Light-less in Seattle

[annathepiper]

I'm hearing tell of reports of a crane that took out a high-voltage power line, which in turn took out a large swath of power across the city of Seattle. solarbird is telling me that there are reports of power loss in the U District, Fremont, Greenlake, Eastlake, and Roosevelt.

Anybody else out there have more data? I'm not seeing any news reports yet on seattletimes.com or seattlepi.com.

Comments

[kent.livejournal.com]

I don't know, but Phinney Ridge is fine (74th St and Greenwood). I don't know about my house in Ballard, but it sounds like we might be far enough away.

[annathepiper]

Yeah, sounds like! We first heard tell of it when mamishka called solarbird at MurkNorth and reported that the entire neighborhood was out. Wonder how long it'll take 'em to get the line restored.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Oh good grief! Hope you're okay. This is the first I'm hearing of it myself, and nothing on the national news.

[annathepiper]

Oh, I'm totally fine--I'm still at work right now anyway, which is at Microsoft. Redmond's on the far side of Lake Washington from Seattle, and a completely different (although smaller) city. So damage to the Seattle power lines wouldn't affect Redmond.

Thanks for the concern, though! :) I'm really curious as to what's going on. solarbird and I heard about it from mamishka, who'd been online and then had to call to relay word of what had happened.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Well I hope the power grids get up and running soon. I know what a pain it can be when you lose power. It happens around here occasionally when we get hit by high winds or a tornado, which gratefully, we've had almost nothing of this summer. (That's very weird actually. Hrm).

I haven't had a chance to visit Seattle yet, not on a long stay I mean. I rented a car and drove from Sea-Pac (is that right?), past Seattle and then north to Vancouver on vacation (about 3 weeks after 9/11). Then flew back to Sea-Pac for the trip home. So the only thing I've seen of Seattle was a quick glance while driving on the expressway ("Oh look! The Space Needle! Just like on 'Fraser.'" *g*) and then flying OVER it ("Wow! It really *is* the Emerald City!")

[annathepiper]

Now that I'm home from work, solarbird says that they got most of the neighborhood back up and running fairly quickly. So, cool. No great hardship. :)

Sea-Tac is what you're thinking of, short for Seattle-Tacoma. And yeah, this place really is that green. One of the good side effects of all the rain we get during the winter.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Sea-TAC. I think when I typed Sea-PAC I was thinking Pacific instead of Tacoma! (Speaking of which, the Pacific looked gorgeous from on high).

Glad to hear everything was okay! *g*

[annathepiper]

The Pacific is indeed gorgeous, though I have been privileged to see it only a couple of times. I really like how it looks from the Oregon and Washington coasts, all lonely and windswept--it's really an entirely different ocean than the one that surrounds Hawaii, and that was also stunningly beautiful.

And yah, we're fond of having power around here. ^_^ We had a brief power flicker yesterday, too, which was weird--the power flickered heavily at Microsoft a couple of times, and it generally takes a major hit on the local power systems to make Microsoft's power flicker, since it's got GOOD backup systems. risu told solarbird (who was at our other house) and me that we'd had a power hit at our house, too. I'm kind of wondering if it's because the Northwest is now having a mini-heatwave and so many people had on air conditioning, or something; we certainly haven't otherwise had any weather that would be affecting power.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Now someone else mentioned that to me about the mini heat wave we're having here, whether it might affect power grids out West. The heat index today was 92, which is awful but nothing like the index of 120 we had a couple of weeks ago! Makes me glad I work at night. The humidity and heat still sucks (nothing like it being 3 AM and the temp is 90 and the humidity 80%), but at least the sun's not beating down on you!

[annathepiper]

I've heard from other friends in Kentucky that the weather has continued to suck... how's it holding up in Louisville?

Night work helps at least, I guess! I only had to work night shifts for a couple weeks the summer before my first year in college--at White Castle, of all places. I've never had to do it since. Do you prefer it over daytime shifts?

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

I definitely perfer late watch to daywork. In fact, I asked for it as soon as that shift had an opening. I'd spent about 6 years on midwatch but when I moved -- and it was harder for me to get home since I catch the bus -- I asked for the late shift when someone retired. Trust me -- nobody was fighting me for the position! LOL The only thing I miss is that I don't always feel like I'm getting a full day off. Oh well.

It was hot and humid and miserable up through yesterday...and then the rain came. We were due for rain anyway, but now with Katrina, if she stays on her current path, her remnants will hit the Ohio Valley about Thursday as she sweeps northeast, which means that with the heat, we could also get tornadoes or thunderstorms. Never a dull moment around here! LOL

[annathepiper]

I've been following the news about Katrina, yeah--and a friend of mine in Frankfort and my sister as well told me about the expectation of big thunderstorms. I'm a bit worried about my friend, since he's actually supposed to fly out here on Wednesday for the science fiction convention he's attending along with solarbird and me. (He's rooming with us.) I still have a vivid memory of being stranded in the Lexington airport for nine hours thanks to tornadoes in Louisville.

Glad your shift works for you. :)

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Well right now we're under flash flood watches and likely will be for the next few days since they're saying we may get anywhere from 5 to 6 inches! (I think we've had about an inch since last night). No where near as bad as poor lovely New Orleans of course, but troublesome.

Every time I hear a traffic report someone has skidded off the road or into each other due to hydroplaning (I don't think Louisvillians understand the concept of slowing down during bad weather LOL) so there are accidents everywhere. I think the Water Company has the pumps in place for the lower areas, and I hope it'll stop raining before the Ohio overflows her banks, but at least the flood walls are in place.

We've been lucky so far. I haven't heard about any tornado watches/warnings in Kentucky *fingers crossed* Just rain...lots and lots of rain. I know one little tree with wild apples uprooted on the property and was partially in the main roadway to our complex. Not good. The ground has been so dry from the drought conditions that I'm afraid it won't hold all the water.

Good luck to your friend. Just keep watching the flight trackings I guess.

[annathepiper]

My sister called me yesterday evening--she lives in Danville--and told me they were getting heavy rain there, indeed.

Floods in Louisville. I have vivid memories of that, too. The big ol' drainage ditch I used to live near (it was "Slop Ditch" on the Louisville maps) flooded twice that I remember offhand during my childhood; the first time, the water got into our house and made all our carpets shrink. Ugh.

My friend flies out this afternoon; he's going to be checking on the updated schedule in a bit. Here's hoping he won't get delayed! (The convention doesn't start until tomorrow, and while solarbird is going to be spending some time down at the hotel to help set stuff up this afternoon, we're not officially showing up to settle into our room until tomorrow... so even if he gets delayed until tomorrow that won't be too terribly annoying at least on this end of things.) He says the weather's calm there right now, anyway.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

I'm a day behind on my LJ, but he should have gotten out of Kentucky with few problems. The weather cleared up yesterday and it's been quite nice since although the humidity is starting to build up again (I felt it in the air when I walked over to the office to pay my rent).

Forgive my blankness, but is this a SW or ST convention, a sci-fi convention in general or a movie convention?

I haven't been to a con in YEARS! I met James Doohan at one here the day after Derby 1976. Saw Majel Barrett Roddenberry at one around 1985 or 1986 and she gave the SAME speech -- for the most part -- that Gene had given in Louisville in 1976! LOL

[annathepiper]

Oh, I got yer Behind On Your LJ right here. ;) This is what happens when I get flattened by surgery recovery and then the flu right after it!

My friend did in fact make it here okay, thankfully.

The convention he came up here to attend was NASFiC, which stands for North American Science Fiction Interim Convention, is the convention that gets held in North America every time Worldcon is overseas. Like Worldcon, it's a general SF convention with a broad array of programming covering many aspects of the genre. :)

Rivercon was a good general SF con that was held in Louisville for the longest time--are you familiar with it? It recently was retired, though, due to the folks who run it wanting to bow out. ConGlomeration is its successor, and a lot of my Kentucky-based friends go to that. :)

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

I know Rivercon quite well. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was at Rivercon back in 1976 -- the day after Derby Day -- that I met James Doohan, got his autograph, had a chance to speak briefly with him. If it wasn't Rivercon, then it was a predecessor.

And I'm glad to hear that your friend made it! *g*

[annathepiper]

COOL! (It's so rare that I actually talk to somebody in Kentucky who isn't connected with the fandom groups I know from there, and who still knows what the local cons are! ;) )

Rivercon lasted for 25 years, as I recall, and only shut down a couple of years ago. So if it was Rivercon where that happened for you, it might have been one of the very first ones. I'd have to go digging for its history to see if Mr. Doohan was ever a guest.

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

I'm sure someone else might remember....I know he was here for Derby cause he apologized for being hoarse as he was -- no pun intended -- cheering on his HORSE at the big race! (Can't remember if he said he was a winner or not). I remember him being so polite and very funny, and I'd only been in ST fandom a couple of years when I met him (I was also a member of his fan club which was being run by a lady out in the Northwest US).

I know I got his autograph...then I managed to ask him if it'd be all right if I gave him a kiss. I remember saying "Anna said you wouldn't mind..." Anna being the name of his fan club president. He immediately jumped to his feet, asked if he should just lean over the table or should he come around it. I suddenly realized all eyes were on me and I stammered that he could stay where he was. I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, thanked him for everything and managed to slip out with both feet still on the ground!

[annathepiper]

Heh! Wow, what a neat little story. :) I'd have been absolutely flabbergasted too! Now try to imagine saying that to Russell. >:)

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

Oh good grief! You posted your reply to me back on the 23rd of November...and it just dropped in my box. *sigh* I'd forgotten about telling you my little story about meeting James Doohan back in 1976.

That was also the year I saw Gene Roddenberry in a lecture in Louisville -- that was at Freedom Hall (you'll know it with you being a former Louisvillian). I sadly wasn't as impressed with him as I was with Jimmy; didn't feel the same warmth and all, and I don't think it all had to do with "Scotty" having been at a small convention and Roddenberry speaking before an audience of several thousand. He just seemed...distracted.

The funny thing is...years later, when I heard Majel Barrett-Roddenberry at a ST convention in which she announced the coming of Star Trek: The Next Generation, she gave pretty much the same speech Gene had about 10 years before!

[annathepiper]

Yay, LJ being slow! And it's still happening, too, though not quite as badly. I've had delays of a few hours between seeing a comment show up on my journal, and the email hitting my inbox.

That's FUNNY, that Majel gave the same speech Gene did. :) Was it a good speech, anyway? How long did it take you to realize you'd heard it before?

[ii2none59.livejournal.com]

I realized it when she started talking about reaching for the stars and how Star Trek had opened up doorways (not sure which ones right now LOL). The fact that I remembered that it was the same speech nearly had me ROTFLMAO! Was it a good speech? It was okay. I think Majel gave a little better version of it, only because I don't think she was 1) intoxicated, 2) high, 3) over-medicated, or 4) all of the above!

[annathepiper]

*snicker* I can see that having an impact on one's delivery, yeah. ;)

[kathrynt.livejournal.com]

When was this? I wonder if it coincides with my bouncy power.

[lyricae.livejournal.com]

I heard about it on the radio news just after my power flickered, so I'm guessing the answer is yes. But that's just a guess.

[annathepiper]

Dara says that they got much of the neighborhood back up and running fairly quickly, so that's good. Did you hear anything interesting as to what caused the crane to take out the line?

(And it was around 1:30, 1:40 or so, I believe... based on when Meems vanished off the MurkMUSH this afternoon.)

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know what the crane was doing. I heard about it on news radio this afternoon and called Meems. What I heard has already been reported, alas ;-) Glad to hear that the power came back on though. Would suck to be powerless for an unknown amount of time.

[lyricae.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that... forgot to log in

[annathepiper]

No problem, hon! :)

[annathepiper]

1:30ish as I mentioned to you in IM, though I'd still be interested in finding a news blurb about it. Dara says that power came back pretty quickly in our neighborhood; now I just want to know what happened.

[annathepiper]

Lights are good. :)

[ravyngyngvar.livejournal.com]

Heh. Nice bit of synchronism. There was a big power outage in Oslo, too, and I even heard reports of one here in Bergen for a short while, but it was apparently not near me. No electric clocks in my apartment are blinking 0:00 either.

[annathepiper]

Hah! That is a strange coincidence, indeed. :)