Part of our Sunday...

We had decided to treat ourselves to dinner in Victoria and The Dark Knight at IMAX on Sunday evening. Our plans, unfortunately, were interrupted by the massive power outage described in the story below. We had just sat down at the restaurant when the power went out. We were served a warm loaf of fresh bread and tea & coffee, while we waited, but at 6:15 decided to call it quits and made our way over to the IMAX theater. We initially were told that the power was out for the block that the restaurant was on but found that the theater was without power also, as was almost all of downtown Victoria. The drive home was interesting to say the least, navigating downtown streets with no traffic signals, but most drivers were civil and taking their time, even letting pedestrians cross when needed. Shortly out of downtown we found sporadic areas with power and when we arrived home all was well, although it was apparent that our power at home had been out for about 45 minutes at the beginning of the outage. We settled in for the evening and have made tentative plans to try the movie again this coming Saturday.

Monday is Thanksgiving and we are having a nice dinner at home. The weather has turned damp, drizzly and foggy so we are hibernating and actually going through some boxes that have not really been opened in the year we have been in the new house. Upon reflection we have a lot to be thankful for: friends and family to talk to, a home to shelter us and provide us with happiness and pride, food on the table, stable jobs in a somewhat stable economy and not much of the financial drama that has plagued the US recently. We really are living in a great place.

Doug

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Power restored to Vancouver Island following massive blackout
Cindy E. Harnett, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, October 12, 2008

A massive power outage hit southern Vancouver Island Sunday night, knocking electricity out for about 200,000 customers on the south Island and the Gulf Islands.

The entire region south of Ladysmith on Vancouver Island lost power for an hour because of transmission problems, according to B.C. Hydro.

The lights went out at about 5:40 p.m., as Thanksgiving turkeys were roasting in ovens. About an hour later, power returned to some areas in and around Victoria, although service remained spotty.

Many customers are still without power, said Ted Olynyk, spokesman for B.C. Hydro.

Olynyk said the power company was patrolling transmission lines trying to find the source of the problem. He said he does not know when power will return to all customers.

Traffic lights went dark and police departments and hospitals automatically transferred onto emergency backup systems in Greater Victoria. Sirens and honking horns could be heard throughout downtown.

Suzanne Germain, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health Authority, said the affected hospitals continue to function.

"We have back-up power and the generators kick in automatically. They are up and running and all is fine," Germain said.