down and out inna blackout

I'm about to make you'll mad. Here in Flint,MI we were on the very edge of the blackout. We lost power briefly at the same time as everyone else, but our local grid was able to take over immed. and we were good to go. My mother lives 40 miles south and lost everything for power. We (the county water system) gets its water from the Detroit system, and our water was bad for a white. BUT, I have a well at my house and was good to go.

By the way It was a good thing we didn't lose power. I'm a 3rd shifter and would have been left trying to sleep during the hot day. In which case I would have been sleeping in the basement.

tweren't a breeze to be had no where. The East river was a sheet of glass as far as I could (or is it couldn't?) see.

Although the reasons where bizarre and highly inaccurate, the canadian PM was right. But finger pointing never solves anything. The whole grid failed on both sides of the border and that's all that matters.

I blame Terrance and Phillip!

No doubt larking around in a Canadian Power Plant!

Cheers,

Rob M.

Hey, Pete, conditions here is East Islip were about the same as yours. Not a breath of a breeze all night. Looking out the window was like looking at a painted landscape. But we got power back just after 4AM, so we got a little sleep with a fan. According to today's papaer, it seems as if it all started in Ohio. As a ship modeller, this all gives me a new appreciation for the builders of the Admiralty ship models of 200-300 years ago.

Long Island Ed.

QUOTE: Originally posted by M1abramsRules the funny part about this blackout is the americans are blaming the canadians and vice versa. but our politicians are a bit stupider: Prime ministers's office announces it was a fire at a powerplant in upstate NY, American officials scratching their heads; woops, so the PM's office announces it was a lightning strike at a powerplant in midstate NY, American officials scratching their heads; woops again, so the the defence minister calls a press conference and says "I have been told by the defence department it was caused by a fire in a nucleur power plant in PA", American officials saying "HUH"

Hey M1abrams,
Know what ya mean my friend.
The power plant which you refer to is in my hometown of Niagara Falls NY(on the border of Lewiston NY).
The day the power went, I was working the border near the station.
Zip nadda nothing. There was no fire reported nor any lightning strikes whats so ever which one Canadian news station had put it[:0]. It was nothing but blue skies.
As the rest of New York was suffering from "rolling blackouts", the Niagara Falls station was up and running.
Come to think of it, I really dont think we will ever get a "true' answer to what had happened.
I feel that there was some sort of over load in the grid which I feel had somin to do w/ the heat that day. Darn AC
Or maybe some dude named Stan pulled the wrong plug(inside joke).
Flaps up, Mike

Got power back about 7:02 AM Friday here in Floral Park, Long Island, N. Y. Spent a very hot and steamy night. Opened all of the windows and there wasn't even a breath of air. The temperature was 80 plus in the appartment and the cieling was red hot as a result of the sun beating down on the attic all day just above us. With the combination of heat, high humidity, and no breeze, we just sat there most of the night watching our old Sony Watchman with a 2 inch screen as the perspiration ran down our backs and foreheads. By the time we went to bed, our underwear was soaking wet. Did you ever try to take a cold shower by candlelight and half asleep?

I don't ever want to go through that again in a hurry! The "powers that be" better spend the money to do something about this fragile grid system in a hurry. Their complaints that it will cost too much to install the needed equipment is nonsense. The cost is nothing compared to the cost to our economy when the next blackout occurs. It's not a question of "if", it's a question of "when". Here we are in the twenty first century having twenty first century techknowledgy and using fifty-year-old, or older, equipment. MORONIC! There are just too many "special intrest groups" out there. That's a whole other problem, don't get me started.

Pete

Its all a Canadian plot to take over the world.
They just blacked out some of their thier citys to through us off.
(LOL).

well.... us folks out here in the west (Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia) support the right-wing. but unfortunately the governing party and our "Prime Minister" are left-wing. Not very many people out here like him. (especially with the gun registry)

M1abramsRules,
Don't be too hard on your politicians. Everything I'm reading as of late says that it was indeed an American problem. I think the Canadians called it correctly.
I do hope that none of our modeling brethren had to go through styrene withdrawal.

I called my cousins in PA and told then I'd ship them our coal-powered computer and TV. They didn't think it was funny. No sense of humor :)

Good call cnstrwkr, hate to think of the alternative. Yeah, it's too bad about the blackout, but is anyone really surprised? I'm amazed that it didn't happen earlier. Just goes to show how we take things for granted, simple things like electricity.

"it is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow to fond of it."-R.E.Lee

This blackout almost caused divorce proceedings here. I commandered the wifes laptop and wanted to give FSM a go. She kept yelling that I would drain the battery and she wouldnt be able to get her emails from work if we didnt get power back. As much as I couldnt see work interferring with FSM I reneged and gave her the laptop back. It was a steamy, lonely night

did you know it was as widespread as it was or did you find that out this morning?

the funny part about this blackout is the americans are blaming the canadians and vice versa. but our politicians are a bit stupider: Prime ministers's office announces it was a fire at a powerplant in upstate NY, American officials scratching their heads; woops, so the PM's office announces it was a lightning strike at a powerplant in midstate NY, American officials scratching their heads; woops again, so the the defence minister calls a press conference and says "I have been told by the defence department it was caused by a fire in a nucleur power plant in PA", American officials saying "HUH"

3 strikes and your out I'd say because they haven't tried another story yet.

did it get hot last night with no ac or fans?

Naaawwww......hooked the hamster up to a fly wheel

You had to watch TV and check your forums by candlelight, huh? I hate doing that. Glad to hear that you made it through intact. Hope it's over for the rest of them soon.

demono69