My power went out overnite on Monday. It had flickered a bit Monday nite, when i got home from work...and I thought I was safe when I went to bed WITH power.....but, guess not.
I had hot water for showers, here in my apartment, but since there was no electricity to turn on the thermostat, there was no heat thru the radiators. I had three little push button battery operated LED lights luckily, which have been a godsend when I have had brief power outages before. So, I just ended up going to bed early each nite, even though out of those three days, I only had to work/get up early for work, one of those days. I ended up finally getting around to reading a book I bought THREE years ago ("The Time Traveler's Wife"...almost done with it. Awesome book..afraid to see the watered down movie version).
From a sociological perspective (have a degree, never used it) it was interesting to see just
how connected everyone has to be to the internet/technology these days. I got a kick out of going to the coffee shops and seeing just how many people were waiting to....who
HAD to...(like me
) sit around and wait for a plug to be free so as to power up their phones and such. If this had happened 15 years ago, even less, most people would just stay at home, read a book, play board games, etc.... But in the 21st century we all were desperate to "stay connected" to the outside world/internet. The libraries and small restaurants and coffee shops were PACKED. It was cool to talk to these strangers, who all had this power outage in common, and hear their stories. Most people were relatively polite to eachother, and would unplug to let someone else plug, after about an hour or two, so that everyone had a turn. (60 people in a coffee shop, and only 10 plugs at the most equaled long lines, lol)
...One funny incident was when I when to a late nite restaurant, sat next to a plug, and finished recharging my one little phone. A guy came in, sat nearby, and asked if he could use the plug opening above mine. "No problem" I said. ...He took off his backpack, ..pulled out a power strip.....then pulled out a SECOND power strip....connected one to the other, then the remaining part into the plug underneath my table. THEN he pulls out a laptop computer. A bluetooth. A cellphone. And a tablet.....and proceeds to plug aaaalllll of those items in to the powerstrips before going over to his table to eat. I had to be careful with my feet, and make sure I did not kick any of them..lol
the only info that was going on in new jersey was about the gas station/license plates bullshit and chris christie talking about power companies from out of state coming to help. ridiculous. some of my people living in the affected areas STILL have no power and are being told that they're not going to get any by the next week. 
that dude is a jackass.
