A question:

[thebitterguy]

Where were you when the lights went out?

Comments

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

On top of the parking garage looking at the Milky Way from the middle of Toronto.

[proemial.livejournal.com]

Moving to this damn city.

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

Luckily at work where we have a backup generator and were able to watch the American channels so we knew what was going on.

One of the first things I did when I knew the big picture was call my mother who doesn't have a battery operated radio and lives on the fifth floor and is 70 years old. I knew that eventually she would worry if she had no power for more than a few hours and she would get scared when it didn't come back on.

[noizangel.livejournal.com]

At work at York, then rapidly stuck in traffic, and 2 and a half hours later, in Maple.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

I had just left work, and heard about it as I walked past a restaurant (since the subway was closed). Then I knew why it was closed.

[nexstarman.livejournal.com]

At the telescope shop. With Mars and everything it was a crazy time, and losing power was kind of a respite. Until it got dark :-D

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Sitting on the porch, with the baby on my lap, watching the world go by. I realized the power was out when my next door neighbour came out on her porch and asked me if mine was out, too. Then I realized that it was very quiet - all the air conditioners, including the one next to me, had stopped running.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

This is going to be one of those questions people are discussing twenty, thirty, forty years later - like where they were when JFK was shot, or when Diana died.

[gnaremoob.livejournal.com]

at work(day camp). We were in the Gym with the late kids, and the lights went off, every single councellor whipped there heads around ready to scream at the little bugger playing with the lights. No one was there so we went outside. as the parents started coming in to pick up their kids, they told us about the extent of the blackout... wow... i hope it happens again!

[tenzil.livejournal.com]

I was in the office wondering why none of my coworkers in Sarnia were replying to their emails.

I Prefer To Think Of It As...

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

...when the darkness came on.

I was on my laptop. The lights went out, and i said 'hey the power's off' to most of the people on msn... as they slowly disappeared.

I went out later, to look at the stars. It was fantastic.

Even later, i went to my friend's house, and the project of the summer my group of friends had been working on became officially stillborn (in my eyes) and there was an extra bit of emotional turmoil. I was involved in the first and the sidelines for the second.

[rockgoddes.livejournal.com]

Walking from the living room to the kitchen. I thought a couple of things:

- perhaps we hadn't paid the bill on time;
- well, the power had been going out a lot last year before they replaced the green box across the road, so perhaps the new green box didn't work as well as we thought.

When it didn't come on again for a long while I got the transistor and realized it was way way big. We sat outside on our driveway most of the evening, listening to the radio in the car and talking to people walking by.

[sassy-fae.livejournal.com]

I was waiting for the bus on the mountain brow, the one next to the big red cross. I was taking pictures, actually, a nice shot of an empty bench looking out towards the city, showing how peaceful it was up there. I didn't realize until I got on the bus and was headed downtown that the power had gone out, and it had probably been about then.

[nexstarman.livejournal.com]

I would have thought it was your house acting up again :-) Were you just starting an ep of Buffy ?

[fee.livejournal.com]

at work.. stuck on the phones... ::curses job in call centre:: had to keep answering the phones until 2 hours *after* the power went! at least i was on the 4th floor and not 25th of our building!

[scapersuse.livejournal.com]

Temping at frelling King and University.

And, two and a half hours later, home at Yonge & Eg.

At least if it happens this year while I'm at work, I won't have as far to walk. (Bloor & Avenue Rd.)

[(Anonymous)]

Trying to get back home on Sheppard. Dialing 911 when I realized that all these traffic lights were out, and not getting through.

Then hearing on 680 (OK, so my car only has an AM radio, deal.) that the power was out in a frickin' huge area of the province.

Then I had a "Wayne's World" moment, and laid down on the hood of my car and looked at the stars. Until the mosquitoes came out.

[thebitterguy]

I don't know if it has that much significant historical weight to it. But it is an interesting point to think about now, a year later.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Hanging out at home with the baby. The fan in the window suddenly died, and I went "oh... the power's out". Went outside to see what was up -- eerily quiet for that time of day -- everybody else was coming outside, too. The traffic lights up the street were also off. We had enough batteries for one of the boomboxes, so I turned it on, and heard the news.

It was an interesting night. We took the baby out for a walk, the neighbours were all hanging out talking, we went up to the public pool, kids were skinny-dipping in the dark and it looked like a lake. The smell of barbecue everywhere. The stars. Ah. That was the best part. We sat on the front porch and talked to our neighbours next door. Cooked dinner on our gas stove (since the pilot was electric, we lit it by hand). Yeah, I could do with a night like that every year. I think we need to lobby for an electricity holiday (except for essential services, obviously, and those who need electricity to stay alive).

[deven-science.livejournal.com]

where they were when JFK was shot, or when Diana died

Two big ones for me are Kurt Cobain, and of course, 9/11. For some reason, I still vividly remember the exact circumstances of when I found out of the discovery of Cobain's body.