Lights out!
Holy carp! It’s dark out there, people.
I was driving north about half an hour ago after seeing Hellboy II with some friends (good movie, not great) when suddenly the streetlights went out. So did most others.
Some lights still remained on - generator-powered, I’m guessing. My part of town is really black. Eerie. Not so comfortable for a dude who writes lots of after-the-holocaust stories.
Biggest excitement hereabouts since the Great Bosque Fire of ‘03 (how time flies!) That one made the national news - my editor for the MechWarrior novel I was writing emailed to see if I was in danger. I wasn’t, but indeed the fire was burning not more than a couple miles from where I live.
Not much happens here. Which, on the whole, is probably a good thing.
KRQE 13 News says much of Albuquerque is black. Apparently PNM believes there’s a hitch with electricity coming into town. KRQE’s studio lights flickered but service quickly came back, which is odd if the whole city’s power is affected.
Radio stations were still broadcasting when I came in, so we don’t seem to be dealing with an EMP or anything. Plus, hey, my computer works!
No biggie. (Fingers crossed.)
As long as the battery holds. So sayonara for now…
Update, 11:43 PM: Lights on.
So along about 20-25 minutes ago I was lighting the last, recalcitrant candle in my bedroom (and roundly cursing it, though not the dark) when with a plaintive sort of flicker light returned to Jupiter. Artificial light, anyway.
While the Burque blackout barely rose to the level of an inconvenience - kind of diverting, actually - I’m glad it’s done. It’s still a bit muggy. The A/C is the most welcome return.
Still, a bit sobering to be reminded how dependent we are on centralized power. A disadvantageous situation, which I have some hopes will be remedied soon. Centralized anything is a vulnerability.
Update updated: And, whoa! According to the KRQE news page I linked to above, a power switching center at Jefferson and I-25 is afire. They say PNM claims the power outage caused the fire; I wonder if they don’t have caue and effect reversed.
Biggest excitement we’ve had around here since the Great Bosque Fire of ‘03 (how time flies!) That one made the national news - the editor of the MechWarrior novel I was writing at the time emailed to see if I was safe, which was sweet. Happened I was; the fire never threatened here, although it came within a couple miles.
Not too much untoward goes on around here. Which, on the whole, is probably a good thing.
Tags: power failure