It's one thing when the power is out in such a widespread way that everyone is in the same boat. It's another thing when I can walk two blocks in any direction and find people blasting football games.
As I sat there playing around with my phone in silence, tired from our San Diego visit, I could hear the distant sounds of people who had modern convenience of electricity. Lame. Unfair, I say!
With frustration and light disappearing, I decided to investigate--and maybe pick up a cold six pack on the way. (Opening the fridge was obviously a no-no). At the end of the street I discovered four massive repair trucks setting up in two closed lanes on the Pacific Coast Highway. On the back of one sat a drill bit double my size. Not good.
Got to Vons and....closed. No power. Great. They even had a refrigeration truck parked out front. Vons doesn't have an emergency generator? That's not comforting. Remind me where not to buy produce for a couple days. Fortunately, with the limited scope of this power problem, the Ralphs across the street was open--albeit VERY crowded--so I picked up my beer and a few other little things and walked back. By now, it's starting to get quite dark so Liz and I light all the candles we can find. Neither of us recalls buying at least half of them--but light is light so no matter.
It's not until we're about to eat a late dinner that I remember we have battery powered ipod speakers. I blast something loud to make all the nearby idiots who weren't prepared jealous of our brightly glowing, jubilant apartment. The neighbors were already jealous of the tvs and stereos from two blocks away--now maybe they'd hear it enough to enjoy instead of the dull hum of distant noise. At least that's what I tell myself. We talk about playing a game of scrabble, but Liz decides to head to bed early for recovery from the tailgate sun earlier in the day.
Then...less than an hour after I started playing music and right about when I feel good that we've conquered the great Hermosa Beach 15th and 16th street blackout of 2009, all the power returns. It's 9:55PM. Six hours since we got home and about 12 hours after it first went out. Yeah I know. Not much to complain about, but we don't get power-stopping bad weather otherwise. Half a day is a big deal for us! They say the power could be out for two weeks after a bad earthquake. I have no idea how we'll make it...
At least I got to see Mad Men. A John Deere riding lawnmower inside a Manhattan ad agency!? Of course that's not going to end well!
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