Lights were off....and nobody's home....

Well, Ionia County just finished a week that included power outages for about 13 thousand customers of Consumers' Energy.  The hum of generators echoed through many a neighborhood, and WION Radio was operating on its generator (at full power on both AM and FM) through the whole local emergency. 
 

This outage should-have, once again served to make an example of how prepared we SHOULD be for some basic small emergencies. I have a feeling, however that it did not. I base this on observations made while on the air at WION working, and by the calls we received...and those we didn't!
 

At least two local school districts, in their infinite wisdom relied entirely on electronic means to notify the public, if not their staffs of delays and closures.  Furthermore, one local school which serves its own website reportedly had internal failure of their system, and a third (according to a very upset caller)  would not answer its phones after repeated attempts to call.  Likely a symptom of the failure of an all-electic phone system.
 

As a guest to our studios noted, and I agree,  the use of digital/electronic notification may work in mid-winter when its a snowstorm building up on roads that causes a delay or closure. But, in a county with massive power outages, it is irresponsible for ANY organization to post its closures exclusively  via e-mail, text, TV and the internet.  It's an example of flawed-thinking.  At the height of our local outage, 13 thousand of the county's residents did not have access to electricity. The VERY SAME electricity that powers DSL modems, cable line-amplififers and cable TV, and also powers standard  "over the air" digital television sets. (There aren't many digital portable TV's in circulation, and those that ARE available have poor reception in our area.) 
 

It's time for residents of our area to take some responsibility. Responsibility for their own communications, their own emergency plans for similar situations, and.....in the case of schools and larger organizations, responsibility to those who put them in positions of authority. 
 

For schools, this means going back to the old "call the local media" with your information. In the case of WION, the owners receive phone calls 24/7, and the station is backed-up by an automatic generator. Most everyone in our county owns at least one or two radios, and if they don't they can sit in the car and get an update if necessary whether they have a battery radio, electricity, or not.  It makes NO sense for schools to rely solely on their information getting to the public via an internet that requires power in multiple locations, and TV that requires the cable system or the end-viewer to have power! This system failed miserably last week, as NO human communication came from any area school to WION AM and FM.
 

For families and businesses, it means having a PLAN. If your business is "dark" when the power's off, do you have flashlights? Rechargeable lanterns are wonderful, inexpensive, and come on when the power's off and are great for houses and businesses. The old fashioned "flashlight" can also become your best friend!   How about food in your home?  If you have an electric stove, what's the plan for feeding your family if that's your only way of heating food? If you have electric ignition on an LP or Natural Gas stove, can you light it safely by manual means? Have you tried?  And...here's a simple but overlooked one.....got an old-fashioned hand-crank can opener?  Do you and your kids know when to open the refrigerator/freezer and when not-to? Do you know how long certain foods can be kept safe during outages?  Great information is available from your county extension offices and the health department.

Our power outages lasted at the most around 48 hours in Ionia County. Roger Packard reminded us in his visit to WION during the height of the outage last Wednesday that autumn is prime season for more strong to severe weather activity, and...of course that winter with its ice storms and strong winds can re-create our outages very easily. 48 hours left people scrambling in businesses, homes, and schools.
 

With minimal time and minimal money invested, you CAN be better prepared. Keep food and water on hand.  Invest n a crank-powered or battery-powered radio. Don't expect Grand Rapids media to give a darn about Ionia County, they're too busy worrying about Kent county and their ratings. Tune-in to local radio. Don't assume your texts and e-mails are getting to your audience during an emergency, in fact, if you can.....go back to having ONE wired phone from a "real" bell system in your home or business, and you'll be thankful when you can still call 9-1-1.  Remember, that "magic jack" or "vonage" phone only works when there's power all along the network. Charter phone won't work when lines are down and power is out along the way outside your home. Think about these things when choosing and renewing your vital communications and less-vital entertainment services.
 

And finally, there are a few online resources you can access now that help later. WION placed a link to "ready dot gov" on our website's main page "info panel" for you to use. It goes deeper into addressing how to better prepare your home, family, and business for many kinds of emergencies.

Keep in mind, too..that the people who work in public service, at 9-1-1, the skywarn group, our local Amateur radio operators, Electric service, and others deserve our thanks. They're the ones "out there" while we're "in the dark"....and they're the ones risking their lives, at times to fix what mother nature brings our way, and rebuild our broken infrastructure. 
 

In this radio station owner's opinion, Ionia County got an "F" for "failure to be ready" in this last round of power outages. But, we ALL have time to plan and be ready for the next local emergency.  Plan. Now. And, remember, your cellphone/DSL/Cable and digital TV only work with the power "on"....so what's left to help you with information?  
 

Radio.  WION at 1430 AM and 92-7 FM.

 

Welcome to garage sale season, 2009. Officially, it got underway with Memorial Day weekend. UNofficially, it ends Labor day weekend, with those rare sales after that time being "gold" to us garage sale fans. But, to have good attendance at your next sale, please follow a few simple rules.

For those holding sales, please do this:

1)Make your signs very readable, very large, and NOT confusing. Do NOT make a sign like the one above, captured live in Ionia County, Michigan.

2) If you post hours you're open, STAY OPEN during them. There's nothing more irritating than chasing down what you think will be the holy grail of sales, to find it closed.

3) Price everything. Don't run an "ask us about pricing" sale. Rather, price things with room to negotiate, and allow your customers to ask for a better deal. Buyers don't know whether your sale is one to "get rid of it all" or, one to "make all the money I can, and if I don't sell it, so what!" Buyers want to know if your sale is an overall good deal or not.

4) Make sure everything is CLEAN and has its instructions, all parts, and is complete. If it's not, then label it as such, so your buyer knows of the honesty of your sale. Don't sell stuff that doesn't run, doesn't work, or isn't complete without telling your buyer.

For those attending sales, YOU have a responsibility, too:

1) Be polite. Don't look at something and insult it. If its not for you, so be it! If the price is too high, and you don't want to ask, then quietly move-on!

2) If you want a better price, don't say things like, "I'll give ya two bucks for this" when it's priced at $10. In other words, don't INSULT your garage sale operator. You're a guest in their garage. A better approach is always, "Is this your best price?" on a particular item, or..."Make me a deal on these things" when showing interest in multiple items. This usually works best.

3)Try NOT to park in such a way that others are blocked-in as you browse, and don't turn around on a lawn unless you ask first. I know this sounds basic, but...believe it or not, people do it.

4) It doesn't matter whether you're buying for a gift, for resale in a shop or on the 'net, or....for yourself. Don't blurt out things like, "I can re-sell this on Ebay"...or, "Wow"....what a deal. The seller may not know values on all their items. I've always maintained that if the seller sets the price and its low, you win. No matter what the intended use of the item.

This is the first of hopefully many random-topic blogs, some will be "lighter" than others, but...today, June 13th seemed a good day to start working with this new software for blogging and the new domain on the web where I can park these thoughts.

Have a successful garage sale season......and many more.