Arduinna

(A phrase attached permanently to my hindbrain.)

It is, indeed, fuckin wimdy right now. (Current peak gusts have been over 100mph!)

Our local power company enacted some preventive power cuts (Public Safety Power Shutoff) to help minimize the potential for downed lines sparking wildfires. I am in favor of this, as much as it sucks, because we have had some extraordinarily awful and destructive wildfires. (No one wants another Marshall Fire.)

While (*knock wood*) so far we haven't had more than the briefest of power flickers at home, my office was within the PSPS area. These areas were announced yesterday, originally slated to start at noon, and later moved up to 10am. While yesterday it was still couched as them "maybe" cutting power, by later yesterday and certainly by this morning, it was definite: they would be cutting power at 10am for the announced areas.

A mildly annoying timeline:

- On Tuesday afternoon, the power company announces the *potential* for a PSPS on Wednesday in light of wind and fire risk forecasts, probably around 12.

- Many local schools and county government offices announce schedule adjustments, planning for early closures.

- My manager called me in the afternoon: my company had made the decision to cancel all appointments on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for the wind, and office staff would be going home at noon Wednesday in order to beat the wind and since we anticipated losing power.

- Into late afternoon, the PSPS announcements are tending more toward this IS a planned action, no longer just a potential.

- Government offices declare they will close for the entire day.

- My manager texts me in the evening, saying that despite the warnings only growing MORE emphatic, the company had decided that we will only close early IF the power went out; otherwise, we should plan to stay for the entire day, even though all appointments had been cancelled. Gotta answer phones.

- Relatively late into the night, county schools decided to close for the entire day on Wednesday (which is a pain at least for the high schools, since it's finals week!)

- By this morning, the PSPS announcement is a definite warning; power to the planned areas will shut off at 10:00.

- I go to work, starting at 9:30. No one else seems aware that the 10:00 time was a definite time; everyone is still operating on "maybe around 12:00."

- It is not yet windy.

- There is one group of appointments that was missed in the rescheduling flurry from yesterday, so we call them and ask them to move up to before 12:00.

- At exactly 10:00 the power goes out. Shock. Amaze.

- We are told by upper management to "wait and see." (FOR WHAT? THE POWER IS OUT AND NOT SLATED TO EVEN POSSIBLY COME ON UNTIL AFTER 6PM. WE CAN DO NOTHING.)

- Some of those students we called do come in; we do our best to handle their tests in the lobby, since that's the only room with windows, and to enter their results on our phones.

- My manager asks again how long we should stay. It's still not windy, but the power is, crucially, still out. No computers. No phones. No students. WE ARE JUST SITTING. In an increasingly hot office, because we have no fans or central air, and the sun comes directly in the windows. The answer is "Stay as long as you feel safe! :)" Which... no, it isn't unsafe right now, but THERE IS NOTHING TO DO.

- Finally around 12:30 my manager did let me leave, because we really had nothing else to do. I think it was mostly because she was annoyed that Alex was waiting in the parking lot (because he knew the power was out, and didn't want to go home just to have to come back to pick me up), but whatever.

- The wind really did not start in our area until later afternoon, and even then wasn't terribly severe. It was far worse earlier to the north, and by now it is very windy here, too.

No idea yet if we'll have power at the office tomorrow. There is apparently a risk that they'll do another PSPS on Friday for forecast winds, with the warning that some areas where those warnings overlap could be without power for 3+ days, as they may not restore power just to cut it again. If our power is NOT on, I don't know what the plan will be... I don't know if they'll ask me to go to a different office (hope not, since those are all pretty far from me and I don't have any of my stuff, so I don't want to do that...) or if I'll have the choice to use a PTO day, or if I'll have to just sit in a dark, empty office..?

We will see.