Blackout

 Something happened yesterday while we were on lunch break: there was a blackout in our neighbourhood. It can create a serious problem when you work from home, like my wife and I do. And it was my wife's first day at work, which she found embarrassing. We received a text from our electricity provider saying that they were expecting to have things fixed by 5:00PM (or 17:00 as they say, which sounds way later). Far too late. I was texting my manager asking himif he wanted me to go downtown in a café when we got power back. I must say, I almost regretted it. I thought going out of the house for the rest of the afternoon might have been fun. In any case, I had a longer break and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Le séisme de 1988 du Saguenay

Mon frère PJ m'a rappelé que le 25 novembre, c'était l'anniversaire du tremblement de terre de 1988 au Saguenay. J'avais bêtement oublié de le souligner. Qu'à cela ne tienne, c'est samedi, comme le lendemain de cette journée-là, enfin cette nuit-là quand ça s'est produit, il y a maintenant 33 ans. Je présente donc le bulletin de nouvelles de Radio-Can de l'époque pour en souligner l'anniversaire:

The 15 minutes blackout

This morning, as I had started writing my earlier post, the electricity just went off. It lasted about fifteen minutes, but in fifteen minutes it managed to interrupt my blogging and put me off the internet. It is good to get off the internet from time to time, so that may not have been such a bad thing. That said, moments like this remind me how dependent I am with internet nowadays.

Quand la terre tremble

Ainsi donc, Montréal ne serait pas à l'abri d'un tremblement de terre. Le tremblement de terre japonais m'a laissé pensif ces derniers temps et m'a rappelé des souvenirs. Ca arrrive parfois que j'ai des réminiscences de cette soirée de novembre 1988 au Saguenay. Je me demande un peu comment on réagirait au Québec si ça arrivait. Quand j'ai vécu le tremblement de terre de 1988, je n'ai pas eu peur. Ni pendant ni après. Ce ne fut même pas un moment désagréable. Un moment mémorable, forcément, mais ce n'est pas comme si la panne d'électricité qui a suivi était vraiment quelque chose d'inusité (et les pannes d'électricité ont leur charme). Dans le fond, c'était un évènement assez anecdotique. Mais si une secousse sismique faisait de véritables dommages, ce serait une autre paire de manches.

A long, dark night

Yesterday, we got a complete blackout from 5:00PM(ish) to the early hours of the morning. I got the title for this post from the neighbour, who came to warn us to "be prepared for a long dark night". So that was a major blackout. Of course I have known major blackouts in my life, sometimes in spectacular circumstances (like this one or that one). But one never gets used to extended ones like the one we just had.

Of course, when it happens, it is an inconvenience that illustrates how much we are dependent on technology. That said, it was not totally devoid of charm. We were lucky enough to have plenty of candles and it proved quite useful: we could lit the room and it gave us just enough light to read a bit. Of course, the mix of shadows and candlelight made the flat very atmospheric. The blackout also made us (re)discover the neighbours and appreciate them. Strange that it is easier to start a conversation when you share the same problems. So the long, dark night was not all bad. That said, we sure could do without another one.