A couple of days ago, over 100,000 people were left without power in Toronto during the coldest weather the winter has yet offered us.
Though suffering from a recent shoulder injury and drugged out of my mind on muscle relaxants and painkillers, I was fairly well prepared, being in possession of a headlamp, an emergency supply of candles, two Cohiba cigars fresh from Cuba, an insulated coffee pot, nightcap, warm slippers and a girl with an iPhone. Using these simple devices, I was able to stay warm, lit and informed. If I had some sort of bar-be-que, I would have been enjoying utterly sinful Amish luxury.
When the power first went out, I filled the bathtub with cold water. Though I can remember the days when an outage in Toronto lasted about twenty minutes, those days were over five years ago. These days, you just never know. I prepare for the worst, hope for the best and expect something in between the two.
The power was out in some parts of town for about twenty four hours. As for me, it was returned in about ten. It’s quite a long time when the temperatures are twenty below and the heat is electric. But it could of been worse than the chilly, candlelit romance of the primitive.
One day, it probably will be.
For the past couple of days, I’ve been basically without internet. The outage managed to destroy my modem, thus thrusting me into the wonderful world of Bell Customer Service. I attempted to leech off the next door store’s meagre connection –bad, I know– and awaited a repairman for a while, only to discover that he had arrived two hours early and left a note without speaking to anyone or doing anything. He did leave an illegible phone number.
I called Bell, spoke to their robot Emily, was shunted around for an hour and finally had a rather spirited conversation with a company representative in India. She informed me, in no uncertain terms, that he might be back today.
And he actually did make it. Turns out the blackout left our modem alone but fried some of our outside gear. He managed to repair this and, viola, I’m back to the modern world. That is watching 90210 DVDs, cooking Tacos and blogging. My shoulder even feels better. But I do miss the medication.
2 comments
laurenarcher
January 18, 2009 at 4:03 pm (UTC -5)
I was one of the lucky ones with power.
I’m glad you kept warm enough, albeit with out internet.
Bell is an amazingly delinquent company when it comes to customer service. They have terrible internal communications, which never good for a communications company.
That being said: They do provide if you poke them the right way.
janusz
January 18, 2009 at 6:29 pm (UTC -5)
Thanks for nothing Toronto Hydro!
Or rather thanks for 23 hours and 25 minutes in the dark.
(Our house must have been the last one to be reconnected)
It’s ironic that a company with HYDRO in its name got to blame WATER
for the power outage.
What the hell do they need a water pipe in the substation building anyway.
Ever thought it may freeze and burst? I guess not.
Or is it just a story they told us so there is no one to blame?
I’ll be checking my next hydro bill to see If I still get charged for DELIVERY
the one that did not take place, ironically (again) the delivery charge
is typically larger then the cost of energy itself.
According to hydro spokesperson the crews were
working diligently around the clock to restore the power.
I propose we officially elevate them, along side all other uniform wearing workers,
to the status of Heroes.
They saved our lives again, didn’t they.