Latest Toy: Those who have been following my posts over the years know that this is the time of year that I tend to start hammering the need for emergency preparedness. Around here it is thunderstorms every other day (which also cause blackouts at times) and down south they will hit hurricane season in the next few weeks. Well this week I got a "faraday flashlight". These things are amaz-a-zing! They never need batteries. You just shake the thing for a minute and it produces all the light you would ever need from an intense LED. Without shaking the thing I have been using it for over an hour so far. We want to let it go down and then see how much light it produces with just 10 shakes. Pretty cool!

Update: We went to town for a few hours and came back and it was still on. I now have a practical use for this thing. Tie a bunch of them to every phone poll in California. When they have their next earth quake everyone will be able to see where they are going at night even if the power is cut! Okay, stupid idea, back the drawing board.

Update 2: Midnight, light is still going bright. This thing is incredible!
Update 3: Noon next day, still going.