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I went to lunch a little early and on my way out I spotted the problem. A large tree had been covered in ice during the freezing rain storms we’ve had the last couple nights. It looked like a limb fell and took out one of the lines.
By the time I was on my way back from lunch, the electric utility crew had cut down all of the old lines and were beginning to replace them. When I got back to the office, all of the power was out; only a few of the safety lights had power remaining. Luckily my laptop still had a strong battery so I could at least get to the internet (and the LCD lights up the room really well). That worked for about a half hour until the UPS on the router died.
At that point the owners of the company broke out the gasoline generator so we could at least get the phone system and a couple computers back up and running. About three minutes after they got the generator running and I rerouted the power cords in the server room, the electricity came back on.
The funny thing about it (and I guess my reason for writing) is that when the power was out, people were walking around in the dark laughing. Everyone was unusually friendly. People who would never otherwise have a conversation with each other couldn’t stop talking.
It reminded me of when I was a kid and the power would go out on the whole block. People would slowly make their way out of their houses and begin to talk. It seemed that there was never more of a sence of community than at those moments. I think it would be great to see what would happen if the whole nation whent one day without electricity.
Soon after the power was restored, everyone went back to their normal routine as if nothing happened: mean looks, bad attitudes and all.
I don’t think the friendliness-inducing blackout would work on a national scale. I just see riots and looting.
The power went out in the dorm twice (at least) and every time there were people crowded around the emergency lights who I didn’t know lived in Cutler. But like in your office, people were talking to random other people. Except for me. I hate people.
I suppose you’re right about the riots and looting but it would be interesting to watch nonetheless.
you think a few hours was bad, we got about 1/4 inch of ice and every fucking tree in the state fell on a powerline.
we didnt have power for 5 days. And since we live downhill from the sewer main the pump which normally pumps away our sewage just let it fill up our bathtub, until the maintenence guy drained it into the yard that is.
I did not really observe any special sense of community though, just really busy restaurants.