Power Cuts

[miniConvert]

Argh! I live in Kent in the UK and we've had two power cuts in as many days. Before that I can't remember the last time I had a power cut!

This time it was dark, so I was left sitting infront of my computer in the pitch black thinking "Um". Luckily my phone has a flashlight mode which I used to go and find candles...

Typically, as soon as I booted my laptop and connected to GPRS everything came back on. I think it's safe to turn the computers on again now, but all these cuts must be really screwing them around.

So, when was the last time you had a power cut and where were you?

 

[Applespider]

Funny you should mention powercuts. It was last week after not having one for years

There had been a couple of fluctuations over last weekend with short cuts where the Sky box had reset itself and I got home on Sunday evening to find all my clocks flashing indicating a longer power cut.

But on Monday night, I got ready for bed; it was around 1130pm and was lying reading in bed when there was a strange hum and then all the lights went out. Completely... I was left in total darkness. I did discover that those on the other side of the road are on a different power circuit since they still had light. Since I was nearly ready for sleep anyhow, I just turned the light off (so it didn't come back on with the power), set the alarm on my phone and closed my eyes (v spooking feeling though knowing that there are no lights available!)

The power didn't come back on until 2am (based on the time on my flashing clock later) so it was relatively long. No damage done though except to my old VCR which developed a v odd fan buzz afterwards.

 

[cslewis]

Living in the US, I can say that your computers should be all right. During the summer our power goes out about 2 times a month, and in the winter any time there's even a hint of ice. Add to that people hitting poles left and right...

Nothing electronic of ours has been adversely affected, so I'd say to go ahead and plug everything back in.

 

[dcv]

So, when was the last time you had a power cut and where were you?

Just a few weeks ago, London Electricity (or whatever they call themselves these days) decided to start digging up the pavement about 5 doors away from me for 'emergency engineering work'. I noticed the noise around midnight but didn't think anything of it since my power was up and working fine. Went to bed and took a while getting to sleep because they were using pneumatic drills. Woke up a couple of hours later to hear strange beeping noises... it turned out to be my burglar alarm running on battery as the idiots outside had cut the power. So I had to get up and try to find a torch so I could go and turn the stupid alarm off... realised I had left the torch downstairs... almost fell down the stairs in the dark as I'd left a rubbish bag at the top ready to take out in the morning... aaargh I was so mad. Had to go rummaging around half asleep to dig out the instructions for the alarm panel. Anyway, after I figured it all out and made the beeping stop I went back to bed. Couldn't sleep because they were still making lots of noise outside. Managed to finally get to sleep but woke up again a little while later to hear another strange beeping sound... this time it was one of my cordless phones dying. And a few mins later the other one went too. I lost a *lot* of sleep that night.

 

[Peyton]

You know, I was reading the OP and really wondered what you are talking about since I don't ever remember the power going out! That would be freightening to say the least, how long does it go out for? What do you do in the mean time? Sit around with candles?

I'm interested!

 

[Applespider]

Your cordless phones can't have a very long life dcv? I can leave mine off the charger for 3 or 4 days before they die. The alarm is annoying though!

What you do depends on the time of day - and how prepared you are for power cuts? I remember years ago, when they were more common, that my mother kept a bag of candles and some matches in a box in the store cupboard. Nowadays, there are so many decorative candles around my flat that I figure so long as I can find the matches (and there's a set in each room), I'll be OK.

But yup, you either go out somewhere that you know has power - like the local pub - or you stay looking for deep meanings in candle flames. If there are prolonged power cuts, you generally find a baby boom 9 months later...

The nasty one is no water which has happened a couple of times for me for a few hours while they were fixing a mains near me. You can't shower, you can't wash... and if you're not a fan of bottle water, you can't drink. Argh! But two years ago, there was a large chunk of the neighbourhood that had no water for a week. They had to bring in tankers of water for people to come down and fill buckets/kettles/bottles although the water company did deliver to the pregnant/elderly/disabled/new mums.

 

[dcv]

Your cordless phones can't have a very long life dcv? I can leave mine off the charger for 3 or 4 days before they die. The alarm is annoying though!

No they don't... they're pretty old and the batteries only last about 1/2 hour max when I'm on the phone. I keep meaning to buy new handsets or at least replace the batteries but never get round to it. I use my mobile more than my land line. Anyway, it's a great excuse for when my mum calls

 

[edesignuk]

We used to get them all the bloody time. The giant fuse-box-type-thing for the street on the pole down the field kept on getting whacked by the tree that was right next to it when it was windy. Took the bastards at the electricity board for ******* ever to catch on to this fact and do something about it!

 

[miniConvert]

You know, I was reading the OP and really wondered what you are talking about since I don't ever remember the power going out! That would be freightening to say the least, how long does it go out for? What do you do in the mean time? Sit around with candles?

I'm interested!

Powercut-free-zone eh? *looks you up*

Yep, you've got it! It's pretty much a sit-in-the-dark or a sit-with-candles/torch situation until the power comes back on. This is the first one I've known at night in quite some time so I'd imagine many people were caught out.

Luckily I had my laptop and datacard, so, while the candles were fun for a while, after 10 minutes when I'd started to get net withdrawal I reached for that

 

[beatzfreak]

Last time for me was the big one here on the east coast.
I was working at Macy's in mid-town manhattan doing visuals.
I was changing some mannequins when the power went out. After about 5 minutes the store was evacuated, but my boss was on the walkie-talkie telling me to keep working. Can't leave the mannequins naked, he kept yelling. A co-worker heard and came to help me.
When we were done, we went out side all and the streets were full of panic-sticken people. We all thought it was a terrorist attack. My co-worker and I both lived in Brooklyn, so we started walking home with about a million others.
It took 3 hours. Spent the rest of the night at the local bar and got smashed.