Living the good life without electricity

When the grid just ain’t workin’ for ya …

The islandwide power blackout on Kauai on Thursday was another reminder that residents should be prepared when we are forced off the grid — whether it be electricity, water or communications.

Make sure you have flashlights, lanterns and batteries around (they’re safer than candles). Have some bottled water on hand. If you bottled it yourself, in old juice containers or such, make sure you have a gas stove so you can boil it before drinking. Stock up on canned and dried foods. And so on. In general, follow the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared. You won’t regret it.

Just one phone call from the senator, and …

Central Pacific Bank was provided a $135 million financial lifeline from the U.S. Treasury in January 2009, which a bank spokesman says was key to its survival. The Treasury will be collecting only about $63 million from selling the bank’s stock, according to a news release.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye was taken to task by The Washington Post six months later for having contacted federal agencies on behalf of the bank, which he helped establish in 1954 and once had the bulk of his personal wealth in its stock. Inouye said his office did nothing more than leave a voicemail inquiry whether the bank’s application for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) had been received. Sometimes, apparently, that’s all it takes when the caller is who he is.