For the past few days Regina has been hit with a number of thunderstorms and power outages.
The storms, though one of them did come with pea sized hail, haven't been particularly bad or lead to much damage. Of course, the fact that they seem to be happening about once a day does mean that they're still quite annoying.
The power outages also seem to be equally frequent. Yesterday out part of town was hit with a strange mild-weather power outage that lasted a few hours. This morning much of the eastern portion of the city was also hit with a several hour power outage (and I think that all started before either of this morning's two thundershowers).
[Embedded video]
And it wouldn't really be a storm if I didn't at least try to catch some of it on time-lapse (and this time I was successful in capturing the entire first round).
In case you're curious, when I moved to the prairies I didn't expect to experience quite as many rain related weather events, nor as many power outages.
Showing posts with label Power Outages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Power Outages. Show all posts
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Sunday, October 30, 2011
The 'Unseasonable' Storm - 3
Much to my surprise, it seems that at least one of the closest power outages has been resolved. I am taking this to be good news in a number of ways. Firstly, the conditions are not so bad as to prevent power crews from working. Secondly, power crews are actively working to repair damage. Thirdly, and this may be a little presumptuous on my part, but I take this to mean that they don't think that things are going to get worse in this area.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Port aux Basques to Wolfville - 7
After a brief stop in Windsor, Jeannette and I finally made it back to Wolfville. Fortunately after Windsor I was able to hand off driving responsibilities.
Now that we have safely returned we should be able to look through our photos and reflect on the trip, which generally seemed to go well (even if the final 30 hours were rather gruelling).
Oh, and by the time we returned the power was back. This was a very pleasant surprise. And our apartment, which we had loaned to an unknown house sitter was in perfect condition.
Now that we have safely returned we should be able to look through our photos and reflect on the trip, which generally seemed to go well (even if the final 30 hours were rather gruelling).
Oh, and by the time we returned the power was back. This was a very pleasant surprise. And our apartment, which we had loaned to an unknown house sitter was in perfect condition.
Port aux Basques to Wolfville - 6
We just learned that we aren't likely to have power when we return to Wolfville. At the moment we are expecting to get it back by two.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Hurricane Earl Live 21
Just moments ago we returned from a several hour excursion to the Bayer's Lake shopping district. Though the primary justification for the trip was to find places with power, we did allow ourselves to engage in some shopping and shopping related activities.
Eventually we even decided to head to a movie before returning to our apartment. The idea was that a movie would provide us with a few hours of refuge from our unfanned apartment during the power outage. Eventually we all agreed on The Other Guys, which we all ended up enjoying.
I should note that just as the sun was setting we happened to be waiting at an intersection in Bayer's Lake when we heard something of a thud and screech. At first it appeared that a three car pile up had occurred just across the street from us. Rebecca, sensing a confrontation between several of the drivers/participants, decided to report the incident to the cops. After the reporting process was complete we went on our way.
When we drove by this intersection a little later in the evening it seemed as though there were ambulances on site and at least six cars involved (and I could see about six police cars). Presumably there was either a second accident or a further pile up in relation to the first accident. (Though when I just showed the above photo to my fellow witnesses they said they were sure that there were more vehicles there at the time of the accident - the photographic evidence did little to convince them otherwise).
When we returned to our apartment we discovered that our building had power. Once we were inside Rebecca was able to determine that we had actually had power since about 6:00 PM, meaning that some of our refuge/shopping activities were not entirely necessary. Unfortunately we didn't have a good way of determining whether or not our power had been restored and thus decided to play it on the 'safe' side and keep on trucking at Bayer's Lake, a decision I don't entire regret (and certainly wouldn't regret had we come home to find we were without power).
Anyway, I guess this will be it for the Hurricane Earl updates, seeing as the storm seems to have passed. Thanks for following along.
Eventually we even decided to head to a movie before returning to our apartment. The idea was that a movie would provide us with a few hours of refuge from our unfanned apartment during the power outage. Eventually we all agreed on The Other Guys, which we all ended up enjoying.
I should note that just as the sun was setting we happened to be waiting at an intersection in Bayer's Lake when we heard something of a thud and screech. At first it appeared that a three car pile up had occurred just across the street from us. Rebecca, sensing a confrontation between several of the drivers/participants, decided to report the incident to the cops. After the reporting process was complete we went on our way.
When we drove by this intersection a little later in the evening it seemed as though there were ambulances on site and at least six cars involved (and I could see about six police cars). Presumably there was either a second accident or a further pile up in relation to the first accident. (Though when I just showed the above photo to my fellow witnesses they said they were sure that there were more vehicles there at the time of the accident - the photographic evidence did little to convince them otherwise).
When we returned to our apartment we discovered that our building had power. Once we were inside Rebecca was able to determine that we had actually had power since about 6:00 PM, meaning that some of our refuge/shopping activities were not entirely necessary. Unfortunately we didn't have a good way of determining whether or not our power had been restored and thus decided to play it on the 'safe' side and keep on trucking at Bayer's Lake, a decision I don't entire regret (and certainly wouldn't regret had we come home to find we were without power).
Anyway, I guess this will be it for the Hurricane Earl updates, seeing as the storm seems to have passed. Thanks for following along.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Hurricane Earl Live 14-20
11:47 – Moments ago Jeannette and I returned from a brief trip outside (we were wondering if we might be able to get discount pizzas from the local pizza shop as a result of the recent power outage). Not surprisingly, we were unable to acquire such pizzas.
Nonetheless, we did snag some good information from our superintendent on our way out. It seems that our building’s underground parking garage door doesn’t work during power outages. The significance is that no one with a car in the garage will be able to get it out until power is returned, which might not be until tomorrow or the day after.
On the upside, we did see that the Airporter is running, so transportation to the airport isn’t impossible.
12:59 – Things have slowed down somewhat significantly since we lost power about an hour and a half ago. For the most part people seem to have engaged themselves in either reading or napping.
Just a few minutes ago Neil and I read some rules for a new game, Montego Bay, which we are hoping to play shortly. I guess we aren’t likely to play until everyone is awake and fully functional.
I am starting to get a little hungry. I guess it is lunchtime. I am not really sure about what I should do to deal with this problem. I don’t want to open the fridge as I am not sure when we will again have power, but I don’t know that we have too many things to eat that are not in the fridge (I guess we do, it is just that they aren’t particularly exciting). I am sure that I will be fine, I don’t think one can starve to death over the course of an afternoon.
13:04 – I just remembered my recently purchased package of Fudgee-Os. It seems that my food shortage problem has been temporarily solved.
13:42 – It seems that the rain has stopped, at least for now. This has allowed us to open a few of the our windows in an attempt to get a breeze as it is still surprisingly warm (apparently the Hurricane didn’t blow away the heat way like I hoped it would).
Though the winds have also died down we are occasionally subject to strong gusts. During a number of these gusts we have heard what sounded like cracks coming from some neighbouring trees. Thus far no major branches have fallen in our vicinity, though I suspect that a number of trees have been substantially weakened.
14:46 – Though there is still some wind, we are now able to see blue sky over the harbour. This suggests to me that we have made it through the worst of the storm, though, of course, we are still without power and seem likely to continue in such a state for some period of time.
15:01 - There has recently been some talk of heading out in the rental car to find an open restaurant to acquire food. Since the power has now been out for several hours it has been some time since any of us have had a proper meal.
17:44 - We are presently at a Starbucks in a Chapters at Bayers Lake. Sadly, the free internet access brought with it the bad news that we are still without power and will likely continue to be without it until tomorrow morning.
We originally came out this way to find a restaurant to visit for a late lunch. Since then we have been shopping and loitering, hoping to delay our return to our power-free apartment. Who know how far this avoidance of our apartment will take us.
Nonetheless, we did snag some good information from our superintendent on our way out. It seems that our building’s underground parking garage door doesn’t work during power outages. The significance is that no one with a car in the garage will be able to get it out until power is returned, which might not be until tomorrow or the day after.
On the upside, we did see that the Airporter is running, so transportation to the airport isn’t impossible.
12:59 – Things have slowed down somewhat significantly since we lost power about an hour and a half ago. For the most part people seem to have engaged themselves in either reading or napping.
Just a few minutes ago Neil and I read some rules for a new game, Montego Bay, which we are hoping to play shortly. I guess we aren’t likely to play until everyone is awake and fully functional.
I am starting to get a little hungry. I guess it is lunchtime. I am not really sure about what I should do to deal with this problem. I don’t want to open the fridge as I am not sure when we will again have power, but I don’t know that we have too many things to eat that are not in the fridge (I guess we do, it is just that they aren’t particularly exciting). I am sure that I will be fine, I don’t think one can starve to death over the course of an afternoon.
13:04 – I just remembered my recently purchased package of Fudgee-Os. It seems that my food shortage problem has been temporarily solved.
13:42 – It seems that the rain has stopped, at least for now. This has allowed us to open a few of the our windows in an attempt to get a breeze as it is still surprisingly warm (apparently the Hurricane didn’t blow away the heat way like I hoped it would).
Though the winds have also died down we are occasionally subject to strong gusts. During a number of these gusts we have heard what sounded like cracks coming from some neighbouring trees. Thus far no major branches have fallen in our vicinity, though I suspect that a number of trees have been substantially weakened.
14:46 – Though there is still some wind, we are now able to see blue sky over the harbour. This suggests to me that we have made it through the worst of the storm, though, of course, we are still without power and seem likely to continue in such a state for some period of time.
15:01 - There has recently been some talk of heading out in the rental car to find an open restaurant to acquire food. Since the power has now been out for several hours it has been some time since any of us have had a proper meal.
17:44 - We are presently at a Starbucks in a Chapters at Bayers Lake. Sadly, the free internet access brought with it the bad news that we are still without power and will likely continue to be without it until tomorrow morning.
We originally came out this way to find a restaurant to visit for a late lunch. Since then we have been shopping and loitering, hoping to delay our return to our power-free apartment. Who know how far this avoidance of our apartment will take us.
Hurricane Earl Live 13
Radio silence will now commence (Neil is turning off our internet to save our battery back-up).
More than 75 000 people are now without power.
More than 75 000 people are now without power.
Hurricane Earl Live 9
Just as I was walking out of the bathroom after my shower and just as I was about to comment on successfully making it through my shower without losing power the power failed, though only for a few seconds. I am not confident that we will continue to be so lucky and only have such brief outages.
Nova Scotia Power is now reporting that more than 50 000 customers are without power, many of whom are located in Halifax.
My recent YouTube videos (short clip and time-lapse) have been relative successes, meaning that they both already have more than 10 views. Actually, the first of the two videos already has more than 50 views, making it one of my more popular videos of late.
Nova Scotia Power is now reporting that more than 50 000 customers are without power, many of whom are located in Halifax.
My recent YouTube videos (short clip and time-lapse) have been relative successes, meaning that they both already have more than 10 views. Actually, the first of the two videos already has more than 50 views, making it one of my more popular videos of late.
Hurricane Earl Live 7
The number of Nova Scotia residents without power keeps rising. At last check, more than 36 000 (up to 40 000) customers were without power. Unfortunately, certainly for those involved, it has already been suggested that some repairs won't be completed until September 6, 2010, two days from now.
For a while I took a time-lapse video looking from our living room out past our balcony. Sadly, I don't know that this clip really demonstrates the intensity of the storm (it is really quite intense at the moment).
[Embedded video]
I guess I will just get back to my paper and waiting things out.
Oh, and Halifax has posted an update.
For a while I took a time-lapse video looking from our living room out past our balcony. Sadly, I don't know that this clip really demonstrates the intensity of the storm (it is really quite intense at the moment).
[Embedded video]
I guess I will just get back to my paper and waiting things out.
Oh, and Halifax has posted an update.
Hurricane Earl Live 5
Things are definitely getting harrier by the minute in Halifax.
In particular, the number of power outages seems to be up to almost 30 000, several thousand of which are now in the Halifax region. For better or worse, many of those without power are being told (if they have battery back-ups) that they should expect to be without power for about 24 hours. A definite bummer for those people.
In our apartment we now expecting to be without power, a situation that may lead to a reduced frequency of posting.
In particular, the number of power outages seems to be up to almost 30 000, several thousand of which are now in the Halifax region. For better or worse, many of those without power are being told (if they have battery back-ups) that they should expect to be without power for about 24 hours. A definite bummer for those people.
In our apartment we now expecting to be without power, a situation that may lead to a reduced frequency of posting.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A Few Quick Notes 350
-Today (Friday) was an absolutely beautiful day. The skies were clear, the temperature not oppressively hot, and there was even a nice breeze. This is exactly the kind of summer weather that I really like.
-Today I had to head into Dal to run to take care of some paperwork. Afterwards I made my way over to Quinpool to take care of a sale purchase I wanted to make. Last but not least on my list of errands, I made my way to a friend's apartment to pick up an aloe plant that she was giving me. My friend and I eventually decided to go get a coffee and ended up spending quite a while talking and having a good time.
Just after 4:00 we realized that it was after 4:00 and that we both had things to do and needed to get going. She made her way back to her place and I to mine.
Not to long after I returned home I noticed that the stove's clock was flashing. A little while later I was going through my RSS feeds and I learned that the South End had experienced a power outage for the better part of the afternoon. So it turns out that, inadvertently, I was able to use time that would have otherwise been unproductive to socialize. Slacking win.
-At a point this afternoon, while walking between Quinpool and my friend's apartment, I noticed a number of flashing lights and emergency vehicles ahead of me. In many ways it looked like the scene of an accident, but it appeared to be missing the requisite crashed vehicles. As I drew closer to the emergency vehicles it became clear that it was an accident with two vehicles, but that one of the vehicles was a motorized scooter (as might be used by individuals with problems walking) that appeared to be on its way across a cross walk. Talk about a downer of a scene.
Not too long after I found the story about the power outage, CBC also had a story about this incident.
-For some reason I wasn't able to go to sleep until about 5:00 AM this morning. Not surprisingly, this left me quite exhausted today. After returning from my errands and then having dinner I ended up crashing for about an hour and fifteen minutes. It turned out that it was one of the most intense naps that I have had in weeks. I was really out. The best part, of course, was that I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to work.
-At about 1:15 AM this morning, after several hours of work, I decided to take a break to make some humus. Though it isn't as nice as my last batch, it is still pretty tasty. I am eating some of it as I prepare this post.
-I have alluded to today's productivity already, but I guess I might make a more conclusive statement for the sake of posterity. Though I got a bit of a late start, I eventually managed to put in a few hours of good work. My plan for tomorrow is to do some tidying of footnotes and my conclusion. I can't wait to get the party started.
-The seems to be an overwhelming, almost deafening, e-communications silence coming from Las Vegas these days. Since shortly after their arrival in Nevada I have heard nothing from either Rebecca or Neil. Even more troubling is that our user stats suggest that no one in Nevada has been checking the blog.
This evening I realized that Neil could even phone his reports in if he wanted (we could use Google Voice and then post the messages) if typing is too trying. I hope that he at least remembers how he as been passing his days so he can eventually post a rather nice, well-researched travelogue that would outline what he and Rebecca did while they were in the proximity of such opportunities for sin, and winning money.
-Today I had to head into Dal to run to take care of some paperwork. Afterwards I made my way over to Quinpool to take care of a sale purchase I wanted to make. Last but not least on my list of errands, I made my way to a friend's apartment to pick up an aloe plant that she was giving me. My friend and I eventually decided to go get a coffee and ended up spending quite a while talking and having a good time.
Just after 4:00 we realized that it was after 4:00 and that we both had things to do and needed to get going. She made her way back to her place and I to mine.
Not to long after I returned home I noticed that the stove's clock was flashing. A little while later I was going through my RSS feeds and I learned that the South End had experienced a power outage for the better part of the afternoon. So it turns out that, inadvertently, I was able to use time that would have otherwise been unproductive to socialize. Slacking win.
-At a point this afternoon, while walking between Quinpool and my friend's apartment, I noticed a number of flashing lights and emergency vehicles ahead of me. In many ways it looked like the scene of an accident, but it appeared to be missing the requisite crashed vehicles. As I drew closer to the emergency vehicles it became clear that it was an accident with two vehicles, but that one of the vehicles was a motorized scooter (as might be used by individuals with problems walking) that appeared to be on its way across a cross walk. Talk about a downer of a scene.
Not too long after I found the story about the power outage, CBC also had a story about this incident.
-For some reason I wasn't able to go to sleep until about 5:00 AM this morning. Not surprisingly, this left me quite exhausted today. After returning from my errands and then having dinner I ended up crashing for about an hour and fifteen minutes. It turned out that it was one of the most intense naps that I have had in weeks. I was really out. The best part, of course, was that I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to work.
-At about 1:15 AM this morning, after several hours of work, I decided to take a break to make some humus. Though it isn't as nice as my last batch, it is still pretty tasty. I am eating some of it as I prepare this post.
-I have alluded to today's productivity already, but I guess I might make a more conclusive statement for the sake of posterity. Though I got a bit of a late start, I eventually managed to put in a few hours of good work. My plan for tomorrow is to do some tidying of footnotes and my conclusion. I can't wait to get the party started.
-The seems to be an overwhelming, almost deafening, e-communications silence coming from Las Vegas these days. Since shortly after their arrival in Nevada I have heard nothing from either Rebecca or Neil. Even more troubling is that our user stats suggest that no one in Nevada has been checking the blog.
This evening I realized that Neil could even phone his reports in if he wanted (we could use Google Voice and then post the messages) if typing is too trying. I hope that he at least remembers how he as been passing his days so he can eventually post a rather nice, well-researched travelogue that would outline what he and Rebecca did while they were in the proximity of such opportunities for sin, and winning money.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Friday night fun
On Friday evening at about 5:40 I decided that it was finally time for my beard to go. I found the beard trimmer, banged it a few times to get the batteries to make contact, and went to work on the beard removal process. About half-way through the process the power went out. Fortunately it was a battery powered trimmer and was thus able to continue the process with the assistance of a flashlight. The downside was that I wasn't really able to tidy things up at all, so I had to call it quits at a rather rough stage in the beard removal process. One result of the early finish was that I was left with a 'stache, which might otherwise have been removed.
Once the beard removal was finished and a few flashlights and candles had been gathered Neil and I settled into a nice debate about how one should go about taping the fridge shut (to prevent the release of cold air) in such a circumstance. After our rather exhaustive debate we moved over to the card table to play some candlelight cribbage. All this time we could see that even across the street a number of buildings did have power.
After not too long all three of us thought that it might be best if we tried to make our way to a restaurant for dinner, as it wasn't likely that we would be able to cook all that much on the tea lights. As we made our way out discovered that the outage was quite spotty. In some instances certain side of a street would have power, or long building on a block might have power. The downside of this inconsistency was that we had no idea whether the restaurant we hoped to patronize would be open until we reached its front door. As it turned out, the restaurant was closed, so we made our way across town to a restaurant we were pretty sure would be open.
We eventually made it to a restaurant on Quinpool and settled in for a very pleasant dinner. Actually, I think the dinner had the positive benefit of teaching me a lesson about Halifax fish and chips, which is that it does not tend to agree with my system. As we were hanging around after the meal killing time I managed to drop my cup of coffee on the table. Fortunately the napkin I had on my lap managed to soak up most of the liquid. This incident reminded me how important proper napkin placement is.
After a quick stop at a great video rental store near the restaurant we made our way back to our part of town. As we were walking down Spring Garden it became clear that power had still not been fully restored. It was suggested that we might try to a movie to kill some time (the movie theatre was on the side of the street with power). Unfortunately, once we made it to the ticketing area it became apparent that we weren't the only ones with this idea. Even at about 9:30 the place was completely packed and there was no way we would have made it into a movie on time.
Once back at the apartment Neil and I re-lit the candles and played some more cribbage while Rebecca read by candlelight. Eventually, at about 10:45, the power came back on and we were able to get on with our evening as planned, though by this time I really didn't have as much time to devote to reading and school work as I had planned on.
Throughout much of the power outage we were somewhat worried about the status of a can of pop that Rebecca had placed in the freezer just minutes before the outage. As we didn't know how long we would be without power we didn't want to open the freezer to take the can out. Fortunately, even though it had been in the freezer for four hours, the can did not rupture, which would have been quite a mess.
Blog-off
Cameron: 10
Neil: 0
Once the beard removal was finished and a few flashlights and candles had been gathered Neil and I settled into a nice debate about how one should go about taping the fridge shut (to prevent the release of cold air) in such a circumstance. After our rather exhaustive debate we moved over to the card table to play some candlelight cribbage. All this time we could see that even across the street a number of buildings did have power.
After not too long all three of us thought that it might be best if we tried to make our way to a restaurant for dinner, as it wasn't likely that we would be able to cook all that much on the tea lights. As we made our way out discovered that the outage was quite spotty. In some instances certain side of a street would have power, or long building on a block might have power. The downside of this inconsistency was that we had no idea whether the restaurant we hoped to patronize would be open until we reached its front door. As it turned out, the restaurant was closed, so we made our way across town to a restaurant we were pretty sure would be open.
We eventually made it to a restaurant on Quinpool and settled in for a very pleasant dinner. Actually, I think the dinner had the positive benefit of teaching me a lesson about Halifax fish and chips, which is that it does not tend to agree with my system. As we were hanging around after the meal killing time I managed to drop my cup of coffee on the table. Fortunately the napkin I had on my lap managed to soak up most of the liquid. This incident reminded me how important proper napkin placement is.
After a quick stop at a great video rental store near the restaurant we made our way back to our part of town. As we were walking down Spring Garden it became clear that power had still not been fully restored. It was suggested that we might try to a movie to kill some time (the movie theatre was on the side of the street with power). Unfortunately, once we made it to the ticketing area it became apparent that we weren't the only ones with this idea. Even at about 9:30 the place was completely packed and there was no way we would have made it into a movie on time.
Once back at the apartment Neil and I re-lit the candles and played some more cribbage while Rebecca read by candlelight. Eventually, at about 10:45, the power came back on and we were able to get on with our evening as planned, though by this time I really didn't have as much time to devote to reading and school work as I had planned on.
Throughout much of the power outage we were somewhat worried about the status of a can of pop that Rebecca had placed in the freezer just minutes before the outage. As we didn't know how long we would be without power we didn't want to open the freezer to take the can out. Fortunately, even though it had been in the freezer for four hours, the can did not rupture, which would have been quite a mess.
Blog-off
Cameron: 10
Neil: 0
Thursday, February 07, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 153
-Today is another standard winter’s day in Montreal. If I recall correctly, temperatures have been below zero and we were blessed with a few flurries.
-Last night, while laying in bed reading I heard the building power down and saw lights flash off. After a brief investigation I noticed that the Hydro Quebec truck was stationed outside our apartment building, seemingly working on things. This suggested to me that we would be without power for some number of hours (as was the case last time they worked in the same way).
My main concern was how I would go about waking up the next morning as my alarm clock was plugged into a non-functional power outlet. After a few minutes I decided that I would bank on the power being back on by 8:30 AM.
I set my iPod alarm and then hooked it up to my speakers, making sure that both were also plugged in. My desire being that the power would be back and that the speakers would be powered by the time I wanted to wake up.
Fortunately, by about 5:17 AM the power came on and I was able to ensure that my normal alarm was properly set so that I would be up for class.
-Tonight I made some short bread. It came out a little differently than I expected, so I hope it is edible. One of the surprising things about most of the recipes that I came across was that they called for brown sugar when I would have expected white sugar.
-The several times that I have tried to buy beef for roasting this week have failed. It seems that the stores either don’t have, or are out of the appropriate sale cuts of beef.
-Last night, while laying in bed reading I heard the building power down and saw lights flash off. After a brief investigation I noticed that the Hydro Quebec truck was stationed outside our apartment building, seemingly working on things. This suggested to me that we would be without power for some number of hours (as was the case last time they worked in the same way).
My main concern was how I would go about waking up the next morning as my alarm clock was plugged into a non-functional power outlet. After a few minutes I decided that I would bank on the power being back on by 8:30 AM.
I set my iPod alarm and then hooked it up to my speakers, making sure that both were also plugged in. My desire being that the power would be back and that the speakers would be powered by the time I wanted to wake up.
Fortunately, by about 5:17 AM the power came on and I was able to ensure that my normal alarm was properly set so that I would be up for class.
-Tonight I made some short bread. It came out a little differently than I expected, so I hope it is edible. One of the surprising things about most of the recipes that I came across was that they called for brown sugar when I would have expected white sugar.
-The several times that I have tried to buy beef for roasting this week have failed. It seems that the stores either don’t have, or are out of the appropriate sale cuts of beef.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A Few Quick Notes 149
-While we experienced a few centimeters of snow yesterday, today has been a pretty straight forward sub-zero day. Much of the snow that fell yesterday has been collected, meaning that if I had slept through all of yesterday I would only slightly wonder what I had missed during my exceptionally long sleep.
-For some reason, likely because I am not taking a course on science and technical information, I decided to look for math papers for a period of time this afternoon. As I don’t really know that much about math I decided to just try and find papers by people that I know.
After a few initial searches on Web of Science I switched over to MathSciNet. Though it doesn’t look like much, I was quite impressed with some of the features that are made available. Particularly impressive, and notably in contrast to Web of Science, was that different forms of authors names were kept together. Presumably this is possible as the body of literature is quite small and concentrated, unlike that covered by Web of Science. Another factor might be that this index is published by a math society rather than a commercial publisher. MathSciNet also included easy and accessible means of finding the institution attached to particular publication. Though I didn’t check it out, I presume it would also be quite easy to use this feature to locate all publications published by a particular institution. A final important component was that this specialized database seemed to include a much broader swath of math related journals (allowing me to find an article published by Neil).
-We did end up getting our promised power outage last night. Unfortunately, I didn’t stick around to find out if how cold it became or if we did lose water and promised.
In the end I ended up crashing on Sulin’s couch rather than sticking it out in the apartment. This presented me with an opportunity to have a functioning alarm clock so that I would have a much better chance of walking up in time for my 9:00 AM class.
-I was thinking about baking some bran muffins a few days ago only to realize that I don’t own a muffin tin. It seems that I may have to head over to the dollar store and pick one or two up so that I can use the bran I purchased a few days ago.
-The two pineapples I purchased a few days ago have already been consumed. Hopefully I will have a chance to pick up a few more before the sale ends on Sunday.
-On Saturday night while attending the Thompson House staff party at a bar/restaurant on Crescent Street I was surprised to see two cops, in full uniform (and presumably armed) come into the bar and have a drink (it looked like Gin and tonic but it could have been water). They sat next to each other at the bar for some time, seemingly enjoying themselves, before departing and heading back to the cold, harsh reality of Montreal streets on Saturday nights.
-For some reason, likely because I am not taking a course on science and technical information, I decided to look for math papers for a period of time this afternoon. As I don’t really know that much about math I decided to just try and find papers by people that I know.
After a few initial searches on Web of Science I switched over to MathSciNet. Though it doesn’t look like much, I was quite impressed with some of the features that are made available. Particularly impressive, and notably in contrast to Web of Science, was that different forms of authors names were kept together. Presumably this is possible as the body of literature is quite small and concentrated, unlike that covered by Web of Science. Another factor might be that this index is published by a math society rather than a commercial publisher. MathSciNet also included easy and accessible means of finding the institution attached to particular publication. Though I didn’t check it out, I presume it would also be quite easy to use this feature to locate all publications published by a particular institution. A final important component was that this specialized database seemed to include a much broader swath of math related journals (allowing me to find an article published by Neil).
-We did end up getting our promised power outage last night. Unfortunately, I didn’t stick around to find out if how cold it became or if we did lose water and promised.
In the end I ended up crashing on Sulin’s couch rather than sticking it out in the apartment. This presented me with an opportunity to have a functioning alarm clock so that I would have a much better chance of walking up in time for my 9:00 AM class.
-I was thinking about baking some bran muffins a few days ago only to realize that I don’t own a muffin tin. It seems that I may have to head over to the dollar store and pick one or two up so that I can use the bran I purchased a few days ago.
-The two pineapples I purchased a few days ago have already been consumed. Hopefully I will have a chance to pick up a few more before the sale ends on Sunday.
-On Saturday night while attending the Thompson House staff party at a bar/restaurant on Crescent Street I was surprised to see two cops, in full uniform (and presumably armed) come into the bar and have a drink (it looked like Gin and tonic but it could have been water). They sat next to each other at the bar for some time, seemingly enjoying themselves, before departing and heading back to the cold, harsh reality of Montreal streets on Saturday nights.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
OMG! WTF? No power, water, or heat?
A few minutes ago Nithum asked me if I knew anything about the power, heating, and water outages that are to take place in our building tonight. He indicated that he had seen a such to such effect on the building’s main doors.
This was a bit of a shock as I had not idea such an event was in the works. The last time that I had entered the doors this had not been posted.
Upon checking the sign I saw that Nithum’s assessment was quite accurate, we are supposedly in for a complete shutdown this evening, though does appear to be a slight lack of clarity as to whether this will actually go through. As much as possible, an answer one-way or the other would be nice. This maybe, maybe not scenario is less than pleasing.
What I find particularly shocking about this is that there may be a good number of people in the building that have no idea that such a shutdown is to occur as the sign was not posted until well after 5:00 PM. Many of us likely entered the building for the evening by that time and won’t find out that something is up until they find out that everything is out for eight hours.
I guess I will just wait and see. I particularly hope that I am able to finish my reference assignment before the bewitching hour.
This was a bit of a shock as I had not idea such an event was in the works. The last time that I had entered the doors this had not been posted.
Upon checking the sign I saw that Nithum’s assessment was quite accurate, we are supposedly in for a complete shutdown this evening, though does appear to be a slight lack of clarity as to whether this will actually go through. As much as possible, an answer one-way or the other would be nice. This maybe, maybe not scenario is less than pleasing.
What I find particularly shocking about this is that there may be a good number of people in the building that have no idea that such a shutdown is to occur as the sign was not posted until well after 5:00 PM. Many of us likely entered the building for the evening by that time and won’t find out that something is up until they find out that everything is out for eight hours.
I guess I will just wait and see. I particularly hope that I am able to finish my reference assignment before the bewitching hour.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
The Big Bang
It was about 12:50 last night. I was watching a movie with my father.
All of a sudden there was a bang, the TV image shrunk to a dot, and then nothing. The lights disappeared. The router lights remained on (thanks to a battery back-up system).
My father and I went to the window and lifted the blinds. We saw that it was raining and that the other houses on our block were also without power. To get a better view, and to see if we could find the cause of the bang we went to the front porch.
While on the front porch we noticed that houses on the next block had power. We did not find anything that we believed might be the source of the problem. After being warned by my father to watch for downed power I donned some boots and a jacket and out to try and locate the source of the problem.
After checking pole that had blown a transformer that had blown a few years ago I went towards the telephone building. Throughout my search I only found evidence that everything was working, except the lines on our block.
Upon my return I learned that my father had called the power company to report the outage. To his delight he was the first one to make such a call and until that point the company was unaware of a problem. We then stood around and had a candlelight snack while waiting to see if we could spot the power company trucks. After about a 20 minute wait we both called it a night and went to bed. Candlelight gets old fast, and I was full.
I awoke this morning to find that power had been restored. I was able to rest easy, TV viewership and internet surfing averages will not be negatively affected by this power outage.
All of a sudden there was a bang, the TV image shrunk to a dot, and then nothing. The lights disappeared. The router lights remained on (thanks to a battery back-up system).
My father and I went to the window and lifted the blinds. We saw that it was raining and that the other houses on our block were also without power. To get a better view, and to see if we could find the cause of the bang we went to the front porch.
While on the front porch we noticed that houses on the next block had power. We did not find anything that we believed might be the source of the problem. After being warned by my father to watch for downed power I donned some boots and a jacket and out to try and locate the source of the problem.
After checking pole that had blown a transformer that had blown a few years ago I went towards the telephone building. Throughout my search I only found evidence that everything was working, except the lines on our block.
Upon my return I learned that my father had called the power company to report the outage. To his delight he was the first one to make such a call and until that point the company was unaware of a problem. We then stood around and had a candlelight snack while waiting to see if we could spot the power company trucks. After about a 20 minute wait we both called it a night and went to bed. Candlelight gets old fast, and I was full.
I awoke this morning to find that power had been restored. I was able to rest easy, TV viewership and internet surfing averages will not be negatively affected by this power outage.
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