h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Power out......at work...got to get home. I live in Brooklyn New York. My job is on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. I sometimes drive to work, I guess it's a good thing I did on Thursday, August 14, 2003.

At my computer, writing a response to "Anger Management" on HOOTOO.... when suddenly....the power goes out. Computer down, lights out...we thought it was just our office. Then we went outside...the rest of the block was out....on the radio we heard there was a "Major Blackout of the Entire East Coast!!!!!" Yikes!!!!

Trains not running....traffic not being allowed into the city....
Some thought "terrorists".....

I thought.."oh great"...stuck here.... Well, I finally decided there's no sense in staying put, so I took with me a couple of co-worker friends and attempted to drive home across the Brooklyn Bridge. That was NOT easy.

There were swarms of pedestrians walking across the bridge as well. People and Cars together...we crawled along at a snail's pace. It took over an hour just to cross the bridge. Once we were over on the Brooklyn side...it was home free...sorta...

At home, thank goodness, we had terrific flashlights (something everyone should ALWAYS have). We do not use candles, EVER, as they can be very dangerous.

Once we got used to the fact that the power was not coming back on anytime soon...we settled down....sat outside for awhile, enjoying what seemed to be a very "quiet" night. The stars were brilliant....

In order to salvage whatever food we could, we put the milk, juice, eggs and other refrigerated items into the freezer, hoping they would at least stay cold.

The next day, we had a barbeque. Cooked up all the meat that was frozen and ATE ATE ATE!!!!! We stayed cool by staying in the shade of the garage and misting ourselves with water.

Power didn't come on again in our area until Friday evening 6:30 EST.
By that time, we ate all the food, drank all the juice and were delirious!.........

We still had to throw out alot of food, but we did succeed in saving what was put into the freezer.

A lesson to be learned: Be prepared for ANYTHING!
Flashlights, fresh batteries included please.
Bottled water.....just in case.
Some canned goods and non-perishable foods.
and DON'T overstock the fridge or freezer!
Have your BBQ ready to go!!!!!!!!

Barb

Every time we empty a juice bottle, my husband rinses, rinses, and rinses again, and then fills it with water and puts it down in the basement. I thought he was overdoing it a bit, but I won't tease him about it any more!