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Friday, August 15, 2003
Blackout 2003
I don't know all the details, but something went wrong yesterday evening; wrong enough to cause 21 power plants to shut down in 3 minutes across the northern US and some of southern Canada. Figures that come to mind are 50 million (people without electricity) and 24,000 megawatts (of electricity lost). But I could be wrong. Right now, I'm using my computer while listening to the radio and basking in the comfort of my air conditioned home. I'm bad. I really shouldn't be doing any of this since we are supposed to be conserving water and energy today, but I'll be off soon, I promise. Post scriptum: I just turned off my stereo and air conditioning. I felt bad so I did something about it. I'm also getting off the computer now. It was funny last night at around 9pm when my mother freaked out about the decreasing water pressure. "Oh my god the water's not coming out of the tap as fast as it used to! We're running out of water! Quick, Shirley go get some buckets and bottles and fill them up before we run out! Now!" Oh mother. The water was fine, the pressure still isn't great, but we have some in buckets and pots and pans all over the house just in case. It was dark last night and the stars were out. It's funny because they're always there, but until the world turns off you can't actually see them. The stars! It was so dark and quiet, so peaceful, it was wonderful. I lay out on my roof and tried picking out constellations. I saw the moon, 4 shooting stars and I think I saw Mars too. The sky should always look like that, the moon should always be my streetlamp. Light-pollution-free goodness. It has been declared that Toronto is in a state of emergency. Some people still don't have their power back. Food may go bad. But our houses have never looked so romantic. We'll see more stars in the city than ever before. It'll be dark and quiet and families will gather around a candle to play board games. Friends will call friends to make sure they're okay. Strangers will chat, homeless people will start to direct traffic. There will be comraderie. All it takes is for 21 power plants to turn off in 3 minutes. For the food's sake, I hope the power stays. But deep down inside, I hope it goes out again. It'd be nice to see the stars tonight. |
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