posted on January 17, 2001 06:03:48 PM
Well, it looks like the power blackouts have finally arrived in California. Certain areas in Northern California are having the plug pulled for 1 - 2 hours on a rotating basis. Does anyone here know for sure if Ebay has an emergency power backup generator? If so, does it work any better than their backup servers?
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on January 17, 2001 06:25:24 PM
No they're not. Prime power consumption in California this time of year is 4-8PM. The ISO says no more for today but tomorrow will be another day.
Running Linux is like living in a teepee: no Gates, no Windows, Apache inside!
posted on January 17, 2001 06:33:19 PM
Southern Calif Edison was not subject to the blackout order today, only PG&E which services Northern California. The order was supposed to remain in effect until about 9:00 pm tonight. And then, there's always tomorrow..........
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on January 17, 2001 06:40:15 PM
... And EARTHQUAKES in NEW YORK CITY! Yup, we had a tiny earthquake here this morning!
I can just see all the California Ebayers laughing and pointing at us: "Haaah you think 2.4 on the Richter scale is an earthquake!?!? HAAAH HAAAH!!!"
Yeah well you can keep your dam earthquakes. I'll stick with my filthy, rat-infested, crime-ridden neighborhood any day. Rocker
PS: I slept through the earthquake anyway.
posted on January 17, 2001 06:51:32 PM
I live in Southern California and ALL the news channels have been talking about a stage 3 power emergency today/this evening.
We have been warned to expect rotating blackouts this evening. I made dinner early in preparation for this.
Of course, I think this is just a ploy to get more money out of us.
I work in a hospital, and last Friday we had a little blackout before our emergency generators kicked in. Scary. This all happened during a "code"--we were doing CPR and shocking the guy. He survived.
posted on January 17, 2001 07:06:38 PM
Rocker
That's why there are so many of us pottery and glass sellers in California. We're trying to get it all shipped out of the state before the nex "big" one hits. You can do your part in assisting us in our disaster prevention efforts by bidding on our auctions.
Cassiescloset
I live in Central Calif. Make reservations for me in your ER, because I'm afraid when I see my next Edison bill, I'll probably need cpr too.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on January 17, 2001 07:33:33 PMsparkz, Please, PG&E servers CENTRAL California. PP&L (Pacific Power and Light) servers Northern California (and most of the North West United States). They are not having power problems and rates have not really gone up.
posted on January 17, 2001 08:26:53 PM
I live about 20 miles from a Central CA nuclear reactor (lucky me! !) They had to power down last week due to high waves from a storm (seaweed plugs the cooling water intake valves and causes overheating).
From what I understand this has only added to the power shortage.
Gee ... I live in the shadow of a reactor and still am under rolling blackout warnings
Clearly proximity has nothing to do with availability.
posted on January 17, 2001 08:31:45 PM
FYI: The power was out from approximately 5:30pm to 6:30pm EST (2:30pm-3:30pm PST) here in Montréal (Québec) Canada.
Not all areas of the island experienced power outages, though. Strange, eh?
posted on January 19, 2001 09:38:03 AM
Have any of you California folks been in the middle of doing your auctions and suddenly your computer shuts down because of a blackout? It must be frustrating. I sure am glad now that I left California for good.
posted on January 19, 2001 10:24:29 AM
You can be sure they will be at peak demand times. When people get home from work, and when they are getting ready to go in in the morning. Late at night or VERY early in the morning you should be OK. Midday I would not chance it. Takes a lot of time to switch and bring areas uip and down.
posted on January 19, 2001 10:26:41 AM
no real pattern - they've been happening mid-afternoon, at least the one's I know about. They're usually threatened for the evening, but I haven't heard of any in the evening so far. I doubt ebay would be affected - I assume they're co-lo'd with good power backup. as far as bidders goes, only a small percentage of people are without power at any one time.
It sucks - it's obviously a ploy to browbeat consumers into forking over big cash. All Pete Wilson's fault (our former gov), who pushed for 'deregulation', and further proof that Republicans are utterly incapable of governing. Their only goal is to pave the way for big business to stick it to us however they want. You'll see lots of this in the next four years, mark my words.
posted on January 19, 2001 10:29:34 AM
I had just down-loaded Norton new Virus Definitions, and was running a scan from online, when it hit...I thought I had a darned Virus...
No, we have no idea when it it ready to hit, because the very concerned and kind PG&E is afraid that, were the times revealed, it might invite crime...As if Crime needed an invitation ..
As I expressed at the Round Table, it is more likely that PG&E is afraid of retaliation: a bombing of their offices or other places...
The whole thing is a conspiracy...In '76, we had the same game played by East Bay Mud, our Water supplyer: NO MORE WATER! boobad!...so, restrictions, sky-rocket high rates...only to discover it has all been a conspiracy: the only way they could hit us with super high rates, was by using a scare tactic: NO MORE WATER....
Then within a couple months, rates went even HIGHER, because we were not using enough water???? so we needed to pay higher MINIMUM BASE fees...?????
It was exposed...unfortunately, the rates remained...
********
Gosh Shosh!
posted on January 19, 2001 02:00:53 PM
Shoshanah, that was funny. I can just picture it, you're running Norton Anti-virus, or worse, you just got the message that says "Virus detected" and all the power in your house goes out!
You'd probably be thinking, "wow, the viruses out there these days..." either that or a few choice words.
When the power failure hit my place, I had just left the computer (still logged on), and was staring to eat dinner. Had to finish it in total darkness. Bashed my toes on the table leg while going to find the flashlight.
Anyways, thanks for sharing that! It made my day. I seriously couldn't stop laughing for about a minute, not that I'm amused by other people's misfortune (if anything, I was worse off). I know, I've got a warped sense of humor (and reality, I've been told).
posted on January 19, 2001 02:40:43 PM
Shoshanah, thanks. I know, I'm a sadist, I can't help it.
If it makes you feel better, I finally collected money for a set of rare antique china, (the bidder was threatening negative feedback), and on the way to the post office I fell down the stairs and the china smashed to bits and pieces, and I broke my leg.
Just kidding.
But that would be kind of funny, wouldn't it? Honesty, I would laugh whether it happened to me or someone else.
Hopefully I haven't offended anyone, if I did, it wasn't intentional.
Rocker
and kind 
