Turn that generator by any means

[austin_dern]

I got up perhaps a bit earlier than I'd have liked, but reasonably alert, and went to get a towel and then brush my teeth. As I finished I noticed the time displays on the VCR and microwave were off, and the ceiling fan was spinning down to a stop. I was fairly sure I hadn't done anything to blow a fuse, what with not actually triggering any electrical devices at all, and I was also rather sure the electricity had just been on. A quick search around found that all the power in the house was off, so it wasn't just a blown fuse. Just to be sure I looked around the house and determined that I had no idea where the fuse box was.

If the house was out of power ... well, it was a lovely day, very hard to improve short of a court order. A bit cool, not too humid, bright blue skies, no signs of clouds. The past few nights there'd been threats of thunderstorms and a power outage during that would be quite reasonable, but as far as I could tell there was never a flicker. A failure in the middle of perfect weather would be ridiculous. I supposed that it was possible some nigh-omnipotent force had drained the Earth of the ability of electrical devices to operate, but it seemed implausible that I would happen to get up within moments of such a cataclysm happening. More likely that I'd have been up for hours or slept right through it. Besides, a phone began beeping shortly after, apparently as part of a design meant to guarantee that if the phone was ever not usable because of its base station losing power then at least it would be very annoying.

So if it wasn't a storm-related power failure, then probably someone working on a line somewhere broke an important thing, meaning that power would be out for a perfectly random but probably too long stretch of time. I checked that the hot water was still working -- I'm not sure just what does heat it -- and got into the shower right away, since if civilization as we knew it was at an end I at least wanted to get one last hot shower in. When I got out from that I found the various clocks blinking 12:09, indicating that civilization was all right for now, which is for the best. I don't know how long I'd have kept the Livejournal going if it had to be done by hand.

Trivia: STS-7, on which Sally Ride became the first female American astronaut, also launched the largest crew to fly in a single spacecraft to that point, with five persons. Source: Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System: The First 100 Missions, Dennis R Jenkins.

Currently Reading: The Age of Napoleon, Will and Ariel Durant. Another library book-sale book, and in fact, the last (and longest) of them, apart from a pair of special-subject encyclopedias useful for trivia points.

Comments

[orv.livejournal.com]

...it seemed implausible that I would happen to get up within moments of such a cataclysm happening.

It happens all the time in the movies, though!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Ah, but that's the thing. What are the odds someone would make a movie out of my life? At least the non-Singapore parts of it?

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I don't know how long I'd have kept the Livejournal going if it had to be done by hand.

Oh, but it' would've been among your more interesting series of entries. Though I'm not sure how we would've read it.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I bet you I'd have run out of pencil leads two days in, though.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

Would you be using a mechanical pencil over a more typical one, in case of sudden civilization end? I suppose it's personal preference.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Well, even on the rare occasion when I can find the coffee cans of civilian pencils -- it appears one week of every six, on average, and then disappears -- I can never find the pencil sharpener, so they'd be an even more transient and short-term solution to writing needs.