It was just about bed-time last night, around 11:00, when all the lights went out. Presto! No electricity. Our whole block went dark.
Call the police, hoping to get some information. “That’s PSE&G’s problem, nothing to do with us.” Call the PSE&G hot line. “Hi! Hot, sexy women are ready and waiting to talk to you!” “What???” Must have misdialed. Try again, get a robot. They’re workin’ on it.
Around 1 a.m. I went out to see if they were making any progress. In the opposite direction, just three blocks away, downtown Metuchen was lit up like the Fourth of July. I cannot imagine why. Who’d be shopping at one in the morning?
I walked five or six blocks through the snow and slush, following the brightly blinking yellow lights that showed me where the PSE&G trucks were parked. When I got there, they didn’t seem very busy. A driver told me they were working on it.
After 3 a.m., Patty was sleeping on the couch and I was nodding over our candles. Something bad might happen if I fall asleep there. The only option was to go upstairs to bed. By then I could hear men working somewhere in the night.
Around 5 a.m. the power came back on, hallelujah, and I rushed downstairs to wake Patty so she could get her oxygen, normal service resumed.
I reckon I got, all told, some two hours’ sleep. I’m not used to that anymore. I may have to go back to bed before the afternoon’s half over.
NOTE: Iowa caucus victory for Donald Trump; pygmies routed.
How frightening to think of an EMP going off and destroying our digital infrastructure. Almost all of our energy sources are derived from fossil fuels, yet the enemy of the state, President Biden wants no part with it. Day One of Trump’s second term will be, “Drill, baby, drill.”