When our boys were little, winter storms often seemed to knock out the electricity of people in our area. One time (Jan 1993), ours was out for over a week. It was a good thing that it was a mild winter and not freezing, but it still was cold! The power was quickly restored to my work at the bottom of the hill, so I was gone during the days. But Melanie & the boys would spend the days huddled on the the couch under a pile of blankets watching their breath.
In the end, we went to a friend's house and camped in their living room for a night. Our power was back the next day. And in the years since then, there have not been blackouts like that in our area.
However, after that I kept my eyes out for sales on electrical generators. Recently, Honda has been selling a line with some very attractive features. (Alternator-inverter types that are very portable, efficient and quiet.) A couple of years ago, I checked one out at an equipment rental place. Yep, it was a very sweet little unit.
But I haven't had a need for a generator since that big power outage.
So I have been unable to justify making the purchase.
Poor me. :-) Unrequited longing for a generator!