catapult magazine

THE LIGHTS ARE BACK ON, THE LIGHTS ARE BACK ON!!!

Hey I’m glad you guys are fine and that you have power now. It’s pretty crazy how much we depend on electricity, eh?

I just learned that there are 4 separate electric grids in North America. Eastern North America, Western North America, Texas, and Quebec. I guess I thought it was interesting.

we’ve been thinking about you and amanda, jason. i thought about e-mailing you to see how you were doing and then, very shortly after the thought had occurred, i had another thought which scolded the original thought for being so incredibly stupid.

yes, it is amazing how much we depend on electricity . . .

During the blackout I must have flipped a light switch and then thought, “Oh, right…the power’s out,” like, sixteen times.

Actually, it was a lot like what they’re showing on the news. Everyone was really cool about it. The streets were full of people just hanging out having a good time. I went down to Union Square at dawn (during the blackout) and there was a whole thrown-together band with a small trap set, congas, a trumpet and a clarinet. They were just jamming, gradually waking up the hundreds of people sleeping in the park. Certainly not something that happens there everyday.

But praise the Lord for electricity!

Are you back from Victoria, Dan? Was Montreal affected? I didn’t hear how far it reached in Canada.

Yeah I’m back from Victoria now. In Canada, only Ontario was affected since Ontario is part of the same grid as Michigan and NY, etc. Ontario imports 10% of its electricity. Quebec has a separate grid and exports hydroelectric power.

The contrast was most stark in Ottawa, located in Ontario, but just across the river from Gatineau, Quebec. Ottawa was blacked out for almost 2 days, so everybody went over to Gatineau to fill up, go shopping, and party during their days off.

Canadian newspapers took the chance to feed Canadians’ smugness and moral superiority complex by raving about how well behaved Torontonians were during the blackout. How few break-ins there were, how very polite everyone was in the long line-ups, and how many good samaritans jumped out into intersections do direct rush-hour traffic.

I also got a kick out of the blame game. Canadian and American officials took the opportunity to slam each other with remarkable viciousness. Ontario’s premier, Toronto’s mayor, New York’s mayor and governor all took swings at the other country when clearly the problem did not lie in one country or the other, but in the whole system. But once again, Canadians are proud to have been noticed.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030815.wqueb0815/BNStory/Front/

I’m still having a hard time believing what a big deal this is to everyone. I’m thankful for electricity too, but man, it was only two days! I just came home from camp, and when we heard about it I checked CNN on the internet, and was reading it out loud. Another person walked into the staff lounge as I was reading and said “Oh, you’re reading The Onion, I love that!” I think it is kind of comical how bent out of shape everyone is about it.

I didn’t really notice anyone getting too bent out of shape about it. Was it maybe way over-covered in the news? I mean, this happened in 1965 and 1977 in New York and there was rampant looting and riots, so it is rather notable that very little of that happened. It may be a little self congratulatory, but I was very impressed at the behavior of those in my neighborhood. And it is pretty big news when fifty million people completely lose electricity for over 24 hrs. I realize that this has happened in California a number of times in the recent past, but it is a little different in cities where such a large percentage of the population relies on subway transportation. It also breaks the heart to see how much food had to be thrown away. Amanda and I walked home today past loads of spoiled food waiting to be picked up.