Pacific Gas and Electric.For the last few days in La Dolce Vita, and the greater San Francisco Bay area for that matter, we have been enduring record high temperatures.
Our new plants are wilting. Our dogs are panting. We are cranky and hot.
Yesterday at 7:30 pm, we'd just settled in to watch some Savage Planet on PBS and the power went off. We've lived in our home since it was brand new, and as one of the first dozen homes on a hillside with over 100 homes, we experienced numerous outages over the years as the newer homes down the hill were being built. For some odd reason, the computer panel for our double ovens blows every time the power goes off and surges back on. We've had to replace it about 4 times, but that's another story.
It was still 85 F inside and 89 F outside when the power went off and since we were enjoying the 2 fans we have in the bedroom rather than air conditioning, we were doing OK. We wait, we wait, we wait, and no sign of electricity, so we take our battery operated radio outside and listen to news-talk for a couple of hours and voila--the power returns, only to die again 15 minutes later.
Long story made short, everyone down the hill got their power back by 10:30, but we didn't. We could hear the utility trucks cruising the 'hood and opening the electric vaults in the ground, but no joy for us. Power wasn't restored until 7:30 this morning.
I tried not to feel bitchy and deprived because there are many, many people in this world who have no fans, ice or fresh water to cool them. Americans are incredibly spoiled, and perhaps a few blackouts will remind us how lucky we are. Worked for me.
Guess who didn't sleep much last night? Guess who took a looooong nap?
1 comment:
I don't describe my writing as "cranky" on the other blog for nothing. Two freakin' hours of sleep doesn't work well for me ... especially when I'm tired.
Yes I am spoiled.
I'm still pissed at PG&E. I even drove around the hood to see what was going on about midnight and then noted that the repair crews were done, leaving our small part of the hood in the dark. I really fumed then.
I'm a green advocate. But being green doesn't mean not having electricity. It merely means having reliable and sustainable electricity.
PG&E. Get with the program.
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