this afternoon, so my computer, phone and lights wouldn't work. Thank God my mommy knew what to do, hahaha. I would have had to go without my computer

Good she was around then!

A bird caused a fire in the transformer across the street from me about 2 months ago. 3 days without electricity.

ewww that must have sucked. On top of other things going on in my life, I thought gee something else to add to the list, but it all worked out in the end

Yes!

That's why you have your computer hooked up to an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS)- depending on the size of the UPS, you can get at least a couple minutes of extra juice before you have to shut everything off. Not only that, but you can also shut down your computer without fear of having the blackout/brownout do it for you- blackouts can KILL your computer before you know it.

Ah, but I'm not very technology smart

You don't have to be. You can go to your local computer/appliance store and get one for as little as $69. The UPS plugs into your outlet, and your computer and monitor plug into your UPS. Some even have a second outlet so you can plug your other crap like your printer or other stuff too, though they won't be protected by the UPS.

Just don't try to plug your other non-computer things into your UPS (like a coffee machine), as that will not only kill off your UPS, but ALSO your computer.