Blew a fuse at 2am and realized my emergency kit was a lie

Honestly, this happened last Tuesday night. My apartment in Philly lost power during a storm and I went to grab my flashlight. Turns out the batteries in it were dead, had been sitting in there for like 3 years. The candles were gone too, I used them during a blackout back in June and never replaced them. So I'm stumbling around with my phone light, tripping over my cat. That moment made me sit down and actually inventory my whole emergency setup. I found expired meds, a first aid kit with nothing but band-aids, and a radio that had no batteries. I spent Saturday fixing it all, spent about $45 at the hardware store. Now I keep a checklist on my fridge. But here's my question: how often do you guys actually check your emergency stuff? Because I never did, and it definitely bit me.

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nancyn6927d ago

Three years? Girl, that’s impressive in the worst way. I had a flashlight with batteries that corroded and leaked all over the inside, so it was basically a green crusty mess. My cat also tripped me once during a blackout, that’s how I found out she sleeps on the stairs. Now I set a reminder on my phone for every six months, same time I check my smoke detector. That $45 sounds about right, I probably spent double because I bought a backup lantern too. Fixing it all feels good, but only until you realize you gotta do it again next year.