yesterday around 3:30pm the lights just went off
i was in the office, doing some Photoshop
when the screen went black, i am a compulsive 'saver'
so i didn't loose any changes...
around 4:10pm we decided to leave the office and go home
when we realized we were not the only ones without power
and good thing i left then 'cause about 2 hrs into the blackout
the freeways started getting jammed, with no street lights
and tons of police officers deployed to more 'serious' emergencies
thanks to my little battery operated radio and to the AM radio transmitting
from KOGO 600 AM, i knew that the outages spread to all of San Diego county,
western Arizona and even northern Mexico! wow, now that was massive
right away all the big stores closed, so the San Diego airport
hundreds of people were trapped on elevators in buildings downtown
but unless there was a health issue, the police just won't have
the force to unlock them all...
my little triple A battery radio, great help!
around my home, on Adams Ave. while daylight still reigned
a lot of people were hanging out on the streets, two liquors stores
were still open, using calculators to charge for water, beer, ice
these were the items most people were buying
there was a certain mix of feelings on Adams Ave. some people seemed
cheerful but other seemed confused, buying gallons of water
fearing the worse, i guess...
by the time dark settled, the silence reigned in my neighborhood
all the kids went to bed and the crickets were much louder
there was a beautiful very bright sky! we were able to see
the stars and the moon was so bright that i wondered why we
ever invented electricity (heh heh)
a recount of news gathered by the L.A. Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/blackout/
around 11pm power came back home, but still a couple of areas
have no electricity, San Diego is pretty much back to normal today
ah! except for schools, all schools canceled classes today
and thankfully the heat wave is over too! so no more sweating
all it's in its right place now, and i just worry
about my food in the fridge and to buy more triple A batteries
for my little radio, it was great company!
i forgot to mention, right after the blackout, ALL the radio stations
were gone! including Tijuana Mexican radio stations, only KOGO
kept on transmitting...
a little adventure indeed, and it reminded me my days of
childhood in my Grandma's town, Autlan, when i was 10 years old
and visited during the summer, the blackouts were sort of common
after the usual electric storms of the summer, time to read and play
shadow games with candles with my cousins
for more info on other areas of San Diego, read mister Smorg's post!
http://smorgzone.blogspot.com/2011/09/eventful-thursday.html
and here some interesting photos
http://framework.latimes.com/2011/09/08/massive-blackout-san-diego/#/0
