California Heatwave of 2020 and the Barbecued Squirrel

In May 2020, as Californians wondered if they’d ever be released back into the public sphere, a rogue San Jose squirrel made its own break for freedom. The rodent burrowed into a PG&E riser – the ground conduit connecting overhead to underground power lines. Perhaps he was hungry and gnawed through a misfortunate wire; perhaps it was simply a tragic accident. But the squirrel was soon cooked well-done. Unfortunately, for the human omnivores uninterested in roadkill, the site of the great rodent roast was not repaired. Power was simply transferred to a nearby transformer.

Fast forward three months: August 2020. 

(For all the shenanigans this cursed year has unearthed, no one gets to act surprised about a late summer California heatwave. That’s like the free-play center square on Golden State Bingo.) 

But I digress – back to August where our fine state has decided to spice up the excitement with the worst heatwave in 70 years(Fun fact, Death Valley hit 130 degrees yesterday, potentially the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.)

With the state and county still on lockdown, sheltering-in-place from COVID-19, all typical options to collectively beat the heat were off the table. Instead, it was every household for themselves – all adults working from home, all children distant and remote as they stared at school screens, and all familial units collectively trying to tame indoor Mordor with AC.

Unsurprisingly, the sad little transformer that could – could not handle double duty. 

It exploded.

Saturday night, neighbors called to report a power outage. They also noted the smell of smoke. Since PG&E has priors with the relational causality of such combined occurrences, the fire department was soon on scene. A PG&E rep also rolled up armed with the task of confirming there was no gas leak. 

But wait, you say. I thought we were talking about electricity. What does gas have to do with this overheated epic tale? Nothing. Nothing at all.

So 30-45 minutes later, when smoke became fire and another PG&E rep from the E side of the biz arrived, the fire department was able to extinguish the blaze in a safe manner. Meanwhile, PG&E sent a note to the melting masses,

“A Final Important Note: These outages are not Public Safety Power Shutoffs, which are called during specific high fire threat conditions, and they are not related to any issues with PG&E’s equipment or our ability to deliver energy locally.”

Interjection from your friendly comms professional over here… The equipment literally blew up. Flames. Emerging from the ground. Melding wires into molten blackouts down the entire block.

So there we sat. Sweltering and waiting.

Saturday morning broke with sonic booms of thunder cracking over the city sky at 3 a.m. Lightening bolted and sliced through the night air, stabbing at unsuspecting buildings, as rare thunderstorms rolled through Silicon Valley.

Unsurprisingly, nature’s artistic additions to these electric events also paused the enthusiasm for repair crews to commence replacing squirrel shrapnel.

Sunday afternoon, Jon and I grabbed some bottled water (artisanly luke warm with no ice) and headed over to where the repair trucks were staging the grand debut of the new transformer and cable pas de duex.

“You here for the update?” A tired crew lady asked.

“Yup. And we come with offerings of water so you guys don’t overheat and explode either.” I replied, proffering the hydration.

She laughed. “OMG. It’s bad. Like really bad.” (Obviously this was extremely reassuring.) “Plan for at least another 24 hours.”

It was now 104 degrees.

Monday dawned with a a growing ashen haze across the sky. I viewed this as Mother Earth’s disapproval of my lack of power. English teachers will likely call this “foreshadowing” for the cliche California trope to burn down every Fall. (But not any of the local middle or high school teachers. Both educational institutions were canceled due to that pesky distance learning requirement for power.)

The 5 a.m. expected restoration time greeted us with an update that we should now plan for noon.

The noon expected restoration update let us know 3 p.m. was the new target.

3 p.m. buzzed right on into the muggy afternoon with a cheeky note that J/K! It’s totes gonna be 6 p.m. now.

At 5pm we received an unplanned notification. I grabbed for my phone with excitement thinking that it may be an early power up! 

“Due to extreme heat and high demand that may be greater than supply, the state’s electrical grid operator may require PG&E to turn off power in additional rotating outages from 3-10pm each day from Aug. 17-20.”

But the joke’s on them. Can’t qualify as an “additional” outage if we’re still in our current one!

So anyway, long story short, that’s why I’m selling my soul for a Tesla Power Wall (and possibly an iced adult beverage). 

May the damn squirrel rest in peace knowing his death was heatedly avenged.

PS. We have our power back. For now…

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Then and Now

Happy eighth birthday, Muppets. Continue reading

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Happy Halloween: Disguises through the years (2017 Edition)

Their seventh Halloween is upon us. And true to their nature, mild-mannered Search and Destroy revealed their superhero identities in a quest for candy! Continue reading

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Then and Now

Happy seventh birthday, Muppets. Continue reading

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Science and Technology Saves Lives

Scientists took on Washington today – marching through the national mall on Earth Day – in a non-partisan homage to a systematic study of structure and behavior of the physical and natural world. (Disclaimer: this post has not been peer-reviewed.)

Science and technology are not mere opinions. Beliefs and facts are not synonymous. Science and technology save lives. Continue reading

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Happy Halloween: Disguises through the years (2016 Edition)

CA Halloween 011

Another year, another adorable terrible twosome.

“Avengers Assemble!” And so, Captain America and Iron Man came together – protecting the streets of San Jose from possible enslavement of candy.

Captain America: Iron Man, we need a plan of attack!
Iron Man: I have a plan: attack!

2016 – Avengers Assemble! (Captain America and Iron Man)

2016 – Avengers Assemble! (Captain America and Iron Man)

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A Silicon Valley Scary Story

 

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Have you ever found yourself staring down at your phone, mentally straining as you telepathically will the connectivity bars to light up – signaling a genuine working connection? I usually find myself muttering sarcastically, “If only I lived in a place ubiquitous with technology and connectivity!”

You may think such a concept synonymous with the Silicon Valley.

You would be wrong.

More often then not it’s less bars in more places (to autocorrect AT&Ts former slogan).

But then I go home.

I grew up in Southern California, deep in a canyon community between the San Fernando Valley hills. Privacy is delightful; even more so, I’m sure, in 1978, when no one found themselves huddled next to the guest toilet because there may be possibility one dot of cell service intermittently transmitted through.

Come with me, this Halloween week, and join me on a terrifying trip to the most horrifying of haunts a TechMom could find herself…

Disconnected. Continue reading

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Vin Scully: The Voice of Baseball

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After 67 years broadcasting baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, tonight vocal legend Vin Scully called his last home game for the boys in blue.

In true Hollywood fashion, the final home game was quite the event. <Deep breath>

The ballgame was tied up in the bottom of the ninth and taken into extra innings before a non-roster season player faced his expanded roster opportunity at the show by knocking one out of the park for a walk-off homerun win–clinching the National League West Division for the Dodgers.

Did anyone really expect anything less for a farewell from the City of Angels? Continue reading

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Zappos Sent Me Used Underwear

Underwear

Sometimes a customer service crisis really is just the basis for an amusing anecdote. And I thought we could all use a good laugh.

(Also, I tried to come up with a witty title for this post and then decided the event really just spoke for itself.)

Zappos sent me used underwear. Continue reading

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Then and Now

ThenVNow

Happy sixth birthday, Muppets. Continue reading

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