Have California's energy problems spread to the East Coast?

[keefelc]

Yikes! Just heard about all the power outages in the Eastern U.S. I suspect many of the folks that normally visit this site may be in the dark as I write this message!

Hope all of you are okay and you're up and running soon.

Look out!!! First it was power shortages & blackouts in California, next it was recall elections! :lol: Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[HustleBaby]

Our power (NYC) went off after 4pm yesterday. First there was a brown out and then everything just stopped. I thought that it was minor until I heard people outside screaming. So I filled up the water bottles, called my mom (her cell phone was out of service) and went outside to the store. I mangaed to get candles and water bottles and stayed indoors. Some radio stations were off but I heard that the power was out from here to Detroit to Canada. They say that it was a lightning bolt and terrorism was ruled out uh-huh :-? :-? .

I was supposed to go to Queens yesterday and I'm so glad that I stayed put because I don't want to take a four hour walk home or be trapped in a subway tunnel :o .

Last night the radio station threw a little humor in the lineup playing: :lol: :lol:
*Hot Fun In The Summertime
*Summer In The City
*Heatwave
*New York, New York etc.....

the only song that they didn't play was "Where Were You When The Lights Went Out In NYC" :lol: :lol: .

Graham, how are things in Toronto?
NickNack how early did your power come on? The news said that Jersey residents had power as early as 10pm. Boodikka, Bernie, Lord of Flatbush, PeterC and others how are you? And where were you when the lights went out?

I woke up at 8:30am and found my power back on - thank God! Much more thanks to him and the NYPD that history didn't repeat itself (1977) - burning buildings and excessive lootings.

*DISCO DELIGHT*

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by HustleBaby

.
Graham, how are things in Toronto?

The power just came on ten minutes ago (about 2:40 PM EDT), although it was up in other parts of the city earlier. I'm surprised that my ISP is up and running.

They have warned us on the radio to keep consumption down as low as possible and that there will be rolling blackouts. Things aren't expected to get back to normal until Monday. No subway service, although the phones are working file (even cell ones, although sometimes calls aren't getting through -- probably due to network congestion).

I was quite lucky as I had a ride to downtown so I could walk the rest of the way home. Otherwise I would've been stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

And now, I'm off in search of food...

[keefelc]

From the small quantity of postings, we're obviously seeing how many people on this board have been in the dark!

I'm curious how many of you that experienced the outage found most people to be very friendly and helpful? I know when we experienced our earthquakes and subsequent power outages, people tended to be much more courteous and helpful to each other. Hope all of you in the Northeastern Coast experienced the same!

[nrgbeat]

The scariest part was no traffic lights at the busy intersections. Luckily, most people were courteous and came to a complete stop rather than zooming through.

[NickNack]

I was lucky. I'm waaay in the Northwest area of New Jersey so we weren't hit. I called a couple of my friends but haven't heard back yet. I'm going under the assumption that if they went to work, they're fine.

Bill and I were living in New York for the '77 blackout. We were talking and laughing about it last night. He walked from downtown Manhattan (where the WTC used to be :( ) to our favorite bar/hangout, Sneakers, on the West Side Highway. On the way, he climbed a street lamp and took down one of the West Street signs as a memento. We still have it :D .

I was with a friend of mine on the East Side of Manhattan and we walked crosstown in the dark to get to the West Side and meet Bill. Everybody was cool, even the group of Hell's Angels we walked right into, sitting outside their favorite bar :o . When we got to Sneakers it was "PARTY TIME". Leo had the entire bar lit up with candles, the front door was open and a few tables were outside. Everybody was drinking beer or mixed drinks with ice melting rapidly. We hung out until the lights came back on, whatever time that was in the A.M. The entire strip in The Village that night was delightful. Nobody was closing, nobody was fighting, nobody was burning and looting. Gay New York on its best behavior. :)

[keefelc]

Originally Posted by nrgbeat

The scariest part was no traffic lights at the busy intersections. Luckily, most people were courteous and came to a complete stop rather than zooming through.

Welcome back, NRG! I was wondering if you and Nicky were hit. We experienced the same thing with intersections. Isn't it reassuring that people can have some common sense and courtesy when the need arises? Isn't it a shame that can't happen everyday?

Hey Nicky, I thought your Governor said something about staying at home today if at all possible?

All of you East Coasters deserve a great weekend! Hmmm, come to think about, so do we after all the recall nonsense of this week.