In the dark

[tinyjo]

We had a power cut last night. It was very unnerving. It's the first time it's happened to me in Oxford. I didn't venture out into the torrential rain to look but apparently the whole of Oxford was out - it was just like the countryside with no streetlights or anything (or so I'm told). Sitting at home with a couple of candles and a very bright bike light I found myself really wishing that the fireplace worked - there's nothing like an open fire when the power's off, especially since it takes the boiler with it. Fortunately the boiler came back up all by itself when the power came back about 1/2 an hour later which was something of a relief as I wasn't quite sure what to do if it didn't. If I ever manage to buy that house (wishful thinking...) the first thing I do is going to be getting that fireplace working again.

Comments

[jinty]

What time was that? I got back from Liverpool at 9:30 or so at night -- did I miss it?

[sparkymark.livejournal.com]

Osney had a slight shudder: enough for the fridge to get confused but it lasted no more than a second. It reminded me of Calgary which seemed to have daily wobbles in the power supply.

it was *spectacular* in East Oxford

[cleanskies.livejournal.com]

Damian and I were coming home on the bus at the time, and suddenly became aware that we couldn't see *anything* through the already misty and rainstreaked windows. Scooting though darkness with only taillights ahead of us to show there's a world outside. Stepping out onto Manzil gardens the only lights were the headlights of a taxi idling in that taxi spot only scary people use and some candles burning in the Aziz. Randolph Street was black, silent and awash with rain, we had to navigate the puddles from the faint gleams from the two or three windows where someone had managed to find a candle. Getting home, I went straight for the brick only to find its battery was flat! Darn! Then onto locating the matches and candles by touch which I'd just managed to do when the lights all came back on again, cheers from the street -- guess we weren't the only ones thinking thank god it came back on before Farscape ...

From a BBC news frame I can't link to

[sparkymark.livejournal.com]

Southern Electric said 45,000 customers were cut off in an area stretching from Wallingford and Watlington to Wheatley and much of Oxford.

No one was hurt in the explosion at the Cowley electricity substation, in Blackberry Lane.

Police stressed that the explosion was very minor. The fire service said it involved a circuit breaker and some residual oil, and at one point an electricity transform was "well alight".

Some callers to BBC Radio Oxford said they heard a loud bang at around 18:30. Half a dozen primary substations immediately shut down.

All 45,000 customers had power again within 80 minutes but hundreds of householders caused extra problems by calling the fire service and police unnecessarily.

The only emergencies dealt with by the fire service involved two people who had to be rescued from lifts, in Windrush and Hockmore tower blocks in eastern Oxford.

I like the photo!

[cleanskies.livejournal.com]

What a bunch of cheeky chappies they are.

The link you want is here.

Re: I like the photo!

[andypop.livejournal.com]

Hyuk!

Re: I like the photo!

[applez.livejournal.com]

hehehehe

---

Well Jo, 80 minutes of darkness and (I assume) absolute quiet but for the rain must be a very welcome change from the norm. That, and you can live your own Triffid/Survivors/post-apocalyptic etc. fantasies for a short while. :-)

I dunno, I guess after Nigeria (wherein every frequent blackout is greeted by a collective curse "NAPA!" ) and Taiwan (knocked out power from the massive typhoons which seemed to sweep the island clean of all things loose and over 2 stories) - I'm just not shocked by power outages anymore.