Now stuck at Denver Int’l Airport, sitting next to a bright window where this trip all started in a United Club Lounge. I pay for the privilege and the benefit of a/c, electrical power, comfy chair, and all the food goodies I covered in a previous Cool Stuff. But the dramas that have happened from where I have been and from where you are reading are extraordinary and sad. Lots of concerned companies have shared their compassionate concern as well as solutions to dealing with our natural and human created disasters.

One and a half weeks ago I left Taiwan, just hours ahead of a major typhoon.  A jet crashed that day due to the typhoon, South of my Xinfeng coastal town killing 60 or more.  A few days ago and further South, a gas line exploded in Taiwan's second largest city, killing 12 and injuring 300.  When I thought all was good escaping the typhoon, a thunderstorm knocked out navigational equipment at San Francisco Intl Airport prior to my arrival causing the cancellation of my planned trip to Portland, Oregon.

Next open flight was to Salt Lake City, so I took it to avoid looking goofy sleeping in front of heaps of strangers.  Everywhere stuff happened I was carrying my Goal Zero Sherpa Battery, their Guide 10 Plus, Switch 8, and Goal Zero portable folding solar panels.  I used everything, as did my daughter who also is a Goal Zero adherent.

Power went out briefly in Taiwan during the typhoon, and my daughter had the Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus to keep her cell phone going.  Being able to keep in touch with your kids in dramas puts extra years in your life, while worry and stress could strike you down tomorrow.

Just when I reckoned there was peace, love and granola in the Coolio Universe, flooding and big waves rock American Samoa. My sincere concern for you that lost homes, and your precious church.  Northeast of you, Hawaii is looking down the barrel of possibly two hurricanes headed its way. After we suffered from Cyclone Val in Samoa, I recall them getting whacked in Kauai by Hurricane Iniki... nothing since.

It’s never “if it will come”, we know it’s always “when”.

So when it’s night, or if you want to supplement your Goal Zero Solar Panels or hand crank Lighthouse 250, you now have the great option of using the Power Pot.  At $159, the Power Pot uses temperature differential to convert the heating of cool water (by any source) to electricity.  Think, iPhone, iPad, Galaxy 5s, and back up battery charging. You will not run your TV, your air-conditioning, or your washing machine.

Our Coolio buddy Steve shows his Folding Firebox products powering the Power Pot.   So as not to be redundant, I will share the use of the Power Pot heated by the magnificent Solo Stove Titan (solostove.com at $89).   The Titan's easy top feed gap, and large bio-fuel (twigs, charcoal, fuel tablets, wood chunks, alcohol stoves, etc) capacity take the tedious work out of heating the Power Pot, leaving you to manage the water and power side of the equation.

When your water in the Power Pot starts a semblance of a boil you need to replace or replenish it with cooler water.  While the Power Pot resembles a backpacking cooking pot, it is impractical to remove food and replenish...so just stick to water, and use the water that boils to hydrate your Wise Food packets (also previously covered in Cool Stuff).

As a dyed in the lava lava Apple guy, thanks to the traditions at the Samoa News set by Lewis Wolman and the United Nations (who used to give free computers away to Western Samoan newspapers in the day...I was proudly a Samoa Times co-owner in that era)...I have iPhones, iPads, and am currently writing on a MacBook Pro laptop.

Mama never told you that Apple's handheld iOS products are a tad bit finicky relative to power input.  I first noticed this the morning after I purchased my first Goal Zero Solar Panel.   A car had impacted our nearby Salt Lake City power pole, so out came my GZ panels.  Despite good sun and proper angles, my iPhone 3GS did not fully charge. When I replaced the phone with the Goal Zero Guide Plus 10, things charged up like gangbusters. Carry this concept over to the Power Pot.

I tested the Power Pot with the Solo Stove, the Firebox, and a Vargo Woodburner, and coupled with the Power Pot failed to keep my finicky iPhone 3GS, 4GS, and iPhone 5s happy.  I could have, but didn't go for propane or butane, which might be available indoors at an evacuation center...even if no electrical power.

With the Power Pot I recommend you use the Power Pot external Lithium 4400 Battery Bank, or the aforementioned Goal Zero products.  The external batteries love any electrical juice you feed them.  They are like a puppy you saved from the dog pound.  The batteries are a much better choice to have around water, and fire.  If you ever make a mistake, or your fun loving kids land a rugby ball on your Power Pot, your attached iPhone 5s will cost you $600 to replace...while the battery, maybe $59.

Really really cool is the Power Pot accessory, the $24.99 Practical Meter, which gives you real time feedback as to how fast your unit is being charged, or if at all.

Remember, the Power Pot works in the dead of night, sun, wind, or with your mean brother in law yelling "faster, faster, I need to play games, Instagram, and check my Facebook during this afa."

FEEDBACK: ICOM COOL STUFF

Ray Novak, and executive of Icom America reviewed our Cool Stuff story on the Icom R series receivers. He has been extremely proactive in setting up radio networks to communicate medical and supply needs during disasters.

Do American Samoa's Amateur (Ham) radio operators have a proven system in place for South Pacific disasters? I know they are around.

The famous movie/book called "Only the Sea will Tell" documented the Graham family's murder for their boat. Many of Samoa's Amateur Radio operators (including my Apia buddy/Polynesian Airlines Engineer Phil Williams) kept in touch with the Graham's during the last year of their lives until things went dead.

Icom provides great options for transmitting on land and sea, or just receiving.  My father's Marine radios are Icom. Father always knows best.