With Hurricane Irene behind us, the citizens of Scituate have learned a lesson: how heavily we rely on technology. Facebook, down! Cell phones, dead! Xbox, offline! DVR, not recording! What is there to do when there is no power? Here are some tips the next time a hurricane rolls around.
The first step to having a great power outage comes the night before the storm. Make sure that you charge all electronics you own.  Cell phones, iPods, laptops, portable DVD players, Game Boys and anything that has an electric charge outlet. The purpose of this charging process is to guarantee a few hours of electronic entertainment the next day. When the power goes out you are ready to have some form of electronic entertainment for the longest time possible.
Another helpful tip during a power outage is to breakout something that entertained you as a kid. For example, the night before charge your old Game Boy and play some Pokemon.
If and when all of your electronic entertainment dies, don’t mope around. This is a time for quality time with the people you are stuck in your house with. Go through old photo albums or break out the board games. Nothing strengthens a strong relationship with the people you are with then a nice game of Monopoly by the candlelight. Senior Kathryn Neil said “To keep myself busy, I played cards with my friends.” Senior Megan Rafferty, spent time with her friends during the power outage. “We had a bonfire with good conversation to pass the time.”
If the storm has passed, but the power is unfortunately still out, there are still plenty of new things to do. When you can safely venture outside, this is a time to get exercise after for sitting at home for the last 24 hours. Not only is getting exercise good for the body, you can see what damage has been done, what trees have fallen, if stores are open and if anyone else has power. This way if you find out a friend has power, you can use their house to charge your phones and items. Kathryn Neil also commented that when she was not at her home she was at a friends house who had power. “It kept me from going insane from boredom.”
Many people have been deeply effected by this hurricane. Except for Senior Mac Neil who said when asked what he did during the power outage, “I never lost my power.”