4:00ish – they power went out, first we thought it was just a breaker. Ten a neighbor banged on our door.

4:05 – saw on twitter lots of activity. Hearing it’s out all over San Diego. Crazy!

4:08 – trolleys are down, people are leaving work. Beer thirty came early! Thankful I didn’t go back downtown after my meeting at Journey.

4:21 – kids got bored, playing dominos. (lofi fun!)

4:32 – kids bored again. Goodbye dominos.

4:44 – hearing sirens on El Cajon Blvd. Eerily quiet out there.

4:47 – taking bets on when the power comes back on. Paul says dinner, Megan says tomorrow. When do you think? Also seeing on Twitter that parts of Arizona, New Mexico, and Baja are out

4:55 – filled up a couple jugs with water, just in case.

4:59 – cell service is completely slammed. I’m not getting anything through now.

5:04 – just heard that SDGE is reporting power will be out into the night, maybe as late a tomorrow.

5:09 – off to find ice

5:15 – Vons is closed, strike 1.

5:21 – you can always trust a liquor store to be open. Unfortunately, my favorite one is sold out of ice. (avoided buying booze, tempting)

5:29 – Paul (age is telling me he thinks this was caused by a solar flare.

5:37 – everywhere is either closed or out of ice. The upside is that everyone is calm and courteous on the roads. There will be a massive party tonight, you can feel that coming.

5:46 – good news, no problems with water (yet) watering the garden. It’s cooling off rapidly out there.

5:52 – looks like the gas is out, too. Thankful that our roast was already done for dinner. Weird that the gas is out.

6:04 – lots of sirens in the distance, no bueno.

6:10 – bad news on the roast, we have to eat it all.

6:21 – Filling up more stuff, the water pressure is noticeably lower. We are also sitting in the back yard now. Going to be a night of community!

6:33 – sitting outside and playing, “I survived the blackout and all I needed was an Apple, baboon, cotton candy, deer, ear plugs…

6:39 – the world may end… We have no cell service.

6:55 – going to take a walk, might as well be neighborly

7:15 – rolando community BBQ tonight, awesome. Everyone is out walking and talking. Best night ever!

7:38 – back from our walk, digging out candles. SDGE is saying maybe no power back until tomorrow. Some area have a water emergency, so far not ours. Have I mentioned how quiet it is? No planes or anything.

7:48 – darkness is arriving, the kids are pacing in a dark house. They have no idea what to do. How many hours until the sun rises?

7:56 – with darkness settling in, all I hear is chatter of neighbors, crickets, and a helicopter over City Heights. I hope the helicopter pilot got epic shots of a dark city. Crazy.

8:01 – on our walk a gas meter looking thing was running, sounded like a generator. Anyone know what that is?

8:10 – saw on twitter that school was already cancelled for tomorrow. Summer vacations revenge! Thankful our area not under water restrictions yet. Am I obsessing about water or is it just hot?

8:25 – brought the kids outside to look at the stars. The moon is almost obnoxiously bright.

8:29 – forced the children to eat all of the ice cream, also informed them that school closed tomorrow. Best day ever!

8:48 – listening to am 600. Heard they are restoring power to OC, Tijuana.

8:58 – KPBS is reporting that the power is back on at SDSU. I guess the giant toga party is ending…

9:09 – spoke to an AP reporter covering the blackout.

10:25 – we see lights on far out to the east on the hills. We secretly hate those people.

10:34 – power is on in La Mesa, just like 2 miles from here. Now I’m just wanting this over.

10:35 – if the power isn’t on by morning, filet mignon and eggs for breakfast.

10:48 – power on at SDSU & La Mesa, but Rolando? Nothing. I’m calling Jesse Jackson in the morning.

It’s been a few months, but Romeo is on our mind a lot. Today we had some friends send pictures of their big snow storm. I thought it would be fun to contrast the two. Can you figure out which is which? Romeo or San Diego? (Both of these were taken today)

Picture #1

Picture #2

Wanna guess?

Romeo was not alone in canceling school today. My opinion on snow days and dirt roads is well documented and tiresome. The effects on commerce and families is obvious.

So let’s talk solutions.

This is Michigan. We are a state surrounded on three sides by Canada and the Great Lakes. Winter weather shouldn’t effect commerce and education as much as it does.  We are a well-educated state. We are a state that has just awoken to the reality that it is competing for commerce with other states and other nations. Look around, what we are doing is failing our economy, our children, and public safety. So what are we going to do?

What are the solutions? How can we prevent minor snowfalls like today from stopping our children from being educated, forcing parents to take unplanned vacation  days, and keeping everyone safer?

Ideas. We need ideas.