Work pimps are always ready for disasters
So, you come to this blog and expect Scot and I to have pithy words of pimpiness for you everyday, then I drop off the face of the planet. What happened? Snow. Lots of snow (for Southern BC 10 in / 25 cm at least). When you live in a semi-rural area, on an Island, in a part of Canada that only gets one or two snowfalls a year, yes this is a recipe for disaster. Needless to say I had no power from Sunday afternoon until this morning (the two hours of power teasing last night doesn’t count in my book). Also needless to say I was less than productive during this time, but there are work lessons here. Beyond being prepared for emergencies (we are told to be prepared for three days on our own), how about some work pimps.
First, when it looks like you’re going to have weather that could interrupt things, make sure all the batteries on laptops, cell phones, and PDAs are charged. This is not the time to curl up on the coach and watch a DVD on battery power.
Next make sure you have a regular old plug in phone. Remember cordless phones are just door stops without power. Don’t count on your cell phone. With the bad weather cell reception at my house, and on Island generally, went to nil.
If you do lose power, try to get messages out to co-workers. Avoid the laptop if at all possible. I sent e-mails from my Blackberry for this (sparingly). I try to not use my laptop unless it’s really important, and when I do I disable the WiFi and turn the screen down to maximize power time.
I used lots of tricks to keep going. Charging phones and computers from car adapters, plugging into any socket I could find, etc. I did wind up draining my laptop dry yesterday, though. I needed to get online and used my Blackberry as a modem. So not only was the machine on battery power and chugging, the Blackberry was trying to recharge itself via USB. Yeah this didn’t last long, but I was able to get what I needed done.
You might be wondering about a UPS or generator. I’ve been toying with that idea too. I’m on the fence. A battery backup that would let me power the laptop and cable modem is pretty pricey. And hey, even work pimps need a vacation sometimes!
What are your survival tips for work when bad weather strikes?
Tags: emergency preparedness
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POSTED IN: General work pimps
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