Dear Omar

The Texas Storms Taught Me to Love My Powerbank

But I’m still awaiting my utility bill 😬

Welcome to Dear Omar, a weekly Debugger column from tech expert Omar L. Gallaga answering all the gadget and technology questions you were afraid to ask.

We knew a blackout was coming, had known for a while, but when it finally hit, my daughters and I still stood silent for a moment, shocked and in the dark.

It was about 7:30 p.m. on Monday, the second day for many of what became an unexpectedly severe “Epic Winter Storm” in much of Texas. We lost electricity after many other families did. We knew rolling blackouts were part of the plan, in addition to many unplanned outages. We were just next.

But wandering there in the dark, edging carefully toward the table we’d prepared with so many candles to light, we entered into a new reality. The quiet of no TV on, no heat running, just our breathing and my kids saying, “Dad! Dad! The candles! Light them!” felt like we were suddenly isolated, disconnected, literally, from everything outside and past the eight-inch-high drifts of snow.