These past couple of weeks, after the crazy weather we had, a lot of people have been without heat, hot water and electricity. Unfortunately, the extent of damage from both a Hurricane and a Nor'easter, back to back within 10 days, made it quite difficult for the electric companies to work on and get the electricity back to their customers. Most people had to do with candles and promotional flashlights for light, fireplaces (if they had one) for heat and NO hot water for quite some time. It brought back a lot of people to a more primitive lifestyle and made them appreciate what we all take for granted every day.

Even though most people were initially understanding of the power outages, the amount of time it took the utility companies to get back the electricity to most places was absurd. And believe it or not, after 2 weeks, there are some places that are not expected to get their lights back on until at least Thanksgiving! Furious customers came out this past weekend, at various locations in Long Island, to protest LIPA and the outages. Hopefully with the current pressure on them to get their act together, it will force them to re-organize internally to make sure this will never happen again!

 

Have you ever wondered what life would be without the invention of the flashlight? I can't, because it's a essential part of our lives. The other day, I was changing some parts on my car. My garage is well lit; however, I needed at least three flashlights to see the inner parts of my car.

Luckily, I had my promotional flashlights handy. It didn't make the job any easier, but it sure made it go smoothly. As winter approaches and days get shorter, more people will depend on flashlights. So if you haven't yet, go pick up a flashlight to keep by your side.

 

After having a long, fun-filled hi-tech weekend with some friends, my husband and I decided we want to actually try and take a nice quiet, remote weekend, visiting the Amish in Pennsylvania. We are very interested in seeing how they live and wanted to go there for a couple of days with our friends; however, after speaking to Samantha today, I am not so sure how well I would be able to survive. I understand the Amish have a very simple life. Everyone works quite hard for the survival of the colony. There are no cars, or TV's or electricity, or anything modern and hi-tech. I am totally open and accepting of them not using any of these things, but visiting them for the weekend means I would need to drop the iPhone at the door - no Facebook, no internet, no Instagram! What would I do?? Taking all of that into consideration, now I am both excited and kind of scared to visit the Amish. Just to be on the safe side, I think I might sneak in a promotional flashlight so I won't be left in the dark at night.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, specifically New Orleans, Louisiana. Now, almost exactly seven years later, a strengthening storm system named Isaac threatens to slam the city once again. Are people ready?

According to the Washington Post, "Forecasters are predicting 7 to 14 inches of rain once Isaac, which is expected to become a hurricane later Tuesday, reaches land. Total rainfall could reach 20 inches in some isolated areas." That's a lot of water, especially for lowlands.

And while Isaac is not expected to reach Katrina-strength, officials are warning residents to play it safe. "We will not tolerate people joy-riding around," Sheriff Newell Normand of New Orleans suburb Jefferson Parish told the Washington Post. "You need to stay home. If you’re bored, play Parcheesi."

Is the city of New Orleans prepared for another potential disaster situation? Fox News reports that the levees surrounding the city have been updated to withstand stronger storms: "...New Orleans is protected by a $14.5 billion Hurricane and Storm Damage RIsh Reduction System, which consists of higher and stronger levees, walls, floodgates and pumps designed to withstand a Category 3 storm." Isaac isn't expected to grow past a Category 2 hurricane.

Still, locals who don't plan on evacuating are advised to stock up on necessities, including water, non-perishable food items and promotional flashlights.

We've had pretty bad blackouts here in New York before. Remember the Northeast power outage that hit in the summer of 2003? But I don't think any has been as bad as what the people of India are facing today.

According to the New York Times, "About 600 million people lost power in India on Tuesday when the country’s northern and eastern electricity grids failed, crippling the country for a second consecutive day." Included in the blackout is the capital city of New Delhi.

Although officials are saying the power failure occurred with no warning, hopefully police and citizens were ready with promotional flashlights and other emergency preparedness items on hand.

What's most troubling is the reason for the power outage is yet to be determined. However, Reuters reports that Sushilkumar Shinde, India's Power Minister, "blamed the system collapse on some states drawing more than their share of electricity from the over-burdened grid."

On the second official day of summer and the second installment of the subway series, there is a severe thunderstorm and hail warning until this evening.  To my surprise most of the employees here at Motivators are actually excited about this!  I guess staying inside after a long week, with a beverage and some television isn't the worst thing in the world!  The only thing that could hinder the enjoyment would be a blackout.  So make sure wherever you are this evening to carry with you, your promotional flashlight....Hopefully it's only for precaution.

Despite Hurricane Irene's best efforts to ruin everyone's weekend plans, my family made its way down to South Carolina today.  At first I was a little bummed out that I couldn't join in on our annual trip, but after all the trouble my mom and stepdad have been through rescheduling flights, changing hotel rooms, and securing a rental car, I'm relieved to be able to just sit at home. In fact, this will be the first time I've have the house to myself in quite some time, and I'm definitely looking forward to some peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, however, power has not yet been restored in my small Long Island town.  So when I say "peace and quiet", I really mean it.  I know I'm going to be heavily relying on my promotional flashlights as I rummage through the house every morning getting ready for work. 

Hopefully power will soon be restored, because there's only so much silence I can bear!  When I finally do have electricity in my house again, you can bet I'll be loading up my promotional flash drives with my favorite movies and music.  You never know when the power will go out again, and I want to make sure I'll be entertained!  For now, I'll stay in my promotional candle-lit room and curl up each night with a good book. 

 

 

Those on America's East Coast have got a couple of worries today.

According to The Weather Channel, Hurricane Irene is set to head toward the East Coast of the U.S. this weekend.  The developing hurricane "produced widespread tree and power line damage across Puerto Rico Sunday night into Monday," reports Weather.com, so we're watching this one closely.  We're especially concerned for the Motivators employees in our new Miami office!  Stay safe down there!  

To make sure our Florida employees are prepared for whatever Ms. Irene throws at them, we overnighted a few promotional flashlights.  Hopefully nobody will be losing power, but it's definitely better to be safe than sorry!  Luckily, a few of our custom flashlights are available for one-day rush production, so shipping them down to Miami was hassle-free.  We hooked our employees up with the promo hand squeeze flashlight with wrist band (it doesn't even need batteries!) and the promo delta flashlight. 

Soon after shipping, news spread about yet another natural disaster on the East Coast:  an earthquake!  As reported by the New York Times, the 5.9-magnitude quake "sent tremors from the nation’s capital to New York City and New England." We didn't see any damage here on Long Island -- just a bit of a tremor -- but I wasn't worried anyway.  Because we're a promotional products distributor, we have plenty of promotional emergency products on hand to keep us safe!

Lesson learned?  It's important to be prepared.  We're lucky we didn't see more damage from such a high-magnitude earthquake! And who knows how serious Hurricane Irene will become?   My advice is to stock up on promotional flashlights, custom water bottles, and other useful items before the next natural disaster hits.

Let there be drums, Let there be guitar .. LET THERE BE ROCK.  These are some lyrics from one of my favorite songs by ACDC.  I have heard this song a million times over ever since I was 4 or 5.  I remeber my brothers listening to this.  I would always wait till they went to school and I would wear their promotional Tshirts that they would get from the rock shows they went to.  I was the hit of first grade!!   A few months ago I was able to see these guys live during a big areana tour they were doing.  I was stoked and during the performance it went complete dark.. pitch black.  These groups of people starting popping up all over handing out promotional flashlights.  The areana was getting lit from one side to the other, very symbolic of the lighters people use to use.  It was really cool and heck and a free item at a concert.. who'd a thunk it.  This promotional flashlight ended up getting put in my glove box that night as a reminder of what a great time we had.

 

I spent the weekend in Rhode Island where the rain was steady but the winds were calm. My friends and I sipped drinks from assorted promotional cups and enjoyed puddle jumping after finally managing to get out of bed.

I started back to New York yesterday afternoon and arrived on the Island right after sundown. After exiting the Southern State and beginning my decent into Freeport, my neighborhood began to take on the likes of Nightmare on Elm Street. 
            
Cars drove cautiously on the road, denied of any street lights above. And when I neared my block, I was sent on a detour due to the yellow warning tape, DO NOT ENTER. As you can see below, a pretty little tree decided to fall on my block. Other causalities to the storm? Our swing set, basketball hoop and backyard fence. Yes, I now share a backyard with my mischievous neighbors. Uh oh.
           
I'd heard a storm was coming our way, but was blind to the damage we got while on my New England getaway. When I did make it home, things were even more eerie. Devoid of a promotional flashlight, I used the backlight of my cell phone to help navigate through my home.

"Hello?" I said like Belle when she first enters the Beasts castle. "Helloooo?!" But I heard no response. After squinting and stealth like maneuvering around my home I realized that no one was there. The power was out and my family had abandoned the home for brighter places, literally.

I collected my things under candle light and wished someone was home to build a fort with. Instead, I too abandoned my home and headed for my brothers pad, where the lights were still lit.
                                 
With natural disasters more evident then ever, it's important to keep an emergency kit in an safe place. All of our emergency preparedness promotional items would make wonderful additions to your home or office. I suggest adding some fun to your emergency kit like a deck of cards, Mad Libs book or cool puzzles to keep you entertained while in the dark. Food, clothing and shelter will keep you alive, but you wouldn't want to die of boredom.