Who needs electricity?
I decided to work at home this day. And I’m really glad I did. It turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I’d made in a long time. But it also left me a little puzzled since I was home alone. Shortly after 4pm, my computer suddenly died. Along with my stereo and other electronics. I’d had the air conditioner going on low. The thought of a power outage in my apartment didn’t shock me since we’ve blown some fuses here before. I tried the fusebox switches but none of them were tripped. I was so confused. I looked out in the hallway but all the lights were on. Hmmm. I guess it must be just my apartment. I decided to take a trip downstairs to talk to the staff. No elevators. This at least indicated I wasn’t alone. Back into the apartment & out to the balcony. I saw some guys a few balconies over and one floor up listening to a radio. I shouted over to them. They didn’t have power either. One guy said it was Toronto-wide since he’d just talked to a buddy of his. So I think to myself…”ok…it’s a hot day, everyone’s got their a/c going…we’ve got some brownouts. Power should be up in a while.” A woman a few floors down hears us and yells that the entire eastern seaboard is out!! This is not a standard brownout. Immediately, my thoughts go to terrorism. Are we under attack again?
Luckily I had a battery powered radio. I turned on CBC and sure enough, power was out almost everywhere in Ontario, New York, Michigan. This is huge. After listening to this for a while, I realized around 5pm that it may continue for a while and I’m not properly prepared. I grabbed my camera, a backpack, radio walkman and what little cash I had and went on a search for photos and supplies. A quick decent down 18 flights of stairs (not a good thing for when I come home). The grocery store shut the doors immediately. No chance of buying water. I went to Yonge St cause I knew there’d be action there with everyone trying to get home. The streets were totally packed. I ducked into a dollar store to get a flashlight. I squeezed my way past the lineup of people buying similar items. Flashlights, batteries, battery radios, water, flipflops (women walking home ditched their high heels and donned flipflops - brilliant idea) were all selling out. I was escorted down the aisles to the flashlight section, grabbed some batteries and a bottle of water for good measure. Now I just needed some food.
Standing up on a flower planter, I started taking some photos of the street scenes. Crowds of people walking north out of the downtown core. Ordinary people, not cops, directing traffic at intersections. Cars trying to push their way north through the people. Spontaneous carpooling or “urban hitching” started…people with empty seats in their cars and minivans would open their doors to people they didn’t even know trying to walk north. It was great to see people helping each other. I also ran into my housemate on the street amongst the crowds. I was explaining what we knew happened at the time. A random guy started talking to us about it. The 3 of us chatted for a while and learned about the blackout in ‘65. Apparently the birthrate 9months after that blackout skyrocketed. And we didn’t realize for a while the guy was walking around drinking beers on the street. What cop is going to take time out of directing traffic to give a ticket for public drinking? Not today anyways.
Ran into another friend on the street (who says Toronto is a big city? Either that or I know a decent amount of people). She works for an environmental firm. Apparently her boss was exstatic and was writing a press release once they found out what happened. He wanted to bring to light our dependencies on water, electricity, fuels and how we should be conserving them. See an opportunity and grab it.
Back to food…gotta get some food. Street meat! The hotdog vendors were making a killing. As I went from vendor to vendor they had all just sold out. No!!! Later in the evening I did get a hotdog around 10pm in the downtown core. One of the few remaining who hadn’t sold out. I waited 10 minutes to get a dog without a bun. They ran out of buns so I had to eat a napkin-dog. Ketchup, mustard, relish & napkin. Mmm.
I had most of what I needed, but still no food. Maybe I had something at home. Trudged up 18 flights of stairs. I hoped I wouldn’t be doing that too many times. I was thankful for the times we’d run stairs in my old condo for exercise in the winter. 4x 25 stories made this seem easy. Z & I kicked back, listened to the radio and tried to contact relatives & friends to make sure they were ok. And then we invited them to come over. Might as well enjoy the time with friends. A couple came over and we later wandered in search of beers and food. A pizza shop served slices by candlelight and the lineup was down the street. Forget it. Ended up stocking up on chips, popcorn and fruit from a convenience store. Walking down Yonge St for a while, it was great to see people out, talking to each other and making the best of it. Would have been great to live in a residential neighbourhood during this.
Jenn came into the city around 9:30. She was hanging at relatives homes in the ‘burbs near her work until the highways cleared up. She had running water at her place so it would be a bit more comfortable than being here. We lit a ton of candles, ate our napkin-dogs, snacked on chips and listened to other peoples stories on the radio. It was really great. I’m thinking of implimenting one electricity-free evening per month. Definitely an enjoyable time, but I don’t think it would be the same again without the silence of the city.
Friday, August 15
Friday morning we awoke to some power and the joyful news that offices were closed. Long weekend! Jenn & I took a walk to the St. Lawrence market. I knew they wouldn’t be sitting at home if there was some power on. A relaxing breakfast of pastries and reading the paper. I really need to take advantage of this on weekends.
Later that afternoon, we saw someone with a grocery bag. Grocery store is open! We better stock up on food for the weekend. We weren’t the only geniuses with that idea. It was packed! People were buying everything that didn’t have to be kept cold or could be bbq’d. I wish I had a bar-b-que. The entire bread section of the store was sold out. Nothing left at all. All buns, breads were totally sold out. The only bread Jenn could get was weight-watchers…and believe me she doesn’t need weight-watchers bread and neither do I. Where’s the weight-gainers bread? $90 of non-perishable groceries later, we were outta there.
The electricity was still out for most of the day at home. It was on at 5am, out around 9:30 for the rest of the day. I had a stag party to go to north in Wasaga Beach. A good 2-3 hour drive depending on traffic. I wasn’t even sure if there would be rental cars available still. I had a reservation but that doesn’t mean much sometimes. With all the people with cancelled flights, I figured rental cars would be at a premium. Sure enough, they kept my car for me. Arrived around 10pm to a bunch of drunken guys…I had some catching up to do.
Saturday, August 16
Woke up in the passenger seat of my car. Ended up sleeping there around 4am. Got a couple of hours sleep, but not nearly enough. Trip to the beach for the rest of the day and got a spotchy sunburn from areas I missed with the SPF30. Another long drive back wondering if there would be still gas to fill up the rental. Gas stations on friday were reporting they were almost out of gas at some locations. People were lining up for hours to fill their car and the stations were running out. I filled up a little outside of town without any problems.
Dinner…man was I hungry. We hadn’t eaten a decent meal in days, so J & I went to Canyon Creek Chophouse. A steak and veggies would fill me up.
Sunday, August 17
Power seemed stable. Worked on wedding-ish stuff. Nothing too exciting. Getting closer to the big decision on reception locations. Pizza & a movie (The Hunted - thumbs down). The Restaurant was another exciting night. I love this show. My favorite reality tv. Next to Trailer Park Boys, that is.
Monday, August 18
Am I a non-essential worker? The recommendation is for non-essential workers to take another day off. Luckily for my company (unlucky for me) I can work remotely. They suggested we work from home if possible. I gladly will. From what I’ve heard, the office is a sweaty mess. Sounds like this might continue for the rest of the week.