The Blackout entry

Well, I figure everyone who was going to answer has (and those of you that haven’t - grrrr...).

Anyway I thought it would be cool to gather everyone’s stories of the blackout and to see how the loss of electricity affected peoples’ lives.

Cathy - At work on the phone, got to take the long walk home to Brooklyn with so many other New Yorkers.

Larry - At work, also one of many who made his way across the east river bridges back home to Brooklyn.

Sung - In air conditioned comfort with an ice coffee watching TV the electric flickered out for a few minutes and that was it. His big blackout moment came later that evening when he went to get his brother at the Edgewater ferry terminal in a scene he described as reminiscent of the British retreat at Dunkirk.

Brian - On vacation at the Jersey Shore with his soon to be betrothed Valerie missed all the excitement (although there was some refrigerator clearing to do when he returned from the vay-kay).

Tom - Boarding the bus after a day at the beach (Rock, Rock, Rockaway Beach), the savvy bus driver stuck to the side streets running parallel to Woodhaven Blvd. Tom got home without much delay and soldiered through the lack of power like a trooper.

Mark - In Vermont, where he lives but, not really clear on where he was or whether or not the power was off.

Suzanne - Out on the Island at home on the phone with the cable company. Spent a pleasant evening out on the Long Beach boardwalk where everyone was enjoying the absence of electricity. Everyone booed when the power returned.

Tina - Stuck on the Path for almost an hour until she and the other passengers were walked back to the Jersey side. Then an hour walk to the ferry terminal, two and a half hour wait for the ferry, two hours to get through the crowd at the Manhattan terminal trying to get back to Jersey, a walk over to the east side and a climb up 19 flights of stairs.

Sara - A walk from midtown to 125th St. with a co-worker. A short bus ride over to the Bronx (on a packed express bus). A walk up to Yankee stadium and then a very slow ride up to Ossining.

Roberta - In the car on the west side highway in the 20’s, finally got home to Williamsburg at ten, a nice six hour drive from the west 20’s.

Bill - In a windowless room in downtown Detroit, the four block drive from where the car was parked to the nearest expressway entrance took 90 minutes. Managed to coast into Bowling Green on fumes but ended the evening with a plate of wings.

Howard - On vacation in New Paltz (with the ever-lovely Lisa), sitting over a picnic dinner hearing about the blackout, then watching the valley below darken in the twilight while basking in the light of their vacation hideaway with its own electric generator.

Cara - Escaping work at 4:30, beat the mad rush to the ferry terminal and was lucky enough to get home by 8 that evening.

Roy - Just stuck (although I’m not sure if his lights were out longer than our own three hours) locally and probably frustrated that he couldn’t get his business done.

Marcia - Having the good fortune to have decided to forego Tai Chi (and after one of those frustrating days walking around Manhattan and being stymied in what she wanted to accomplish), just having exited the subway five minutes earlier, having Lemonade on the street in front of her home with her neighbors.

Jill - One of the few days she’s stuck in the office our in Jersey, didn’t notice the power was out (because the building has its own generator) wasn’t inconvenienced by anything more than a more painful commute.

As for myself as I had stated earlier, I was in the middle of Judge Judy and after a phone call realized it wasn’t just our block (as it normally is). Power was back by 7 and I spent the next three hours driving around Westchester and the Bronx looking for the Big S.