Nuclear reactors serving Southern California, Arizona and northwestern Mexico raptured themselves last night, leaving 6 million people to boil to death in the 104-degree darkness. Honest-to-god details from the AP report of the blackout: flights leaving San Diego airport halted, everybody was told to stay inside, mayhem engulfed the highways as cars swerved into oncoming traffic to break free of the gridlock, and, for good measure, 3.2 million gallons of sewage spilled out onto San Diego’s beaches. HAS THE CHINESE INVASION BEGUN??
No, America’s own citizens are the number one warlord when it comes to bringing America to its knees, thank you very much.
The outage occurred after an electrical worker removed a piece of monitoring equipment at a power substation in southwest Arizona, officials at Phoenix-based Arizona Public Service Co. said.
It was unclear why that mishap, which normally would have been isolated, sparked such a widespread outage. The company said that would be the focus of an investigation.
“This was not a deliberate act. The employee was just switching out a piece of equipment that was problematic,” said Daniel Froetscher, an APS vice president.
GAH, ARIZONA. THAT WAS OUR NEXT GUESS. “Some guy from Arizona” is always a good guess for “who started the Apocalypse this time?” [AP]
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Google just added a new server farm and used up all the power.
Really? I'm going to google that.
"monitoring equipment at a power substation in southwest Arizona,"
Finish the dang fence!
Arizona is the meth lab of democracy
It's the Rascal factory of Patriots™
Yeah, but it's a dry meth.
And their governor is a hot meth.
Just too freaking funny, Fare.
Thee thwure ith.
Many upfistings for that one….
Joe Arpaio: The Sheriff of Methingham.
That dude rulz!!! Well played Arizona electric tech type person. I'll even look beyond you being from AZ for that little joke.
Great. Blame the employee. Probably a union thug and a wetback. Papers Please!
I'm sure that the white worshiping dimwits of 'zona will release the name of the electrical worker to the public if he was named Miguel Sanchez and not Homer Simpson.
Not likely. We don't give ferriners jawbs here!1!!! Read yr constitushun.
"Hey, I wonder what does this little red button does?"
Oops.
Am I the only one old enough to remember Saturday Night Live's Three Mile Island skit?
3.2 million gallons of sewage spilled out onto San Diego’s beaches
The used needles needed some company.
Just think, San Diego's beaches may rival New Jersey's now!
Needs more Snooki.
That's what we call a "light outfall day" here in San Diego, where fighting with the EPA to avoid upgrading the sewage treatment plant is the second most important local government activity, after devising additional schemes to pad pensions.
So nothing has changed in the (yikes!) 19 years since I moved away? I lived there from the 70s through early 90s. The sewage spills were always blamed on Tijuana sewage wandering up the beach a ways, except when they had to close touristy Mission Bay because it was coming from, you know, San Diego's broken down system (infrastructure!). Then uh, well, uh, hmm. Squirrel!
Ah, yes, fecal counts. Don't scare the tourists.
Our motto: the solution to pollution is dilution in the ocean! ( = make the pipe longer)
Extend the dang pipe!
That's what happens when you only have one tiny little needle exchange open one day a week and the cops arrest people for even holding a needle – everyone gets them from LA and throws them away as soon as they've used them rather than keeping them to return to the exchange.
3.2 million gallons of sewage spilled out onto San Diego’s beaches
I don't know much about So Cal geography. Is San Diego anywhere near the Reagan Library?
Only in the minds and hearts (well really the voids hearts would normally occupy) of conservatives.
Did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in again?
Give it a bang with the american screwdriver AKA claw hammer.
Kick it a little. Worked for my grampy's VCR.
"Did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in again?"
Zott! Crackle. Oops.
Zott, Crackle, Oops are my favorite breakfast cereal!
this is what my boy says to everything that happens in our house even when the cat throws up.
I would've rather been one of those stuck in the traffic, I guess, since I could at least enjoy my vehicle's sweet, sweet A/C relief.
OT: can anyone help me identify the movie source of KBJ's accompanying photo, above. Please?
"My Best Friend's Wedding"
Independence Day Zero: Paul Revere's Last Stand.
"California Dreamin' "
"I Am Not a Witch: The Christine O'Donnell Story"
WOLVERINES11! (Not really, I just like typing that..)
"I would've rather been one of those stuck in the traffic, I guess, since I could at least enjoy my vehicle's sweet, sweet A/C relief."
That would be my thought too, if I could afford to keep more than a gallon or two of gas in my car. (Juuust enough to keep the gas warning light off.) I would probably end up just careening into the clown with the $10,000 bass system in his stupid looking pickup.
Apocalypse Now ?
Fairly sure that's Miracle Mile, a mid-80s apocalypse movie with Anthony Edwards.
Bedtime for Bonzo
"Rick Perry's America"
"The Undefeated"?
"Sleepless in San Diego"?
Yeah, but it would quickly smell like your neighbor's exhaust. And as noted elsewhere, a lot of folks in those cars may not have enough fuel to afford to wait.
I believe that photo was taken at Rick Perry's prayer-a-thon in Houston.
Bet he was an undocumented brown.
/Breitbart
No way to talk about our next DOE secretary!
He has a degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University.
University of Phoenix.
It was probably mean old Mr. Henderson trying to scare people away from the old amusement park. Thank goodness for the Mystery Machine and the pot head dog, Scooby Doobie.
I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids!
This could have been averted if there weren't so many environmental and safety regulations and if taxes on utility companies were lower.
Also, the electrical worker was probably a member of *GASP* a union. SUCK THAT, pro-collective bargaining yahoos.
Unleash our jorb reactors!
With a hundred degree heat and no air conditioning, the Arizonans who voted in such famous racists as Jan Brewer and Joe Arpaio will soon have a literal stench to mach that of their souls.
I'm in Tucson and my A/C's working fine. No problems in America's sixth-largest pretend-city either. It's just Yuma, basically a military installation stuck between the California border and tribal reservation desert. IT'S CALIFORNIA'S FAULT!!!1!! All those movie stars air conditioning their six-car garages.
Unfortunately, Joe and Jan are untouched (by thoughts as well as stench). Anyway, dontcha know, it's dry heat.
Looks like Sheriff Arapio powered up his dildo collection.
"monitoring equipment" = "hidden camera in the ladies' bathroom stall"
Who blabbed?
If everyone would have carried a gun this wouldn't have happened.
Utter win.
3.2 million gallons of sewage spilled out onto San Diego’s beaches.
Seems it never rains in Southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya
Sewage pours, man it pours,
Stinky!
Holy Shit!
Thank you for that flashback to 1975.
Isn't this what the teabaggers would like to do to the entire nation? I bet they'll give the guy a free Glock for his contribution to the cause.
Indeed, the teabagger rLOVEution will not be televised.
It's all vegetarian crap so it doesn't smell that bad.
It's funny you mention that. I eat very little meat and my poo smells like flowers.
Rotted, shit-covered flowers, but flowers just the same.
You mock…but the aroma is reminiscent of late season lilacs with overtones of sulfur and earth and a lingering asparagus finish (although that might be from last nights supper).
You mean, Gennifer Flowers?
wow, I eat no meat and my poo smells like shit!
I find that happens when I've been drinking a lot…or if I have eaten a lot of chocolate.
What about all that sushi? We don't eat that shit here in Arizona = The REAL AMURICA.
On the bright side, America is solving the illegal immigration problem by making the country so undesirable that people would rather starve to death than live here.
Things are real peachy in NYC today, too.
Clearly, the electrical distribution system is over-regulated.
why are we redistributing power, anyway? socialism!
Arizona just trifurcated the whole Southwest. This is a shocking part of their three-phase gunz-illegalz-moar guns power system.
Actually, it's four phases. Gunz-illegalz-moar gunz-pig meat tacos. (We hate Messicans, but we love their food.)
Perry/Bachmann 2012: Hair's for a better Amurrica.
Throw some tax cuts at 'em. Particularly the power company. That'll solve everything.
"Throw some tax cuts at 'em. Particularly the power company. That'll solve everything."
You are absolutely correct, from the management perspective. The execs will all move somewhere and have their own private electricity system and backup generators and slaves to maintain them. A small, exclusive grid. No brownouts allowed.
3.2 million gallons of sewage? What happened, did they release the collective wit and wisdom of Newt Gingrich in liquid form? Or did his Port-a-Potty fall over?
What a waste of sewage. Next time, send it to Texas, we're running out of drinkable water here!
HAL: I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours.
HAL: It can only be attributable to human error.
Goddamn Arizona plugging into our outlet adapter again. Get your OWN.
They should look into whether it was Y2K compliant.
Go to bed, Mr. Leno.
Somebody should check that out on Netscape.
More likely, Will2K non-compliant. The Fresh Prince has had enough of the gay Scientologist rumors. He will have his revenge.
"It was unclear why that mishap, which normally would have been isolated, sparked such a widespread outage."
Actually it's perfectly clear: Our power grid, like the rest of our decaying infrastructure, is turning to liquid shit after years of deliberate neglect.
Do you mean to tell me that the billions of dollars in jacked up electric bills during the Enron days didn't get re-invested in the power grid?
Isn't that always the case. Some boneheaded dimwit from Arizona makes a bad decision and rest of the US America ends up covered with shit.
See McCain picking Palin.
McCain picking Palin probably saved us from President McCain. Inadvertent good decision (probably the only kind of good decision that comes out of Arizona politics)?
Doh!
Finally, someone gets it. Although I believe the proper spelling is D'oh!
This isn't news. "Darkness and Sewage" are the stuff of daily life in the American Southwest. It's "Shock and Awe" so to speak. It's "Sturm und Drang."
Martin and Lewis.
Looks like someone was thinking ahead. That's the first (non-news) result from Googling "sewage san diego". Srsly.
I know kids love sticky, greasy, poo-stain-encrusted gunk, but can't their parents just take them to McDonald's?
Recipes: "Sewage Soda" and "Fake Sludge Cakes."
Jesus H. Christ. What is WRONG with these people???
Actually, I'm pretty sure my kids would have loved this shit.
What a find. Kids' illustrations demonstrate an uncanny grasp of how super sewer systems work — adorable!
What a bizarrely informative website.
Did you click on "Teachers' Link"? I didn't dare.
Um. Goodness. I want video footage of the guy from Facilities pitching this at a city council meeting, and the hungover council voting shit, yeah, what the hell.
"McCain! Get your ass in my office immediately!"
Power went out as I was walking home on 6th Avenue in downtown 92101. Got through the first traffic signal fine; almost died at the second one, which went out at the exact moment I was crossing. Luckily a case of Cabernet had just arrived and I was okay until it got too dark to "read." Power came back on at midnight, and a mere few hours later our wonderful, reliable cable company, Koch's Cable, woke somebody up to go turn on the Internet.
"downtown 92101"
Is referring to areas by zip code like this a thing in California? I had thought that Beverly Hills 90210 was just a cutesy title, but from this maybe people there actually talk like that.
No it is not “a thing.” And as you point out, it wasn’t even original!
i hope my grandparents in 92592 are ok. i miss 92101. i liked it better than 92123 where i lived. 92027 and 92126 were even worse.
Every single customer of our beloved San Diego Gas & Electric Co's 1.4 million customers lost power, plus some in AZ, the OC and Me-hee-koh. No one lives in Temecula anymore, and Ken-Layniacs are salvaging the ruins for copper pipe and wiring
I loved my little beachfront apartment in 92032 in the 70s. 92077 was hot with crappy zoning, even after it changed to 92177.
Californians are weird; normally people only mention zip codes when addressing a letter.
this is not the only thing that's weird about californians.
We used to only need the last 2 digits in some cities. Fer instance, I used to live in SF 14 Calif. Then we abbreviated it to Cal. Damn feds made it CA and added 941 in front of the 14. Fuck, I'm old.
How much of the case is left?
Glad you survived. Good thing you weren't down at the beach.
11½ bottles, as I’d had a couple-three Martinis before cracking the Cab.
Oooh. I think you and I could be very good friends. It's always good when you lose count of how many Martinis you've had. Hope the Cab was a good one, worthy of enjoying some chocolate and / or cheese.
I take a Scalia-like constitutional-originalist approach to the Martini: gin, vermouth, olive or twist. No vodka, ever. If you’re okay with that, it’s on.
Good news in 92118: Keeping vodka in freezer was a very good idea! Still frosty cold at 7pm when I finally got home from my job in 92037. I had to memorize zipcodes at my first job where I typed out invoices. Yes, I am that old.
92037 median income >>> 92101
Now, if the grid was outsourced to India…
It was prolly some Messican walking through the desert that removed the equipment – for meth even. We must build a border moat – with gators and sharks and stuff…
They are all Methicans now.
Your comment sounds funny here, not so much when produced as an actual plan. Look ma, it's got gators!
The working man gets the blame again!
Teabaggers blame Obama in 3…2…1…
Thank God Arizona Public Service Company is not a government run enterprise. It’s so reassuring knowing private industry will make this right, as they always do.
I'm not sure. Someone help me out. Did God mention one of the ways our Earthly existence would end is…irradiation???
I don't go to Black's Beach for the water anyway.
you go to look at naked old people?
Now called "Brown's Beach".
You know who else caused a blackout last night?
Jack Daniel's?
You know Bombay Sapphire produces the best blackouts…
Was the power outage caused by the same undocumented worker that started all those Arizona forest fires?
see!!!??! we don't need al qaeda to celebrate 9/11 month!!!
USA!! USA!!! USA!!!!
Jetson – You're fired!
Cogswell: There's only one thing worse than war and that is business, and Spacely has declared business on us.
Ron Paul was right–in the good old, self-reliant days of 1900 they didn't have to worry about huge power outages.
It was inconvenient to be without power, but no serious issues. My juice was back on about 2 a.m. Most neighbors got drunk or stoned and the temp broke nicely after about 8 or 9 p.m. so it wasn't bad at all. The sewage leak in SD is a recurring problem and it's never going to get fixed, just another band aid applied and switch her back on.
America's finest shit from America's finest city. My town fixed their problem years ago and everybody's happy with it. San Diego can't for some reason…
Problematic Equipment shall be the new name of my fantasy rock band. Check out our latest fantasy album, Spewing Sewage, with our fantasy hit song, Widespread Outage.
"The employee was just switching out a piece of equipment that was problematic,” No, I think a look at the bigger picture is in order. Albert Einstein once remarked: "Nuclear Fission is an expensive and problematic way to boil water."
It was only a matter of time before some southwestern state became jealous of Texas' monopoly on heat-related disaster coverage.
Wasn't there some line in Obama's speech about upgrading our infrastructure?
It was the ghost of Ken Lay. Or maybe Enron itself – if corporations are people too, can they still scare the shit out of people after bankruptcy?
Euphemistically, it's called "getting good Teapot Dome".
This is a preview of Romney's Job Machine.
It is the invisibile nuclear hand that did it.
3.2 million gallons of sewage = Cindy McCain threw her used make-up into the ocean off Coronado Island.
Well, on the bright side the sewage will keep the damn Zonies off my beach for a while. Damn Zonies in Dago are cursed daily by testy locals. This simply justifies our contempt for their White Escalade driving asses. Black Escalades are reserved for TJ drug lords and their families. The later of course throw the better parties. I think TJ's power was back on before ours… Gawd Bwess Amerwica!
Lights go out, lights go on…nobody can explain it.
Homer SImpson still on the job?
Ken's marketing for Dignity has gone too far.
good ol' SDG&E: what about your bill? fuck you! please, hold.
i imagine the 92032 of the 70's is probably much different than the 92032 of today. it's probably more 92143 than 92109. i had a girlfriend who lived in 92077. it was almost a two hour bus ride from 92123!
Now!
LOL – ok…I was just giving ya'll shit.
You know that I always sing the virtues of Sapphire martinis around here.
Clearly a gentleman of refinement and distinction.
If only you knew. Northern Californians are worried to hear each other referring to freeways as "the 5" or "the 101" as is the custom south of San Luis Obispo.
Hmm. I just realized that 90277 changed to 91977, not 92177. We moved not long after that. Yes, bus rides in 92077. I took my son by bus every morning from our house to his school 4 1/2 miles away. Two and a half hours round trip. And again in the afternoon. I could have done the trip faster by burro.
No. Vapourise it.
The Calif don't like it. Rock the Embarcadero, Rock the Embarcadero.
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