Bert's Birthday Blackout

SO, how did all you San Diegans (and some OC folks and 'Zonies) enjoy yesterday's unprecedented BLACKOUT?

(photo courtesy of The Voice of San Diego, 9/9/11)

While driving back home from picking up TC at school, I noticed the traffic lights weren't working which kind of sucked because it's a blind four way stop. Funny, they were working just a few minutes before. As we approached the driveway, I noticed my automatic garage door wasn't opening. I thought it was just a waning battery as we've had that problem before. So there I am pressing the opener maniacally when a guy from across the street comes over to tell us that the power was out.

Hmmm, great. It was 3:43 pm. According to the news later that night, the blackout occurred at 3:40 pm. TC's piano teacher called us later to tell us she couldn't get to the lesson because her garage door couldn't open.  TC was pretty happy about that. Meanwhile, Bert had his mom over at the dentist. The power went out as they were finishing up making her temporary crown. Ugh, imagine if they weren't done drilling? It took him an hour to drive her back home and nearly an hour to get back home to us.

Oh and by the way, it was Bert's birthday. He was also supposed to go to a class at the college but that was cancelled since there was no power anywhere. We didn't realize the size and scope of the blackout until later that evening when we listened to the news on the radio. Apparently there was a maintenance worker doing routine work in Arizona which caused the blackout. WTF right? In Arizona? That had some sort of cascading effect on the power grid and blah blah blah.

All the neighbors were out chitchatting in their driveways. One came by offering ice bags. Another one came by with ice pops for the kids. TC was out playing with the neighbor girls while us moms tried to stay cool in the shade. Bert got home around 6:40 pm. He took the surface streets home but said the freeways were pretty nasty.

We didn't want to drive anywhere to eat (our original plan) and since they were probably closed, we stayed home for dinner, which happened to be:

A can of thinly sliced Spam fried with a splash of teriyaki sauce.

A can of golden sweet corn kernels.

Half a package of soba noodles with furikake on top (the kind with eggs).

That was our amazing gourmet quality meal that I whipped up for us which we ate by a hanging fluorescent work light and a few flashlights (courtesy of Bert). The work light was suspended from one of our recessed lights and connected to a portable 12 volt battery.  I didn't think to take photos of this delectable meal which was eaten on paper plates (because I didn't want to wash dishes).

I'd picked up a few desserts from Hans and Harry's earlier that afternoon for Bert's birthday desserts

The fruit tart for TC. She likes how the glazed apricot looks like a sunny side up egg.

The chocolate pecan pie for me. I like the crust and the topping the best. Forget the filling!

A slice of tiramisu for the birthday guy,

Our timer shot...

And the aftermath...actually TC and I didn't finish ours completely. Oh, and we broke out our wedding china for the desserts!

We entertained ourselves by playing the piano. Bert even taught TC how to play "The Dancing Bear" while I struggled with "Maple Leaf Rag". TC and Bert made a "fort" with blankets and played mini Connect 4 underneath. It was quite an interesting night to say the least. One of our neighbors ate their dinner on their front lawn. We could see candles and flashlights in some of the other houses down the hill. We also listened to the radio intermittently and cheered when we found out that school (and work) was cancelled! This hasn' happened since the wildfires of 2007. Well, I don't think Bert will be forgetting this birthday anytime soon!

So, how did you guys deal with the blackout? Where were you when it happened? Hopfully not in an elevator!