When we were living with S.'s dad in upstate NY, Rush was on all. freaking. day., every. day. I'm not exactly grieving either.

Oh, Amy, I would not have handled that well.

Oof, I would not have dealt well with that either, Amy. Kudos for surviving with, like, zero homicide convictions. I'm assuming.

I love my electric tea kettle, and I did recently get a stovetop little cast iron tea kettle when my DH was having a tea phase. He's not in it anymore, but I love the little pot. Tea is fine if I don't have coffee, though. Or hot cocoa. I have to drink decaf for reasons, so the caffeine component is no more for me. And I like tea and hot cocoa independently of backup status.

There was no choice. That was a Fox News 24/7 household. ::shudders:: I pretty much lived in our bedroom every minute possible.

I love my electric kettle. But I also love knowing I could make a cup of tea with a saucepan on the stovetop if I had to.

I'm having a "would not wish anyone dead, but would read certain obituaries with great interest" response to the news of Limbaugh's death.

Yes, shrift, you need a backup kettle. I love my electric, and I have a cast iron kettle that can go on the camp stove on the balcony in a blackout. After five years (OMG) on Bainbridge, Jim has stopped arguing with me about the wood stove and generator I've put on the list for our house.

In other news, the Atlantic City casino formerly owned by the formerly president was imploded this morning. Went straight down - didn't seem to be a lot of flying debris - but created a huge smoke/dust cloud.

What I'm hearing is that I should get some backup kettles, or I'll have to face God and walk backwards into hell while clutching bean juice.

We moved to this house (where we have an electric stove) when my kids were 3, 4, and 7. We had a blackout one morning, after I'd made my coffee and it dawned on me it could have happened *before* I made my coffee. I drink less coffee these days, but there is no way I could have done 3, 4, and 7 without coffee.

I ended up buying a cast iron kettle I for the fireplace, JUST IN CASE.

So yes, get backup kettles, shrift. Also, my mother loves her French press coffee maker.

I have a tea kettle (it looks like a striped cat!), but I can always heat water in one of the smaller pots I have. I bless the gas stove - it's self-igniting, which I'm hoping means it'll work in the event of a power failure. I do keep matches, since I occasionally burn candles and in the event the stove doesn't light itself.

In other news, the Atlantic City casino formerly owned by the formerly president was imploded this morning.

Well, how about that. I may need to look for video at some point.

As a general point of information for emergency preparation, camp stoves that burn alcohol are safe to use indoors. They do not burn very hot but they will boil water and heat up cans of whatever. In fact, when DH and I lived in the apartment with no stove that was all we cooked on for months and it was fine. Denatured alcohol is the preferred fuel but you can use isopropyl or vodka if that's what you have/can easily find to stash in your emergency kit.

I saw some clips from President Biden's town hall. There was one brief section where an eight-year-old girl asks about being vaccinated ... and he gave it his best grandfather advice. He told her she'd be all right and that her mother (who was there with her) would be all right and said all the reassuring things he'd probably say to his own grandchildren. sniff ....