Fun! No, Wait, Not Fun

posted on august 15, 2003, tag: new york

Unbelievable that something like this could happen not only to NYC, but to several states and Canada all at once. It's a bit scary national-security-wise that by doing something to one power station, you can effectively shut down half of the country. Sitting ducks. But, none the less, it seems to be nearly over now and hopefully this will initiate a massive investigation on how our current system needs to be reworked so this doesn't happen again.

After the power went out I went downstairs to see if I could get cellphone reception (I couldn't), and I couldn't get back into my floor (11) because the stair entrance is only one way from there. So I waited for about an hour for my coworkers, but they never showed up. I decided I should start walking home.

It took me four and a half hours, which isn't too bad considering the fact that I walked about 6 miles from work to home. The journey included walking across the Williamsburg Bridge, which is something I've wanted to do since I moved to Brooklyn anyway. I just wouldn't have picked such a hot day to do it, and especially not when thousands of others were doing it too.

But it wasn't terrible, the walk. The worst part of everything was trying to sleep last night with no AC. We also lost all of the food in the refrigerator, but luckily yesterday was supposed to be grocery shopping day anyway, so there wasn't much in there.

We finally got power back about an hour ago. The air-conditioners are running, the Internet is working, and we have television again. Life is good. Things to buy now so we have them next time something happens: a battery operated radio, a non-powered, corded phone, batteries, and a few more candles. Never hurts to be prepared.