The power has gone out in my neighborhood – during an orange alert, a few days after a record snowfall, and one day after I attended an organizational meeting for a county emergency response team.
Like any other neighborhood, the power sometimes fails here; but it’s usually during the day when I’m not home, or at 2am when I’m asleep. It’s rare that it is out any longer than 10 minutes or so. It’s been out about 50 minutes so far (a time which means nothing since this won’t be posted until the power is back… aren’t laptop batteries cool? I’m also using a Kensington Flylight attached to my PowerBook so that I can see what the hell I’m doing. Nice.).
Was my first thought terrorism? Well, I’ll be honest. YES. Frankly, I’m ashamed and disappointed at that. Chalk up a win for Mr. Ashcroft and his pals. That being said, however, I’m also disappointed that I didn’t immediately jump up and sweep into my safe room and start taping myself in. Instead, my first impulse was to go OUTSIDE, to see what had happened, to chat with neighbors, and to expose myself to any possible hazards.
What’s the moral of this story? Well, if there is one, I’d have to say that the powers that be should concentrate on getting people to overcome their sense of curiosity. As in any emergency situation, people are going to go TOWARD the place of danger, not away from it.
Well, since I’m obviously not watching Will and Grace, I suppose it’s time to read my new book by the reassuring blue glow of the Flylight.
And, just as I closed the lid of the PowerBook to implement that plan, the power came back on.
Odd… it seems like it came on slowly. The lights are steadily getting brighter in the room (I have flourescent bulbs, so is that possible?). Can they do that? Can they make the volts slowly ramp up? My internet connection is not working, tho. Just blinking away trying to connect, but nothing. That’s even more tragic than no electricity…
