Lunacy Random Thoughts

[Madri-Gal]

So this is going to be weird, but P. G. & E. (Pacific Gas And Electric) is cutting off power to large parts of California. The San Francisco Bay Area will be cut off from electricity P. G.& E. was responsible for several devastating fires that caused billions in damage as well as costing lives, in 2017 and 2018. They have filed for bankruptcy to get out of paying damages, and now, rather than clear around the lines as they've been paid to do, they have decided to cut off power. I live in the Bay Area in a cut off zone, and there is a red flag warning and 50 mph winds are expected, so power goes out at midnight. @Madri-Guy is charging all electronics and changing batteries as needed. He made sure the car was charged as well.
I'm so glad I have my portable vapes. For sure my VapCap will be my DD tomorrow. My Solo, Air and Linx Eden are charging. It seems silly to worry about vapes, but the endodontist I saw last week wasn't able to take care of my tooth so my tooth is still hurting. I'm going to see someone tomorrow to try and get a hospital dentistry referral. They can use different meds in a hospital setting, so maybe there will be a way to stop this toothache.
Any SoCal guys having mandatory Blackouts? @ataxian, @I'm Ron Burgundy? @ddave? Fingers crossed this at least prevents a fire. Power will be out for over 2.5 million people. The outage might last until Tuesday. This includes medical baseline customers. There would be no reason to do this if they cleared around power lines.

 

[Stevenski]

It is like the power companies out here. Make money hand over fist in the good times & return shareholders maximum returns. Invest the bare minimum in infrastructure & maintenance. Somehow we are all expected to to suck it up or worse pay more for less when things go tits up.

The sick, elderly & children will be the ones to suffer most. Guaranteed the bigwigs families will not be amongst them. Guarandammteed.

 

[felvapes]

That's awful to @Madri-Gal
I hope you and @Madri-Guy are okay through to Tuesday
Make sure you have butane for your lighters for your zombie apocalypse dv vapes

They aren't allowed to do this here and when you sign an electricity contract or even on your disconnection letter if you haven't paid they ask if anyone is using life support or necessary medical equipment

The way we are going though with privatisation and outsourcing we are heading towards such situations being a reality here


Of course they are allowed and did shut the water and electricity off to 100s of Aboriginal communities a couple of years ago and made many people homeless
But that's Straya for you

On the general in most suburbs in Ausland this would not happen ATM

I am sorry to hear of your plight right now and send good vibes your way

 

[Madri-Gal]

That's awful to @Madri-Gal
I hope you and @Madri-Guy are okay through to Tuesday
Make sure you have butane for your lighters for your zombie apocalypse dv vapes

They aren't allowed to do this here and when you sign an electricity contract or even on your disconnection letter if you haven't paid they ask if anyone is using life support or necessary medical equipment

The way we are going though with privatisation and outsourcing we are heading towards such situations being a reality here


Of course they are allowed and did shut the water and electricity off to 100s of Aboriginal communities a couple of years ago and made many people homeless
But that's Straya for you

On the general in most suburbs in Ausland this would not happen ATM

I am sorry to hear of your plight right now and send good vibes your way

Thank you, @felvapes, @Stevenski. Usually they don't intentionally cut off medical baseline customers here. That covers people with needed medical equipment. I'm actually a med baseline customer, as I need to have a nebulizer available. Fortunately, my asthma is under better control from vaping, but with no ability to use a fan to cool down the house I'm keeping fingers crossed that I can avoid a heat induced attack. I'm not sure how people with electric stoves are expected to cook, and we're told to not open refrigerators and freezers. That's kind of where people keep food, mostly.
We actually pay for P.G. & E. to keep areas around power lines clear. They prefer not to do that. They didn't give much warning about the outage, and very little direction about what to do, how long the outage will last, etc. I worry about babies, children and elderly people and those with medical problems. Of course, no one wants to lose an another town the way we lost Paradise from the Camp Fire last year, or see the damage we saw from the Tubbs fire the year before.
This will be devastating for indoor growers. Can you imagine?

 

[momofthegoons]

Thank you, @felvapes, @Stevenski. Usually they don't intentionally cut off medical baseline customers here. That covers people with needed medical equipment. I'm actually a med baseline customer, as I need to have a nebulizer available. Fortunately, my asthma is under better control from vaping, but with no ability to use a fan to cool down the house I'm keeping fingers crossed that I can avoid a heat induced attack. I'm not sure how people with electric stoves are expected to cook, and we're told to not open refrigerators and freezers. That's kind of where people keep food, mostly.
We actually pay for P.G. & E. to keep areas around power lines clear. They prefer not to do that. They didn't give much warning about the outage, and very little direction about what to do, how long the outage will last, etc. I worry about babies, children and elderly people and those with medical problems. Of course, no one wants to lose an another town the way we lost Paradise from the Camp Fire last year, or see the damage we saw from the Tubbs fire the year before.
This will be devastating for indoor growers. Can you imagine?

I can't imagine them putting that many people in that type of situation as long as they are talking about... maybe until Tuesday?!? Even if you don't open your fridge or freezer everything will be spoiled inside by then.

I hope it doesn't last that long for you and Madri-Guy and that you've got some supplies on hand that don't require cooking.

 

[Madri-Gal]

I can't imagine them putting that many people in that type of situation as long as they are talking about... maybe until Tuesday?!? Even if you don't open your fridge or freezer everything will be spoiled inside by then.

I hope it doesn't last that long for you and Madri-Guy and that you've got some supplies on hand that don't require cooking.

We are fortunate to have a gas stove. This means the toaster will be out, but I guess we could use the broiler and a coat hanger.... The bigger issue is it takes down the Bay Area. Stop lights, schools, stores. And my coffee maker...
Thanks for the well wishes. We should be fine, just inconvenienced. I'm up with my usual 3:00 a.m. insomnia, trying to get posts in for the day because I am a creature of habit, or something. I've never gotten on to VA from my phone, but M-G said he'd help there. Watching the lights on power strips to see when we get the plug pulled. They haven't got to us yet. We were told yesterday afternoon that this would happen, and power would be back Thursday. Late last night power back changed to next Tuesday. They can pretty much do whatever, when ever.

 

[Squiby]

They can pretty much do whatever, when ever.

I am so sorry to hear of your situation down there! I think it's absolutely outrageous! I live in the boonies where power outages are common though usually brief, but I've chosen this location and came into it with my eyes open so my household set up accommodates for these interruptions. Also, the population here is sparse and the perennial promises from the power company to upgrade our lines is usually muttered tongue in cheek.

I can't imagine going through a power outage in the city for that period of time. My life in the city was totally dependant on electricity and for the power company to not diligently maintain their infrastructure is unforgivable. To put lives in jeopardy with a pop up outage is an outrage and no less than criminal.

I hope it lasts less time than expected and that you remain well and as comfortable as possible.

 

[Madri-Gal]

I am so sorry to hear of your situation down there! I think it's absolutely outrageous! I live in the boonies where power outages are common though usually brief, but I've chosen this location and came into it with my eyes open so my household set up accommodates for these interruptions. Also, the population here is sparse and the perennial promises from the power company to upgrade our lines is usually muttered tongue in cheek.

I can't imagine going through a power outage in the city for that period of time. My life in the city was totally dependant on electricity and for the power company to not diligently maintain their infrastructure is unforgivable. To put lives in jeopardy with a pop up outage is an outrage and no less than criminal.

I hope it lasts less time than expected and that you remain well and as comfortable as possible.

Thank you, @Squiby. It's not just that power will be out at the house, though that isn't desirable. Businesses, schools - well, everything. Gas pumps with electronic controls, and apparently water supplies will be impacted as pumps are needed to deliver water. We are now being warned to use as little water as we can. It doesn't help that it's so many towns and counties. Cities like Berkeley, Oakland, and there are conflicting reports about San Francisco being on the list. I worry about babies on breathing monitors, people with CPAP machines, etc. No one wants another fire, but we are charged every month so P. G. & E. can keep lines clear. They haven't been doing that, and rather than do it, they cut off power. We were told it would be one day, then suddenly it's five days, but access to supplies is now limited by the outage. It's difficult to get information because the power company website keeps crashing, and we won't have computers or television for news. The important thing is we are punished for expecting a safe utility company, and that power lines will be kept clear. If people demand no more outages, than pressure can be applied to the state to let P. G. & E off the hook for maintenance. They already are trying to bankrupt out of paying damages for the fires they caused. There is a sense that this is more P. G.& E against customers than the best solution to fire prevention.

 

[Shredder]

I am so sorry to hear of your situation down there! I think it's absolutely outrageous! I live in the boonies where power outages are common though usually brief, but I've chosen this location and came into it with my eyes open so my household set up accommodates for these interruptions. Also, the population here is sparse and the perennial promises from the power company to upgrade our lines is usually muttered tongue in cheek.

I can't imagine going through a power outage in the city for that period of time. My life in the city was totally dependant on electricity and for the power company to not diligently maintain their infrastructure is unforgivable. To put lives in jeopardy with a pop up outage is an outrage and no less than criminal.

I hope it lasts less time than expected and that you remain well and as comfortable as possible.

I live in a similar area. Our power went out 4 times briefly last week, followed by a 4 hour outage. A transformer failed.

Every time it went out I'd have to manually restart ballasts. Thankfully I do have a large generator that I use a few times a year. But it can be a pain in the rear.

 

[Squiby]

I remember the 2003 blackout. The grid went down and effected the Northern States and South Eastern Canada. We were just going into the heat soaked August long weekend when suddenly, nothing, no warning. I threw a few things in a bag and set off for my sister's place in the country. I just knew I had to get out of the city.

It was total panic. The roads were jammed. I wasn't the only one trying to get out of Dodge. I passed gas stations that had scores of abandoned cars. No gas station pumps worked. No ATMs worked. All businesses were closed. Hospitals were open but barely functioning with generators.

I made it to my sister's in good time once I got off the car jammed main roads. We were fine out there with water and air conditioning powered by a gas generator. The outage lasted through the long weekend where we were till the following Tuesday. Had it lasted longer we would have run out of gas for the generator and had started to anticipate the need to conserve our resources. Though it was summertime, memories of the 1998 Ice storm and the weeks of isolation with no power guided our decisions.

Since then I always have emergency provisions in my vehicle, have emergency cash on hand and I never let the gas tank get lower than half full.

 

[ataxian]

So this is going to be weird, but P. G. & E. (Pacific Gas And Electric) is cutting off power to large parts of California. The San Francisco Bay Area will be cut off from electricity P. G.& E. was responsible for several devastating fires that caused billions in damage as well as costing lives, in 2017 and 2018. They have filed for bankruptcy to get out of paying damages, and now, rather than clear around the lines as they've been paid to do, they have decided to cut off power. I live in the Bay Area in a cut off zone, and there is a red flag warning and 50 mph winds are expected, so power goes out at midnight. @Madri-Guy is charging all electronics and changing batteries as needed. He made sure the car was charged as well.
I'm so glad I have my portable vapes. For sure my VapCap will be my DD tomorrow. My Solo, Air and Linx Eden are charging. It seems silly to worry about vapes, but the endodontist I saw last week wasn't able to take care of my tooth so my tooth is still hurting. I'm going to see someone tomorrow to try and get a hospital dentistry referral. They can use different meds in a hospital setting, so maybe there will be a way to stop this toothache.
Any SoCal guys having mandatory Blackouts? @ataxian, @I'm Ron Burgundy? @ddave? Fingers crossed this at least prevents a fire. Power will be out for over 2.5 million people. The outage might last until Tuesday. This includes medical baseline customers. There would be no reason to do this if they cleared around power lines.

SOLAR?
BATTERY POWER for AUTO TRAVEL!
HOT in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA? (IRRITATED DESERT)
INDIAN SUMMER again!
I know a tribe of surfer’s from OCEAN BEACH ( just south of SF)
The chief surf’s on KAUAI these daze?

 

[ddave]

Any SoCal guys having mandatory Blackouts? @ataxian, @I'm Ron Burgundy? @ddave? Fingers crossed this at least prevents a fire. Power will be out for over 2.5 million people. The outage might last until Tuesday. This includes medical baseline customers. There would be no reason to do this if they cleared around power lines.

@Madri-Gal my friend, DDave is well versed in power outage survival skills in addition to emergency midnight evacuations (with 4 pets safely along for the ride. NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND!)

When So Cal Edison shuts off the lights, Gennie (my generator) turns them back on. House wired for Gennie switchover, off grid, powering the essentials for the duration.

Regarding clearing the brush, it is a much larger effort than it would appear. Anywhere there is an undeveloped patch of land, we are at huge risk. As I've mentioned on Reddit and other places, California just got finished earlier this year with a super rain, followed by supergrowth & superbloom, then back to drought.. All that supergrowth died super fast, leaving huge stockpiles of fuel for fire in the form of tall dry grass-like plants.

 

[Madri-Gal]

Everything seems crazy right now. Last Summer I finally got a dentist who would treat me. I have many allergies, including most antibiotics and lidocaine, and meds in that class, so I'm not popular with dentists. I was able to get some fillings done with no numbing, but was referred to an endodontist for crowns and a root canal. It took months to get an endodontist to agree to see me, and I went last week and the endodontist wouldn't even discuss my allergies until I agreed to pay $3,300 up front, for one tooth. I knew the allergies would be a problem, so I said no, and got into another endodontist this morning. Meanwhile, power is out all through the Bay Area and nine surrounding counties. The endodontist is in Sacramento, but Sacto was supposed to be spared, so we drive the hour to Sacto. For the third time I have to get X-rays and an exam, and I'm told that treatment can't be done outside of a hospital. Because of my allergies, I need general anesthesia and to have everything done at once. That's fine, except the endodontist can't do a direct referral for hospital dentistry, so I have to go to my regular dentist this afternoon. It's been too long, so my regular dentist needs to do X-rays and an exam before she can do a referral. That will be three sets of X-rays and three exams in one week. It adds up. Meanwhile, one of the cracked teeth broke further, and I need another root canal, and I'm in pain to where I can't stand it, and it's both sides.
There is no way of telling if my dentist will have power. Even Sacramento is now having outages. We stopped by a hospital there so @Madri-Guy could drop off a resume, so the trip wasn't a complete waste of time. I have been trying for over a year to get help, but because of allergies no one will treat me, but no one would refer me to where I could get actual help. If it weren't for cannabis, I wouldn't have been able to stand it. It does help with pain, to a point, and inflammation. I'm allergic to aspirin and NSAIDS, so antinflamatories haven't been an option. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'm at a 10, and that's the pain scale, not the how high are you scale. So, cannabis for the win. Someone has to do something. I'm just done. I've spent a small fortune, and still haven't gotten my teeth fixed, and I'm feeling we wee bit victimized, because my Other Son beat me and put rocks in my food and broke my teeth in the first place, and I keep trying to get help, but I don't know how much longer this will take, or if I will forever be getting X-rays and evaluations instead if being able to get help so I can buy vapes instead.
Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[felvapes]

Thoughts are with you @Madri-Gal
On the other side of the world there is not a lot more I can do to help
I feel for you greatly though and am happy you have @Madri-Guy to help you

 

[Madri-Gal]

Thoughts are with you @Madri-Gal
On the other side of the world there is not a lot more I can do to help
I feel for you greatly though and am happy you have @Madri-Guy to help you

Thank you, @felvapes. My dentist did give me a referral for hospital dentistry today. Now I'm covered by my medical insurance because it is finally considered a medical necessity. The next difficulty will be to find a hospital that does dentistry with general anesthesia that is accepting new patients, and can do it soon. It's trickier with power out. @Madri-Guy and I spent several hours making calls after my second appointment, and we will be back at it in the a.m. I'm using the IH you and @LesPlenty walked M-G through making. It's a godsend in the dark.
Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I know progress is being made, but I hurt to where I can hardly stand it. I've been trying for a year, so it's more than time. I had to just insist, insist, insist, all day. I waited, and was patient when I was told to, and now I'm at "f*ck that noise, I NEED HELP NOW". My dentist even said, "Well, you do have PTSD ". Yup, and a bad toothache, so don't try to make me feel bad for having a reaction to having my own child bust my damn teeth up in a campaign of terror. If anyone thinks they can do better, then I'm glad to trade the experience . I didn't choose to have PTSD, it's a special gift from the trauma department.
Wow. Sorry. I am grumpy. My insurance rep said my dentist could have made the referral back in July. Didn't need the endo visits at all. I feel like giving that dentist a bit of PTSD.

That's the pain talking.

 

[ataxian]

Thank you, @felvapes. My dentist did give me a referral for hospital dentistry today. Now I'm covered by my medical insurance because it is finally considered a medical necessity. The next difficulty will be to find a hospital that does dentistry with general anesthesia that is accepting new patients, and can do it soon. It's trickier with power out. @Madri-Guy and I spent several hours making calls after my second appointment, and we will be back at it in the a.m. I'm using the IH you and @LesPlenty walked M-G through making. It's a godsend in the dark.
Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I know progress is being made, but I hurt to where I can hardly stand it. I've been trying for a year, so it's more than time. I had to just insist, insist, insist, all day. I waited, and was patient when I was told to, and now I'm at "f*ck that noise, I NEED HELP NOW". My dentist even said, "Well, you do have PTSD ". Yup, and a bad toothache, so don't try to make me feel bad for having a reaction to having my own child bust my damn teeth up in a campaign of terror. If anyone thinks they can do better, then I'm glad to trade the experience . I didn't choose to have PTSD, it's a special gift from the trauma department.
Wow. Sorry. I am grumpy. My insurance rep said my dentist could have made the referral back in July. Didn't need the endo visits at all. I feel like giving that dentist a bit of PTSD.

That's the pain talking.

Be strong & don’t expect any refund?
Insurance companies can fuck off!

 

[momofthegoons]

@Madri-Gal I'm glad you were finally able to find some answers and solutions to your teeth issues. Hopefully you'll be able to get in soon. Nobody should live in constant pain like that.

So did you lose your power as well?

 

[Squiby]

Wow. Sorry. I am grumpy. My insurance rep said my dentist could have made the referral back in July. Didn't need the endo visits at all. I feel like giving that dentist a bit of PTSD.

I can't imagine going what you have gone through so far, being bounced around like that. It's inhuman! I dearly hope that the months of run-around you've endured over your teeth will be resolved quickly and that they are repaired soon.

 

[ataxian]

@Madri-Gal I'm glad you were finally able to find some answers and solutions to your teeth issues. Hopefully you'll be able to get in soon. Nobody should live in constant pain like that.

So did you lose your power as well?

A friend of mine who lived near the TOWER EFFELL in PARIS, FRANCE died young because of teeth?
The SCOTCH or CIGARETTES would have got him first?
I hope you find a better DENTIST!

 

[Madri-Gal]

@Madri-Gal I'm glad you were finally able to find some answers and solutions to your teeth issues. Hopefully you'll be able to get in soon. Nobody should live in constant pain like that.

So did you lose your power as well?

Thank you, @momofthegoons. Oddly enough, while 80% of the town we live in is out of power, our small area of town is not. Not sure if it's because we are blocks from the police and have a substation on our block as well as two hospitals nearby, or random. Why would other towns people be more at risk, or us less at risk? We are still waiting, as new areas are blacked out and turned on.
Still calling hospitals trying to find an opening, so still have a toothache. I did file a complaint against my dentist for giving me a medication I am allergic to, which led to seizures while in the dental chair (She had a copy of my allergy list, and it was in my file in three other places). That's kind of the point of allergy lists. That is, to make note of what would be medically dangerous to administer.
Also, finished harvesting today. Yay! I'm happy that part's over. Now just dry then cure, or finish curing.