The way a magician works is fairly simple but often overlooked.

1)Misdirection. All illusion requires that your don't look here but look here instead.

BUT... it also requires

2)Participation. That's right. An overlooked item you take for granted... one you don't even consider. Have you ever asked yourself "is there even a magic SHOW if there is no audience?"

That's right. You are the observer and while true, the talented magician wishes to MISDIRECT your attention, he still needs your ATTENTION in some respects.


We have had a lot of talk of a "dark winter."

We theorize on things such as

1)Food shortages
2)Power grid failures
3)Supply chain breakdowns to 3rd world levels.

I propose to you these these may all possibly happen but not in winter... instead this summer.

Whether it be weather modification or greta Thunberg (I will choose WM), we are seeing more extreme weather.

With lake mead lowering to drastic levels, combined with a possible man made long lasting heat wave this summer, I could make the case that THEN more than NOW is a great time to "cut the power".

Whether it be brownouts, rolling blackouts, or an all out failure of the grid in some parts of the country, the effects won't be fun.

Some things to consider:

1)Get yourself a small portables solar system. A 100 to 200 watt folding panel. MPPT charge controller, a LiFePo battery, and a small true sine wave inverter may be super handy.

These can power laptops, phones, fans, run a chest freezer. All things that do not require a massive amount of electricity but still will be great to have.

Those "all in one" solutions like a Jackery may be ok, but I feel for the price you can build a small system with much more capacity and modularity cheaper.

2)Fuel and Fuel Additives. If you can afford to full up some NATO jerry cans of fuel for your vehicle and rotate out or treat. Gas stations rely on electricity to pump, and sure while they can work off of IBGs (itty bitty generators), a lack of refining capacity, supply chain shortages, etc could make this a hard thing to come by.

3)Buy plenty of motor oil. Again for you oil generator, car, etc. I suspect a true DARK SUMMER event will have refinery capacity maxed while several of the transport services may be offline or dwindled.

4)Ways to stay cool and hydrated. I don't know if you tried to buy a small swimming pool last summer or the one before, or even a large stock tank, but they were next to impossible to get. Get one now in the winter. Fill it. Keep it clean, Small amount of chlorine. Gravity depending municipal water supplies rely on electric pumps to fill up. You may need to have water and during a dry hot summer not be able to readily get it.