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things
1. I don't post my dreams very often, but this one had a still-in-the-dream coda of "See, and you were thinking you didn't have anything fannish happening to post to DW, but now you do!" so
Anyway Covid was better enough that I was hosting a small local-fandom weekend con at my house (none of you were there, it was all old summer camp friends and customers from work, sorry), only it wasn't entirely my house, it was also sometimes Hogwarts, so it very rapidly became a mostly-Harry-Potter-themed weekend con, especially after J. K. Rowling showed up. But I should clarify that in dream!world, the last battle against Voldemort had actually ended in a bizarre magical accident that connected the two worlds and also resulted in copies of Harry and Luna being created and dropped in our world, only they had also splinched in a weird way that left Harry in a female body and Luna in a male body. Copy-Luna had just rolled with it and was off somewhere adventuring, probably cheerfully kicking the feet out from under all the more problematic elements of the muggle cryptozoology community, but Copy-Harry, upon discovering her existence, had gone to find Jo. Not about the gender stuff, he hadn't even started to process that yet, about the "Why did you make my entire life a torment in general" stuff, only to discover that they had a lot more in common than either of them expected and end up accidentally becoming best friends/life partners with her, with the result that they had spent the past ten years going on a beautiful gender journey together instead of wtfever happened with her in our world.
ANYWAY, that wasn't what the dream was about, it was mostly about the combined magic tutorial/tabletop RP/trivia game that it was traditional to play whenever Jo and Harry showed up to your informal weekend fan con (which happened a lot, this was the second time it had happened to me) which took about 16 hours to play through, so I was mostly worrying about getting the game set up and the fact that we were going to have to extend the con for another night. I did *try* to remember the rules of the game for y'all, but all I remember is that a) the trivia questions weren't specifically HP-related, b) everybody was required to have a creepy baby doll as an avatar so I had to dig out all my old dolls, and c) it was very fun. Everybody at the con traded Zoom contacts before they left so we could keep it going.
2. Update on the walls poll: To probably nobody's surprise, I decided I couldn't make myself buy paneling I would have to stare at for years without seeing it in person, so we masked up and braved the Lowe's and the Home Depot. Which is good, because it turned out they were all very ugly and lower-qualtiy in person, even the plain white. And also some of them that looked like the strips were vertical on the website where actually horizontal, which was no good. And the places that said they had the canyon stone and chalked wood in stock actually did not.
I ended up getting plain brown, which is in fact ugly, and was darker than I wanted, and flimsier than the old paneling, but at least it didn't clash with anything, was *generically* ugly instead of *specifically* ugly, and wasn't both cheap *and* overpriced. It appears that paneling at the quality point of the old paneling is no longer made - it's either super-expensive and super-heavy solid wood, or it's Masonite, they don't have finished cheap plywood stuff for consumer use. (I was almost tempted to just put up oriented strand board, because I think it's pretty, but they don't sell it finished and it's not easy to finish.) And when we replaced the furring strips we missed one, so there's a bit of paneling that's not fully flush on the edge, but I certainly don't care enough to tear it down and mess with furring strips anymore.
Anyway the brown should be paintable to something lighter, but that isn't happening in this phase of re-do, so I have time to ponder it.
(Also we though we had sealed up all the foundation leaks that resulted in us needing to replace the paneling, but just as we nailed the last bit up, we found another one. so that is a giant AUUGHH.)
3. - probably to late to get to the people who really need it now, but some advice for dealing with no heat in the house that I haven't seen in the other lists that are being passed around. (It's been on my mind since we've been working in the basement with no heat until the new baseboard heaters go in and we're prepping for another storm here.)
* You are basically camping in your house. If you have small tents that you can set up inside, and of course if you have cold-weather-certified sleeping bags, get them out. If you're never done cold weather camping you would be surprised how quickly the inside of even a cheap tent heats up from body heat once you are zipped in, and the airgap between the tent walls and the house walls acts as an insulation layer.
* If you don't have a tent, this is the time for blanket forts. Yes really. It helps. Those old canopy beds with the curtains around? Were meant for houses that got very cold overnight. If you can rig a blanket wall/roof around your bed or couch, do it! Otherwise, absolutely pull the couch cushions on the floor (to insulate under you) and drape blankets over the backs of chairs and snuggle everybody in it together. Or turn your largest closet into a tiny pillow-filled cabin and cover all the walls with blankets, sheets, or even clothes or paper if that's what you've got.
* Cover your head. Layer up. Stay dry. Wool is great, especially near the inner layers. Linen then wool then whatever else you can layer is ideal but use what you have.
* Eat high-energy - by which I mean high-fat - food. Backpackers will eat peanut butter by the spoonful, or sometimes even just drink cooking oil, before tucking in for a cold night. Tea with butter in it? An entire block of cheese? Mayonnaise sandwich? All of the hot dogs currently in your fridge, in one go? Your stock of emergency chocolate? Two pounds of mixed nuts? One bag of potato chips each? If you're eating some kind of gross melange based on whatever you could throw together without power, add a tablespoon of cooking oil per person, it won't make it *that* much grosser. You get the idea. All of the heat that you had previously counted on your heater to supply will have to be generated by your metabolism. Fuel it.
* When it's cold and there's no external heat, you alternate between bursts of activity, eating, and dozing while entirely wrapped up in blankets. You are now a squirrel in winter. Stash your pile of nuts next to the nest, and when you absolutely have to get out, run around doing physical activities like you are on overload and then dive back into the nest. This is not the time to plan to catch up on your reading or play cards; it might be the time to rearrange all your furniture though, or finally use that exercise equipment. (If you get sweaty, change into dry clothes quickly.)
* Candles - and oil lamps - put out a surprising amount of heat. No, the "candle space heater" thing won't really heat your room, but if you're burning them for light anyway, keep them (carefully!) close enough to warm your fingers over. You can also warm food over them (carefully!) Sterno is also fairly safe to burn indoors for cooking, if you have Sterno, and you can rig a burner to go over Sterno with any empty can that's bigger than the Sterno can.
* If you don't have candles or oil lamps, you can make a primitive oil lamp just by pouring some cooking oil into a small heat-resistant, non-flammable container (Pyrex, most ceramic dishes, stoneware, cast iron, etc.) with a piece of cotton string draped over the edge, floated on a cork, or suspended over the top with a wire stuck through it. The thicker the string the bigger the light; you can braid or twine it to make it bigger. Soak the cotton all the way up in the oil and then light it and you have our species' first artificial light source and mini portable stove. (Obviously this is more dangerous than a non-improvised one so be SUPER careful. Also don't burn ALL your cooking oil - eating it makes a more efficient heat source!)
(and yes, Sterno is basically slightly thicker Purell, but please don't tell anyone I told you to burn your hand sanitizer stash after it ends badly.)
* Get in touch with your neighbors. A good idea for all kinds of emergencies, but you can make sure each other are okay, trade supplies if someone is low on food/light/etc., and also there's a non-zero chance you have a neighbor with non-electricity-dependent heat who has just been waiting for this day and would love the chance to show off by inviting you in.
* Dry, with lots of blankets, plenty of high-energy food, and no wind, healthy adult humans (or subadults with adults to cuddle) should not be in real danger of hypothermia down to an ambient temperature below freezing. If any of those stop applying, that's when you start to really worry.
Anyway Covid was better enough that I was hosting a small local-fandom weekend con at my house (none of you were there, it was all old summer camp friends and customers from work, sorry), only it wasn't entirely my house, it was also sometimes Hogwarts, so it very rapidly became a mostly-Harry-Potter-themed weekend con, especially after J. K. Rowling showed up. But I should clarify that in dream!world, the last battle against Voldemort had actually ended in a bizarre magical accident that connected the two worlds and also resulted in copies of Harry and Luna being created and dropped in our world, only they had also splinched in a weird way that left Harry in a female body and Luna in a male body. Copy-Luna had just rolled with it and was off somewhere adventuring, probably cheerfully kicking the feet out from under all the more problematic elements of the muggle cryptozoology community, but Copy-Harry, upon discovering her existence, had gone to find Jo. Not about the gender stuff, he hadn't even started to process that yet, about the "Why did you make my entire life a torment in general" stuff, only to discover that they had a lot more in common than either of them expected and end up accidentally becoming best friends/life partners with her, with the result that they had spent the past ten years going on a beautiful gender journey together instead of wtfever happened with her in our world.
ANYWAY, that wasn't what the dream was about, it was mostly about the combined magic tutorial/tabletop RP/trivia game that it was traditional to play whenever Jo and Harry showed up to your informal weekend fan con (which happened a lot, this was the second time it had happened to me) which took about 16 hours to play through, so I was mostly worrying about getting the game set up and the fact that we were going to have to extend the con for another night. I did *try* to remember the rules of the game for y'all, but all I remember is that a) the trivia questions weren't specifically HP-related, b) everybody was required to have a creepy baby doll as an avatar so I had to dig out all my old dolls, and c) it was very fun. Everybody at the con traded Zoom contacts before they left so we could keep it going.
2. Update on the walls poll: To probably nobody's surprise, I decided I couldn't make myself buy paneling I would have to stare at for years without seeing it in person, so we masked up and braved the Lowe's and the Home Depot. Which is good, because it turned out they were all very ugly and lower-qualtiy in person, even the plain white. And also some of them that looked like the strips were vertical on the website where actually horizontal, which was no good. And the places that said they had the canyon stone and chalked wood in stock actually did not.
I ended up getting plain brown, which is in fact ugly, and was darker than I wanted, and flimsier than the old paneling, but at least it didn't clash with anything, was *generically* ugly instead of *specifically* ugly, and wasn't both cheap *and* overpriced. It appears that paneling at the quality point of the old paneling is no longer made - it's either super-expensive and super-heavy solid wood, or it's Masonite, they don't have finished cheap plywood stuff for consumer use. (I was almost tempted to just put up oriented strand board, because I think it's pretty, but they don't sell it finished and it's not easy to finish.) And when we replaced the furring strips we missed one, so there's a bit of paneling that's not fully flush on the edge, but I certainly don't care enough to tear it down and mess with furring strips anymore.
Anyway the brown should be paintable to something lighter, but that isn't happening in this phase of re-do, so I have time to ponder it.
(Also we though we had sealed up all the foundation leaks that resulted in us needing to replace the paneling, but just as we nailed the last bit up, we found another one. so that is a giant AUUGHH.)
3. - probably to late to get to the people who really need it now, but some advice for dealing with no heat in the house that I haven't seen in the other lists that are being passed around. (It's been on my mind since we've been working in the basement with no heat until the new baseboard heaters go in and we're prepping for another storm here.)
* You are basically camping in your house. If you have small tents that you can set up inside, and of course if you have cold-weather-certified sleeping bags, get them out. If you're never done cold weather camping you would be surprised how quickly the inside of even a cheap tent heats up from body heat once you are zipped in, and the airgap between the tent walls and the house walls acts as an insulation layer.
* If you don't have a tent, this is the time for blanket forts. Yes really. It helps. Those old canopy beds with the curtains around? Were meant for houses that got very cold overnight. If you can rig a blanket wall/roof around your bed or couch, do it! Otherwise, absolutely pull the couch cushions on the floor (to insulate under you) and drape blankets over the backs of chairs and snuggle everybody in it together. Or turn your largest closet into a tiny pillow-filled cabin and cover all the walls with blankets, sheets, or even clothes or paper if that's what you've got.
* Cover your head. Layer up. Stay dry. Wool is great, especially near the inner layers. Linen then wool then whatever else you can layer is ideal but use what you have.
* Eat high-energy - by which I mean high-fat - food. Backpackers will eat peanut butter by the spoonful, or sometimes even just drink cooking oil, before tucking in for a cold night. Tea with butter in it? An entire block of cheese? Mayonnaise sandwich? All of the hot dogs currently in your fridge, in one go? Your stock of emergency chocolate? Two pounds of mixed nuts? One bag of potato chips each? If you're eating some kind of gross melange based on whatever you could throw together without power, add a tablespoon of cooking oil per person, it won't make it *that* much grosser. You get the idea. All of the heat that you had previously counted on your heater to supply will have to be generated by your metabolism. Fuel it.
* When it's cold and there's no external heat, you alternate between bursts of activity, eating, and dozing while entirely wrapped up in blankets. You are now a squirrel in winter. Stash your pile of nuts next to the nest, and when you absolutely have to get out, run around doing physical activities like you are on overload and then dive back into the nest. This is not the time to plan to catch up on your reading or play cards; it might be the time to rearrange all your furniture though, or finally use that exercise equipment. (If you get sweaty, change into dry clothes quickly.)
* Candles - and oil lamps - put out a surprising amount of heat. No, the "candle space heater" thing won't really heat your room, but if you're burning them for light anyway, keep them (carefully!) close enough to warm your fingers over. You can also warm food over them (carefully!) Sterno is also fairly safe to burn indoors for cooking, if you have Sterno, and you can rig a burner to go over Sterno with any empty can that's bigger than the Sterno can.
* If you don't have candles or oil lamps, you can make a primitive oil lamp just by pouring some cooking oil into a small heat-resistant, non-flammable container (Pyrex, most ceramic dishes, stoneware, cast iron, etc.) with a piece of cotton string draped over the edge, floated on a cork, or suspended over the top with a wire stuck through it. The thicker the string the bigger the light; you can braid or twine it to make it bigger. Soak the cotton all the way up in the oil and then light it and you have our species' first artificial light source and mini portable stove. (Obviously this is more dangerous than a non-improvised one so be SUPER careful. Also don't burn ALL your cooking oil - eating it makes a more efficient heat source!)
(and yes, Sterno is basically slightly thicker Purell, but please don't tell anyone I told you to burn your hand sanitizer stash after it ends badly.)
* Get in touch with your neighbors. A good idea for all kinds of emergencies, but you can make sure each other are okay, trade supplies if someone is low on food/light/etc., and also there's a non-zero chance you have a neighbor with non-electricity-dependent heat who has just been waiting for this day and would love the chance to show off by inviting you in.
* Dry, with lots of blankets, plenty of high-energy food, and no wind, healthy adult humans (or subadults with adults to cuddle) should not be in real danger of hypothermia down to an ambient temperature below freezing. If any of those stop applying, that's when you start to really worry.
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Hee! If only!
Oh noooooo! That sucks (and is basically my doing-stuff-to-the-house nightmare) -- I'm so sorry!
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I popped the relevant bit of paneling up without disassembling everyhing, and wodged sealant all over the leaky place, so we're letting it cure and we'll see if it lasts through tomorrow's storm. We probably actually need to dig up the outside of the foundation, but I don't want to, and that might actually make it worse anyway, because the outside of the foundation has a clay layer around it as sealant that I don't think we could put back. There is a reason I made all my design choices around the idea that there would be leaks.
Ugh, home ownership.
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(Also, very cool dream!)
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I also left out the stuff that I *was* seeing in other lists, so this leaves out a lot of the basics that are covered elsewhere. Other than managing your food supply well and filling your tub with toilet-flushing water, the most important overall thing is that 95% of the time it's not that serious.
Probably the power and water will come back on before you need to go this far, but you don't want to be making that call and digging around for supplies when it's already 39 deg in the bedroom and your judgement is off and your fingers are numb, so figure out your plan before it gets that bad - at what indoor temp is it time to dig out the tent? - and stick to the plan as long as you can.
That was the big thing with camping in places where the days were okay but the nights were frigid, which I didn't really understand until I'd done it - once the sun goes down *all* you will be able to concentrate on is trying to get and then stay warm, so what do you need to make sure is ready in camp before you hit that point?
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OK I laughed out loud at that!