. Enough ammunition to see us through a zombie apocalypse. A bunch of liquor and lots of miscellaneous camping supplies. We just got paid a day or so previous, and we had some savings to dip into as well.

I found out later he was writing bad checks all over town. What a rascal! I officially do not approve, but all in all, I'm glad he was resourceful and didn't just start looting instead, which he told me was his first instinct. Hahaha!

When he got back the second time it was nearly 3 am and I was eating popcorn and watching local news. He'd filled up the propane tanks and gotten a few extras, plus all the gasoline he could carry. I am SO glad he wasn't in a car accident on the way home, that would have been a disaster. He also had pulled all the cash he could out ^of our accounts via<strike>of</strike> the ATMs and grocery store. Which was really smart again - because once all the computers and things got fried all the electronic records of our bank account were lost forever.

Sort of depressing. Like I said, we were just starting to get a bit of a savings account going, and now its all gone.

I called my family while I still could. Didn't get through to my mom and dad - they were sleeping - but I left a message that they probably weren't able to retrieve. Its hard to think about not being able to talk to them. Its not like we called each other every day or even every week - that's just not how my family does things - but to really be cut off for God alone knows how long... its rough. My hormones are overloading me emotionally as well, which just isn't fair.

Ty's walked up the street today to the Sheriff's office, to find out what he can about Portland's official situation. He does this every day and spreads the word to the neighbors. A lot of them are elderly and so we feel responsible for them.

Oh, I hear Olivia, must be time to feed her. I'll try to get back to this tomorrow.