Thursday, August 14, 2003

Power is back on. Hooray!

You never realize how much dependence you have on it until you start looking for anything that has a battery in it. My cell phone didn't work -- the cell stations had no power. My phones are cordless -- they had no power. My stereo requires power. My walkman uses batteries, YES! CRAP! The batteries are dead and I have no more AAA's. My pager isn't getting updates, so I have no news whatsoever. I'm calling everyone I know, from everywhere in the country. The only problem is, half of them use cell phones that aren't working at that point either. The other half aren't home, and still the other half I have either no work numbers or invalid work numbers. It's really amazing that as you slowly hear the story spread, various thoughts are flying through your head. All power is out in northern Ohio. Ok fine, that's happened before. Then you hear that means from Toledo to Erie and all the way down to Akron. Ok, that HASN'T happened before. What??? Power is out all the way to New York? What is going on? Unfortunately at that point, the worst thoughts start entering the picture. Was it terrorism? I have no idea, because I can't get in touch with anyone. All I knew was that South Carolina had power and Alaska had power. That leaves a few states in between those that may or may not have power.

Thankfully though, our big news station had backup generators, and when I got into my car I finally heard some sketchy news about a fire in Connecticut or New York City or something. That was good enough for me. At least I had heard something. It's also quite astounding to be driving when there's no power. I'm amazed at how civil everyone is. Why can't they be that way when the traffic lights are working? Anyway. I'm happy to be with power again.

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