Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?

That reminds me of the "Flash and the Pan" song! Thankfully,most of the time I get these scheduled outage notifications in my area,I be at work and miss it..it's only when I come back to a blinking electric clock I remember about it..

I would more than likely go out and work in the yard or go swimming or something. We have a generator to use when the electric is out though so we would still have some power to stay cool.

No, we are not ever warned the electric is being shut off. They just do it. Which is bad since people need to know about it whether it is half and hour or a few. This is especially needed for people on medical devices such as breathing machines or oxygen. So be glad that your company cares about their patrons and warns them of what they are doing to give them heads up what to expect.

Well that was sweet of them. I've never been notified before...

Sounds like a good excuse to go shopping to me!!! I've never been warned in advance by my electric company. Any time my electricity goes out & I call to report it, I have to laugh. They always want to know if I want them to call me & let me know when the lights come back on. DUH I think I can tell that!!!

Its very great and good that the electricity company has initimated you before about the power cut.In our city power goes off frequently particularly in summer.They dont notify before so that we can prepare for it with alternatives.When power goes i would like to go out of our home or go to terrace,listem to music or just watch children playing on the streets down..As alternatives i willmake ready charge light,solar charge lamp,or candles.I get anger if the power goes when iam eating.

I don't remember if there was ever a planned outage here. We do lose power now and then, usually due to a storm. If it's at night, I light my kerosene lamps and candles and enjoy the quiet. No refrigerator humming, no TV blaring, no microwave whining. It's nice. If it's during the day I can usually find something to do. Sweep floors, mop, wash dishes, clean the bathroom and so on. Sometimes it's a good excuse to do nothing, though!

If I know in advance, then I make other plans. I can even go to the library, or to Wal Mart of course. I can nap. I have been notified, but usually it is the water that is being turned off for maintenance.

I can't remember the last time that there was a power cut here, planned or unplanned. But there are plenty of candles in and a book or two to read or I could just listen to the radio for a change. I could probably still get online using the laptop on batterys as well. The water heater is gas, so that's not a problem, cooking is electric, though I could probably rig up one of my gas camping stoves to boil a kettle or cook some sort of simple meal.

Wow! I've never ever had been notified of a power outage before. They are always trimming trees here but guess maybe they don't need the power off to do it. We are well-prepared if the power was ever to go out for more than a few days.

Well, at least they warned you. I live in the city, and there are various reasons why the power goes out, often unexpectedly. However, the interesting thing is that I'm on a different grid than my friend two houses down the street. If the power goes out at her place, I (usually) still have power, and vice versa. It's raining here right now, and quite dark in this room. If it's not raining at your place when the power goes out, maybe you can do your reading or crocheting outside?

I certainly is overcast today, isn't it? I remember a day last week when it was rainy and it looked like it was about 9:30 at night, all day. I've never had a planned outage but I'm prepared. I have fans with rechargeable batteries so I won't be too hot and food that doesn't need to be cooked. If I want a hot meal I have sterno fuel and a cooker for it. I have two weeks' worth of bottled water, too. When I lived in Phoenix the electricity would go out every time there was a strong breeze, sometimes for hours. I learned my lesson there!

Hi Lydjarhead, Well at least they have the manners to let you know but when our power is cut. they just do it without letting us kno, till we have to ring the company up to complain, but really its nice to be told so you can prepare yourself with candles or cook early. Tamara

Hey LadyJ! I think that was very nice of the power company to let you know in advance that they were going to be shutting off the power and giving you an actual time line for it too! They did that in my area too and then didn't ever shut the power off and boy was I ever happy because they were going to have it shut off for the entire day and I was going to be stuck at home with nothing to do without any power for over 9 hours! I did appreciate the heads up though even if they never did turn the power off!

Thankfully, if we have planned power outages...for upgrading lines, or replacing transformers...we do get about a week's notice! They are usually very good and stay within the time perameters, so it is easy to plan for the downtime! Summer, it's the barbecue...and lot's of gardening to do. Winter, it's cooking on the wood stove, and knitting by the Coleman Lantern...and using the wind-up Radio. When my son was young..one night a week, we had a "quiet" night, that we could use NO power...so it was board games/cards, etc. Living on the Gulf Islands, and having our power come across Georgia Strait from the Mainland, we are very used to interrupted power...so have lots of back-up, like camping equipment. Just another day in the life of Islanders. Cheers!

We have had a few scheduled outages here before but never very long. More often than not we have unscheduled ones.

the lights in my area were never off

Hi Ldyjarhead, Power cuts are not anounced here they just happen and you never know when they are going to come back on. Actually depends on the area you live in too. Some are more lucky and the power comes back right away others stay out for hours. Usually through the very powerful thunderstorms we experience here. We are supposed to be protected to an extent by the surrounding mountains but does´nt always figure. Once a huge bolt of lightening shut off the Computer and the printer which has never been right ever since. Our electrical stuff here are very unprotected. I wonder how many power cuts there will be as they just keep putting the bill up and up and now want to charge an extra surcharge sort of maintenance tip for them. It´s ilegal but they´re doing it. So we are usually armed with candles in the winter or a torch if you are in the kitchen or the bathroom as the tension just plummets and in summer too when the air conditioners are abused a lot here. Hope you have no more power cuts.