Fighting the Power - Outages

What's up, Venice grid?! The power has been on and off since yesterday afternoon, as a result of a very non-dramatic rainfall. It was the talk of the neighborhood this morning as I walked over to the French Market to see if they had power - and therefore, coffee.


Why is our power system so wimpy? Electric Avenue was not so electric last night and today, and it kinda makes you stop to think how we would cope in the event of something more gnarly happening. It makes you realize, like Jenny said when we holed up in her bunker with Ipad for a bit, "I'm totally addicted to electricity".

One eye-opener that a neighbor pointed out to me, is that the only streetlights to remain lit were the ones that are now run on solar power. MmmHMM! Timely, as the White House is returning to pre-Reagan solar power smartness this week too. About time.

Conspiracy theories ran around our heads a little last night (you don't need electricity to drink lots of wine), and one friend thought our power goes out so easily because it saves money, or something. Like when that big East Coast blackout happened, it was really, quite literally, a power struggle.

Who knows, but let's let these past couple of days serve as a gently reminder that Yeah, flashlight batteries need to be changed once in a while, candles kick out great light and should be in stock in your home, earthquake type kits are smart investments, and it's fun to turn into pioneers again (for a night or so) and just talk and enjoy each other, sans super high technology sometimes (though we all ran to plug into various chargers the minute the power blinked on).

Still ... the question remains, why are our power stations so darn delicate?

Oh, and why is it so hard for Angelenos to drive in the rain?

Be careful out there, kids!