I am one of those caught in the Great Southwest Blackout. Obviously I have power back.

It was interesting to start to realize what had happened. Being September and close to 9-11 concerns ran through my mind as the scope of the outage was revealed.

At home it was just power out. In the middle of the Beta Server User Group meeting chat stopped and my avatar was stuck in place. Then my battery backup alarm went off. Time to shutdown the computer. No big deal.

Went out to check the meter and look around to see if it was just me or the neighborhood. Neighbors were out checking there breakers and meters. My power comes in along an arterial street and it is not uncommon for traffic accidents to take out power for several hours. So, on a hot after noon (98F – 37C) it is time to get out and find some place with AC running and cold drinks.

In the car the radio is going nuts. A talk show host is taking calls finding out where power is on and off. WTH!

By the time I reach my favorite bar and grill I know a huge chunk of Southern California is without power and no one knows why. The radio stations can’t contact the power company or local government agencies. None of their phone switch boards have power. So, the rumors are someone blew up transmission lines in the desert. Our power here comes from our power plants, one nuclear, and from states to the east.

The bar-grill soon has construction workers coming in. They bring their boom boxes and we get to listen to interviews with the president of our power company. In about an hour the story begins to unfold. It seems an employee unplugged California so he could plug in his coffee maker… or something like that 🙂

The bar had ice, drinks were cold, candles were everywhere, and it turned into a major blackout party.  The sky was clear so once the sun set things cooled off quickly. Nice party night.

Now I need to go nurse my hangover.

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