Oh, we have a generator...it's just not a "whole-house" model. We bought it mainly to "keep the freezer frozen".
"We are very lucky to have natural gas lines so most of us run our generators on natural gas. When the power goes out I have to flick a couple switches and then run outside to get our twenty year old Briggs and Stratton powered generator going."
If we had been so lucky as to have piped in natgas, we would, hands down, have an autostart whole-house genset.
Unfortunately, we have only trucked-in propane. We have a propane fireplace which will keep the whole house liveably warm on natural air circulation, so with camping stoves, LED lanterns (with propane and kerosene lanterns for backup), we are good for all the outages we have had.
It is actually very easy to convert most generators to propane. It is easier on the generator than using gasoline. Depending on the amount of road tax you pay on gasoline and the amount you pay for propane it will probably save you money as well. All you need to power your whole house if you are not using electric heat is about a 10hp generator that puts out 240 volts so that you can hook it down stream from your main. Generators like this are available for less than $500 new every day of the week. Harbor Freight has 6.5hp model that puts out 240 volts for $299. That would cover our load about 90% of the time since we have a gas water heater.
I prefer the Honda Clone engines because they are quieter and more fuel efficient, but the old Briggs keeps going and going. There are several legit ways to do it and it will make your life much easier when you lose power. After a couple minutes we are right back to normal.