It is a known part of Major Spoilers lore that we are headquartered in Kansas, a state known for The Wizard of Oz, tornadoes, and not a whole lot else. Long-time podcast listeners may recall the episode where Stephen and Rodrigo were forced to take cover from a severe storm DURING the show, but what many non-natives don’t know is that we usually have warnings of severe storms hours, if not days, in advance. Today is expected to be a plethora of severe weather tornadoey goodness, and as such (since I live in an unincorporated annex of the city that used to be base housing for the defunct Air Force installation) I am preparing for what to do when the power inevitably goes out. The child and I have made sure the laptop battery is charged for any emergency Gokaiger watching, and our storm preparedness crate is at the bottom of the stairs in case we decamp to the basement…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) takes a long holiday, letting the children play, but will not be giving the man a ride because he’ll just steal our brand-new Instamatic, asking: What pop culture, games or whatnot do you use to stay occupied during inclement weather?
I live in Texas, and California before that, so extreme weather to the point of losing power is a rarity. When it has happened I usually read (graphic novels or actual novels) or use my smart phone.
We don’t get much in the way of severe weather except for winter snow storms (often) and, every once in a while, a dust storm. Sometimes these do trigger power outages, but more often it’s some drunk driving into a power pole that’s the problem. Last winter I played through the DragonQuest series of games on my DSi, the battery life of which can last for several days playing off and on or about 7hrs. straight. Don’t know what I’ll play this winter if the power goes out except, perhaps, Animal Crossing. What I usually do, however, is read. Last winter I read Patrick O’Brian’s novels (Master and Commander, etc.) which were a very good read, and David Weber’s Honor Harrington series, which are also excellent.
Monopoly is the family game of choice for blackouts. But if I’m on my own, I bust out a GN I like – lately, it’s been the new Sailor Moon volumes.
We take turns reading from my collected edition of The Hitchhikers Guide trilogy by flashlight. It keeps the evil storm spirits at bay.
People should do this more often
Usually a long game of Risk if we have the people. If we don’t, then I usually play Gameboy.
If I’m alone, my DS games (power was out this morning for a few hours and I got a bit further in Pokemon Black 2) and reading (or re-reading). Sometimes I just sit and watch my cat and bunny play together.
If others are here and want to do something together (such as if my goddaughter is here) we play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, Star Wars Monopoly, chess or checkers, or sometimes we have a quick mock RPG session. I always keep a couple sets of gaming dice in my wheelchair pocket along with a little “lite” stat binder.
Games wise, I play Fallout 3 or New Vegas, or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Outside of games, I usually watch anime, or occasionally go and research various topics that seem interesting. Like matthew I sometimes find myselfhaving multiple wikipedia pages open in one window.
Storms bring me back to my old love of AM talk radio.
Whenever the power goes out, we use that time to make a flashback episode. Saves so much money and fans get a “new” episode too!
Remember that time you posted about making a flashback episode? I remember it like it was about half an hour ago….