Lights Out

Ummm....first, WTF happened to the Blogger dashboard?

Where was I? Oh yes.

So, the question I have for you, where were YOU 5 years ago today? Were you in the DARK??

Today is the 5 year anniversary of the giant blackout of 2003. 9,300 square miles of Canada and the US were in the dark, in a somewhat triangular area bounded by Michigan, the Sault, up James Bay, Ottawa, New York and Toledo. It was a day where many people suddenly felt free free FREE of the "confines" of electricity. People went out of their houses, onto the streets. Met their neighbours, saw the stars.

Me, I was in the middle of a health and safety day at the Grand Theatre in London. It seems the only thing we hadn't covered was evacuation procedures, because no one knew what the hell to do. So we did the only thing sensible - we went down to the bar, emptied all the ice from the ice machine, along with a bunch of rapidly warming bevies from the fridge, and carted it the dozen or so blocks to my back deck. We then emptied the freezer of thawing meat, fired up the BBQ, and sat on the porch and drank beer and ate burgers by candle light. We were actually rather disappointed when the power came back on.

In honour of the blackaversary, I'm shutting 'er down for the night. Off goes the computer, off go the lights. I'm grabbing a book, a candle, and some comfy pants, and hunkering down...and I encourage you to do the same! Grab a book, sit on the porch, go for a walk, whatever! I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself!