About 10:45 a.m. *blink* the lights go out. My three uninterruptible power supplies start screaming, letting me know that the power is out even though my computers are still humming along on battery power. I wait 15 seconds and the sound of an engine starting up outside brings the lights back on as the house goes on generator power. Alarms stop. Our first official power outage turns out to be a success. It lasted about 30 minutes.
Here’s the funny part. Just “knowing” that the power was out brought Jenny and I together in the living room even though most of the circuits in the house are live. I guess it’s all those years of conditioning. When the power goes out, you gather in the living room. Light candles and reminisce about the times the power has gone out in the past.