In Indiana, black and brown outs are things we would hear about in the news that happened to those far out people who live in California where life is expensive and earthquakes are a commonality. The power was out for about 10 hours this day in the middle of summer.
Some side effects...
No power means no traffic signals. Although the traffic was heavier than normal (who can effectively accomplish great things at work in this world without electricity to power their computers?! definitely time to go home), the interstate was surprisingly smooth flowing. After getting off the interstate your normal travel time is greatly multiplied. I estimate it took me about 5 times as long to get home as normal in the non-interstate section, and I only had to go through 3 stoplights! When the power goes out, once you reach your intended destination, you stay there.
I happened to decide a little music might be nice for the ride home this day and although it makes sense there was still an unexpected aspect to turning on the radio and finding that there were very few stations. I found one that was still playing music. They were running off of a generator. I couldn't help but smile and turn the volume up a bit as I was driving down the busier than normal road in the city without power when the first song I heard them play I think was called Take a Back Road by Rodney Atkins.
The next day I stopped by the grocery store and found that the meat and dairy had been cleared out. Too bad for you if you want to buy some milk or turkey.
It was cool though to hear people talking about what they did that evening. It sounds like people really can enjoy themselves doing those old time activities like a barbecue with the neighbors (to eat that thawing meat) or watching the kids ride their bikes or throw a ball outside (because *gasp* no tv!). A great reminder that not everything in life always needs to be bigger or fast paced. Try being unplugged for a while, you might like it.
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