Let's be frank.
I am sweating.
A lot.
How my CRT-based iMac G3 is running, I have no idea, because most other appliances in the apartment either won't start, or flicker and shut down once turned on. I'm nodding at the surge protector it's plugged into, trying to ignore the fact that it can't actually generate power on its own.
Fox News' pre-show teaser ads irritate me at the best of times, but when I might not actually be ABLE TO TUNE IN AFTER THE BREAK TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT, they're fucking terrible.
Astoria, it seems, has had its supply voltage reduced.
Lights flicker - the TV is temperamental, and anything with a copper coil turned by a magnet simply doesn't have the oomph to get going. The fridge light works, but that's about it. I'm not opening the freezer. I don't want the heat to get in. The air conditioners lie idle.
The street lights on our block are flashing spasmodically, and the street itself is oddly silent for a summer night, the darkness in between the flashes adding to the sense of surreal businesses afoot. Normally the rush and pinking of air conditioners welcomes you as you turn into our street, but only darkness and silence lay there tonight.
What I want to know is, when most of Queens is low-rise two or three storey buildings, and Manhattan is all high-rise, why when I was at work today there wasn't so much as a flicker in supply.
The people behind the amps are directing them towards businesses and offices, and away from residential areas, and that pisses me off.
Utilities seem to be run a bit differently here than in the UK. The businesses are private, but have a sort of territory which is theirs by right. So Astoria has a compulsory phone company who you must connect to before choosing another provider, and you can't change your electric provider. I think. Educate me if I'm wrong, someone.
Whatever.
I pay for my electricity, just like all the businesses in Manhattan. The rates may differ, but the fact remains. Business is the engine of the country, whereas my evening entertainment and coolness is not. Which means that my block of residential electricity consumers is less of a priority for ConEdison than a business on Manhattan, and both of us paying customers.
In a democracy the power belongs to the people, but when the companies have the power to give money to political parties to sway the people, then it's very clear where the power lies.
Goddamn it. The heat is making me pontificate even more than usual.
It's pretty hot over this side of the pond too. I can't remember any previous occasion where I've sweated this much whilst actually in Ireland.
yeah, oz's elec.companies ran the same route when THEY privatised, too. different priorities allotted by P&L contribution, not overall social responsibility. brownouts all round for the plebs in houses.
well, theoretically, it also gets cooler at night...
there are many different factors governing the distribution of power. what you're describing seems to be more of a problem with the transmission of electricity. if there are not enough substations on your cicuit to "kick up" the power or lines to distribute it you will have brown-outs. if the demand becomes to high, you can start damaging equipment or even destroy power lines (which will exacerbates things). while it still could be possible that some evil force is cheating you guys of power- it is probably less scandalous. a lack of infrastructure due to either short-sightedness or budgetary constraints. this is what happened with the great northeast black-out several years back. failure to upgrade transmission lines to keep up with power demand. i build substations for a living. i am sorry for you, it is fricking africa hot down there!
hi - i heard on NPR the other day that each borough is required to supply a certain percentage of its own energy, which explains why there are huge honkin' energy plants in prime manahattan real estate.