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I was working at my desk when the power went out. I thought nothing of it at the time because we've had power outages in the building before for the past couple of weeks. When the power didn't immediately come back up, I decided to wander around the office. I looked outside and realized that the traffic lights were out, so it was definitely not just a building issue. I bumped into PLP and he told me that he was talking on the phone with someone in Mississauga and the power had gone out there too. We took a walk to the nearby gas station to pick up stuff and I was amazed to see that the traffic lights were all out, but traffic was still flowing moderately well. People were still being fairly good about it. They weren't treating them light four-way stops, but they did act as if the lights were still going. It's as if the power never went out.
Upon returning to the office, I started hearing stories of the power going out all over Ontario, and even in parts of New York. Realizing that this was more than a localized event, theories were being thrown out as to how this power failure could have occured. One idea from HL was that some disgruntled worker flipped a switch. There was another from LY who joked that a flock of squirrels had chewed through some wiring. PLP suggested that it was some sort of "Fight Club" thing.
Anyway, most of us hung around for an hour or so waiting for the power to come back up, but we were told by one of the building managers that the emergency power for the lights would run out eventually, and suggested that we leave the building.
LY and I had an ultimate game today, and since ultimate doesn't require power, we considered going down to the game. But once we got in the car and realized that traffic had ground down to a halt, getting down to the field would've been nigh-impossible, and that's when we decided to go home instead.
I ended up taking some of the side streets since the main roads were packed with cars. It was nearly impossible to actually get to those residential roads, but once I made it out of the industrial area, it was all smooth sailing. Actually, at a number of the major intersections, some civilians were directing traffic. I found that quite interesting.
Since we didn't have any power, the fridge wasn't working and the stove wasn't working either. Instead, we had a BBQ at our place. My dad was prepared from these types of events and had plenty of spare power available as well as extra torches and a portable TV available. Not like there was much on apart from news on the blackout.
I spent the rest of the day home, and when night fell, I went outside into the warm night to watch the stars. I knew that there was supposed to be a meteor shower, but I also knew that it was supposed to take place early in the morning. I couldn't stay up that late, so I tried to catch glimpses of any meteorites. I stayed out for a couple of hours and was rewarded by two dazzling displays. I also saw a couple of satellites crossing the heavens and saw the glow of the milky way.
I did eventually head inside when the moon began to rise over the horizon. Without the city lights and with the moon nearly full, it was like a false dawn. The light from our closest planetary neighbor cast such a brilliant display that I could imagine navigating through the wilderness under it's light. It also made stargazing difficult since it drowned out most of the smaller stars.
Ah well, it was good while it lasted. I went inside and went to sleep.
