where did all the bits go?2003.08.17

This is my little story of what happens when someone who is self-described as “always on” loses her bits and bytes to The Blackout.

We were in a meeting. Discussing the next hundred and 'leven projects we need to work on now that the new site is live. Someone said the power was off. Our devs and DB guy were on their feet immediately: "Oh, shit."

We hadn't exactly tested for a power outage. Who knew what it would do to our brand new baby?

And then the news, gleaned by phone in dribs and drabs from someone who had a radio. Not just our building. Not just the street, or the grid, or even the city, or even the province. Big chunk of the continent, really, all in the dark.

We knew what it meant. This would not be over in an hour.

I am one of the lucky ones. I live four subway stops north of work, which translates roughly into a forty-five minute walk.

It was an amazing sight. Millions of Torontonians on the streets, a bobbing swell of humanity, pedestrians directing the snarl of traffic. Shop owners giving out water and ice to the masses who walked by, to help us in the 30+ degree heat.

It's the little things, really, that you notice the most. Stuff you don't even think about suddenly doesn't work. I knew my entire walk home that I'd have to climb the 29 stories of stairwell to get to my apartment. But it never occurred to me the stairwell would be pitch black. Who knew. Oh yeah. Electricity. Riiiight.

You also, as Zeldman rightly mentions, forget that it takes electricity to pump water 29 stories high. So, no toilet, no running water, no shower to clean off the icky results of the long walk and climb.

It's funny, the priority shift. Yes. Batteries, emptied from all my now useless remote controls. Water. Fruit and nuts and - what time is it? Don't know, where's my watch (all other digital clocks now silent). What's the temperature? Is it going to rain tonight? Will it at least cool off a little? Don't know, can't get the Internet or the weather channel on TV. But the worst: what's going on? How bad is the outage? When will it be back up? What caused it? Don't know, all my radios require electricity. When was the last time I listened to the radio, anyway?

I sent a small prayer to the gods of providence that I had not gotten around to throwing out my one analog telephone. At least I could make calls. But other than that—

From always on to Completely Shut Off.

I had a brief glimmer of power for a few hours Friday morning, and then a transponder-switch-thingamajiggy blew in our area plunging us into the dark ages again. Late Saturday I finally gave up, my survival skills depleted, and checked my puppy and I into the downtown Holiday Inn. Ahh. Bliss. I had a shower, watched CNN, and shivered in the air conditioning. Ordered in food, watched a movie, played with the puppy.

Tonight is the first time I've been online since Thursday night. The keys feel like strangers beneath my fingertips.

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