Blackout

Was anyone affected by the blackout? I'm so far out here in the country that I didn't know there WAS a blackout until I signed on this morning. The whole world could have blown up and I would still be out back watering my herbs and walking the dog. Hope everyone is ok!

[Meenah]

I wasn't, but my father-in-law works on Wall street two days a week and he spent the night sitting on the sidewalk. He lives in Westchester and takes the train. He is 82 years old and refuses to retire. I think it keeps him young. He said it wasn't bad, everyone was friendly and helpful. He was also stuck in the city on 9/11 and he said this was soooo much better.
Luanne

[migirl]

Ugh, we lost power in the blackout (outside Detroit, MI). I had just gotten home from work (thankfully, didn't have to battle traffic with no traffic lights! It took my MIL 3 hours to drive home, it normally takes her 45 minutes), and it took a few phone calls to people before I realized what had happened because - like most other people, I suppose - at first I thought it was just my house. DH was on call though, so he had to stay at the hospital where the power had also gone out and they were relying on backup generators to run the medical equipment but didn't have the A/C, he said it was oppressively hot. So I ended up spending the evening in semi-darkness, talking to friends and family on the phone (thank goodness for our old phone-with-a-cord!), reading by candlelight, scrounging for food for dinner, and ended up going to bed at 9:30 because there was nothing else to do! I slept in the basement where it was cooler, and woke up in the morning to find that power was still not on. My employer was closed for the day, so I was planning on another hot, boring day at home when the power unexpectedly came back on about 8:00AM. I cranked up the A/C, turned on the TV, ran on my treadmill, and went about doing my normal things for most of the morning when the power went back OUT at around noon. By then DH was home and we were planning to go to my parents' on Saturday for my 10-year high school reunion tonight, but we decided to pack it up early and came here yesterday afternoon instead (my parents live on the west side of the state which was unaffected by the outage). I've heard on the news that most of Detroit now has power, so I assume that our house does too. We won't be back until tomorrow, so I won't know until then.

Thankfully, my experience wasn't too bad; I'm glad that I was already home, had fresh batteries in my flashlights, plenty of food and water, and didn't have to drive anywhere or need gasoline (I heard that people were having a hard time finding gas stations that could pump fuel). The worst part was being slightly hot and uncomfortable and bored. Otherwise, not too bad but not something I want to experience too often.

[Auspicious]

Okay, this is my blackout story.

First off, I can count on one hand the number of times per year that I wear high heels. I’ve never liked them and my current pair is not particularly comfortable, but I happened to have a job interview on Thursday, so I dutifully crammed my feet in them telling myself that it would only be for a couple of hours and that I wouldn’t have to do much actual walking in them anyway, since the place I was interviewing at was very close to the subway stop. Then I took the train 45 minutes from my neighborhood in Queens to my interview in downtown Manhattan (near Houston and Hudson, for those familiar with NYC).

Got off the train at about 4:10 with no sign of trouble. Walked a block to the office building, got a Diet Coke from a street vendor, and overheard someone saying that the streetlight had gone out. So I made my way carefully across the street and entered the building, where I was informed that I couldn’t go up because the “building has had a power surge and the elevators are out.” Eventually I decided to just take the stairs up to the 5th floor where my interviewer (by window-light) cheerfully tells me we need to reschedule and that whatever the problem is, it appears to be lasting more than just a few minutes and is reportedly also affecting a whole chunk of the city, including the subways.

So I find myself back on the street a short time later in my suit and painful shoes standing (I later figured out) more than 7 miles from home. I optimistically think this may all be straightened out in an hour or two, so I take off my suit jacket, cram it in my briefcase and start walking toward midtown, where I normally catch my train out to Queens, hoping upon hope that the trains will be running by the time I get there or that some other solution will present itself, because I’m already in pain at this point. I did manage to catch a cross-town bus at 14th street and it took me a little over a mile, but other than that it was one painful step at a time as the balls of my feet screamed at me and I sweat through my business clothes. I did briefly take my shoes off and walk in my nylons on the sidewalk, but (1) I knew this was risky, since walking home on cut feet would make this ordeal even worse and (2) since my feet were already extremely tender, the rough concrete hurt almost as much as the shoes. So I put them back on and just kept walking. I eventually heard from a radio on the street that this was a major multi-city event. At this point I’m walking among thousands of people, and of course millions city-wide, all flooding out of the Manhattan, some of whom are leaning on canes, carrying infants, or tottering along clutching an elderly spouse, so although I was suffering a bit, it wasn’t too hard to keep it in perspective.

When your misery hits a certain level and stays there consistently for a certain period of time of course you hit that place where you have a singular focus and you basically become unaware of everything else--where you just zone out. The entire middle section of the trek I basically don’t remember--I was just aware of the three feet of concrete in front of me, which I was watching carefully because I knew I didn’t want to twist an ankle or trip. By the time I hit the Queensborough Bridge two and a half miles later I knew I could physically make it home but it was gonna be ugly.

One of the few things I remember is seeing people stop on the bridge and look back at the city. Slightly annoyed, I turned just to see what they were looking at, and it was the skyline of Manhattan in the fading twilight, completely dark. You could see the silhouette of the buildings and the headlights of the cars at street level, but uncharacteristically, no light in between. Abandoned-looking monoliths. Very eerie.

Although my cell phone was almost out of juice and service was spotty at best, I had tried calling my boyfriend a few times. I thought maybe he could meet me with some shoes and water (which I also desperately needed eventually). Little did I know that the reason I wasn’t getting a answer is because he was already standing at the Queens end of the bridge (which was the closest police were allowing people to come to the city--Manhattan was exit-only at that point) with my shoes AND water, searching for me among the crowd pouring off the bridge. He stayed there for three hours, from 6:30 to 9:30, at which point it became too dark to recognize individual people in the crowd and he feared I’d already passed him. Once it got dark it got completely dark, since the only lights were car headlights, which were all at the crowd's back. It was a very workable plan--if I had been able to walk at a normal pace he would have found me, but I was hobbling sooo slowly that I didn’t come off the bridge until well after dark. If I haven’t mentioned this before, let me just say, Geoff is a Very Good Person and a total keeper. And of course if you ever have to face a crisis, it’s a good idea to have a Very Good Person with you--someone who will go out searching for you for hours with the exact right emergency supplies. I’m a lucky girl.

So, we live at 59th street in Queens, and once I got to 50th Street, knowing how close I was made me snap out of my little trance, which made the pain in my feet MUCH worse. The last seven blocks or so were the absolute worst. I was limping with every step and literally dripping with sweat and my progress was very very slow. I knew that eventually I had to get there, though. When I turned the corner around 10 p.m. and saw our candle-lit window I knew it was finally over and I started crying. I called through the open window for Geoff to open the door, and as soon as I laid eyes on him I grabbed him and started sobbing on his shoulder. “Are you hurt?!” “N-nooo, I’m just so r-r-relieved to be h-hoooome. Can you get me a glass of w-water?” Then I guzzled a couple huge tumblers of water and peeled off my disgusting clothes and collapsed on the living room floor. I think I’ve literally never been so glad to take a shower and go to bed.


The next day (yesterday) I still couldn’t walk normally at all. Two giant blisters, one chafed heel, and the pads of my feet were red and tight and freakishly tender. Our power came back on at about 5 a.m. and I was glad to learn that the city was still shut down, because I could barely stand up anyway and I can't tell them at work where I was during the blackout. Today things are much better and I’m walking again. If I had had regular shoes, I clearly would have been tired out and in need of a shower, but unscathed. On a famine-and-pestilence sort of scale what I went through wasn’t very bad at all, of course, but for me personally it felt like quite a test, and I’m glad I toughed it out.

[PrincessFiona]

blackouts

I have a blackout story and I don't even live in the blackout zone But.....right around the time that things started going fishy in Ohio, I was at the dentist having my teeth drilled and filled (Waaaah). He kept getting these power surges and the machines were beeping and so he hurried up and finished...just as he was finishing compressing? the filling on my tooth, the power went out completely..no more beeping, lights or anything. He had to finish up using a big old flashlight that one of the techs held in her hand with some non-electric tools 8O (any questions about my dental phobia? I swear, if it had happened about 20 minutes earlier in the middle of drilling, I might not have recovered psyhologically I would be a 'sedation dentistry' only patient now ) In any case, he wasn't able to buff/sand off the fillings, etc because of not having any electricity...and it was out for the rest of the day. This means I'll have to go back...grrr.

So...I doubt it was related, but it was a very weird coincidence!

I'm sorry to hear about the major blackout woes though...it must have been awful! Just think that the people in Iraq are still struggling with daily blackouts and temps well above what we are here in the US...it makes me grateful!

Julie, Geoff is definately a keeper...I can't believe that he was already waiting there with your shoes and some water...that is incredibly romantic to me!!!!

kris

[fluffhead]

Julie that's a great story! We were lucky - sounds like parts of new haven were hit, but we just had brownout for about 15 minutes.
People from my neighborhood went to a wedding in Greenwich - 300 people in a hall with no air conditioning, and the windows don't open! yikes!

Wow, Julie! Your poor feet! I'm glad to hear that you made it home safely. But what a trip. So....if your job interview is re-scheduled, does that mean you have to wear those shoes again? Your feet may turn and run the other way. And your bf is a keeper -- what a sweetie. I'm especially impressed that he remembered that you had to wear high heel shoes that day.

It's interesting to see the political weight this event is carrying. (Understandable since it affected so many people). I'm not sure why, but the New Mexico governor and one of the congressmen are really excited about it -- maybe because of the nuclear energy research in the state? Anyway, the governor compared the NE electrical grid to that of a third world country. Umm...yeah....ok. Guess he doesn't get past the US borders very often! Not that this situation doesn't require serious thought and investment but come on...

Oh Julie! That totally sucks. I can't imagine how you walked seven miles in pain. I grew up in New York and feel close to the whole event, even though I don't live there anymore. There is such camraderie there. My mom still lives in NYC and works at a hospital so she had to stay late to call her home-hospice patients. Once at home, she realized she was completely unprepared with no flashlight, batteries, etc. and her only candle was one my DH gave her years ago as a gift!

Your guy is definitely a keeper!

[mommax3]

I agree, a keeper for sure. My sister called me from NYC (she works at the Manhattan School of Music) when the blackout first happened because no one knew what was going on -- she and all of the people in her office were relying on me to tell them that it wasn't a terroist attack and how extensive the outages were. I was totally unaware of anything going on, of course, so I turned on MSNBC and stood right next to the speakers so she could hear it, too. She called several times with questions. I imagine she had a heck of a walk home, as well.

Luanne, the story about your father-in-law amazes me. What a guy!

I am glad everyone is okay.

Sally

[migirl]

Wow, Julie, your guy sounds amazing. When I read what he had done, it brought tears to my eyes and gave me chills! What a sweetie ...

Glad you made it through OK.

[SueC]

Yep--I teared up a bit when I read your story, too, Julie! He sounds like a sweetheart! I'm glad you finally made it home OK!

[DCJenn]

Julie-

What an awesome guy you have!

My dad was in New Jersey- my uncle brought my cousin out (they live in Chelsea) and my dad and my cousin were on the road back to DC when the power went out. It was a planned trip- you know get the kid out of the city for a couple days- and really it couldn't have been a better weekend. Apparently Chelsea was the last section of the city to get power back- my aunt and uncle stayed at a hotel on Staten Island on Friday night. I was on an airplane landing in Chicago- the problem was that all of the planes due to fly from Chicago to the "grid" weren't able to leave, so there was a HUGE traffic jam of airplanes. I changed planes and the plane to DC was #15 in the line-up. But we eventually got off the ground and the pilot hauled a** to DC and we were only 10 minutes late.

While we sat on the tarmac, waiting for the planes to move around so that we could get to our gates, we were all on our cell phones, I called my mom who had CNN on and was able to report to everyone that all was essentially well (no terrorists, no horrible tragedy- just greedy companies and a whole lot of air conditioners and computers sucking up all of the juice!)

Glad everyone made it through!

Jenn

[Phoebe]

I am glad everyone got power back and that you made it home in one piece Julie. You derserve a pedicure after that day and that job! I hope it works out.

I was actually in the car on near the Michigan/Indiana border when the power outage occurred. All the stop lights and businesses were closed on the west side of Michigan. We didn't experience any problems in Indiana where we live though.

Jennifer