You got home from work late that day. It had been the typical Monday, nothing seemed to go right, co-workers were irritated and snarky, and everything just seemed "off". You were so relieved when you had finally finished the 45 minute commute home, pulled into the driveway, and felt the tension leave your shoulders. You closed your eyes, let your head fall back against the headrest, and just sat for a moment, listening to the clicking under the hood as the engine began to slowly cool down. After several minutes of letting your mind rest, listening to the sounds of an early summers evening, the birds chirping, and the soft murmur of the neighbors talking, you trudged from the truck into the front door, pleased to be home, and finally, able to start to unwind.
You were deciding whether to shower first, or begin to make dinner when the power went down. There was still plenty of light in the house, it wouldn`t turn dusky for several more hours, but it just figures you thought...the perfect ending to a harsh, difficult Monday, no power. You walk out the front door and stand in the lawn, looking up and down the street, and see neighbors beginning to come out of their houses, looking around as if there were to be some answer in the street as to what caused the power to go out. You slowly head for a group of about a half dozen neighbors standing and talking in front of a house three houses down. You know them all, even though you usually don`t have much conversation with any of them, but there`s some comfort in being with someone you know. There`s kind of a strange feeling in what`s happening. You hear them asking if anyone has any word on what caused the power to go off, and someone says their I-Phone can`t connect to the web, and won`t make an outgoing call. Another neighbor says he`s in the same situation, can`t connect to the internet, can`t call out, and they all look very uncomfortable.
Someone steers the conversation away from the worry about what caused the power outage, and everyone gladly follows suite. Even though their posture and their eyes tell the story, that they`re very concerned, they leave it alone, and talk about kids, pets, the nice evening weather, and various other small talk. Finally, someone suggests getting several of the charcoal grills together, combining food resources, and having a "block grill out", to keep everyone occupied until the power comes back on. Everyone gathered agrees heartily, and they all seem to genuinely be feeling more at ease about the situation now, but you can`t let go. You have this gnawing feeling, you can`t describe it exactly, and you have no fact to base it on...but everything just "feels" bad...
As the neighbors split up temporarily to gather grills, charcoal, and meat, agreeing which house to set up at, you look up into the now dusky sky, trying to convince yourself that you`re really being silly, it`s just a simple power outage. Someone hit a utility pole, a transformer blew...there could be a lot of reasons for it, but there`s certainly nothing sinister going on, is there? You start to recall the Reuters news piece you read last week about how U.S. intelligence agencies had released a report warning about direct threats to the nations power grids by terrorists organizations funded by Iran. But if they knew about the threat, they`d prevent the chance of it ever happening...right? You fight the sudden surge of panic rising up in your throat, your heart racing, head spinning, you feel faint...but you need to get into the house while there`s still some usable light and gather flashlights, candles, matches, and your mind starts to focus on what supplies you need, and if you even have everything. You had a list compiled somewhere of "prepper supplies" you`d need in the event of an emergency, but how many of them had you gone out and purchased...you feel the panic rising up again as you rush into the house in the dimming light to gather supplies.
You were deciding whether to shower first, or begin to make dinner when the power went down. There was still plenty of light in the house, it wouldn`t turn dusky for several more hours, but it just figures you thought...the perfect ending to a harsh, difficult Monday, no power. You walk out the front door and stand in the lawn, looking up and down the street, and see neighbors beginning to come out of their houses, looking around as if there were to be some answer in the street as to what caused the power to go out. You slowly head for a group of about a half dozen neighbors standing and talking in front of a house three houses down. You know them all, even though you usually don`t have much conversation with any of them, but there`s some comfort in being with someone you know. There`s kind of a strange feeling in what`s happening. You hear them asking if anyone has any word on what caused the power to go off, and someone says their I-Phone can`t connect to the web, and won`t make an outgoing call. Another neighbor says he`s in the same situation, can`t connect to the internet, can`t call out, and they all look very uncomfortable.
Someone steers the conversation away from the worry about what caused the power outage, and everyone gladly follows suite. Even though their posture and their eyes tell the story, that they`re very concerned, they leave it alone, and talk about kids, pets, the nice evening weather, and various other small talk. Finally, someone suggests getting several of the charcoal grills together, combining food resources, and having a "block grill out", to keep everyone occupied until the power comes back on. Everyone gathered agrees heartily, and they all seem to genuinely be feeling more at ease about the situation now, but you can`t let go. You have this gnawing feeling, you can`t describe it exactly, and you have no fact to base it on...but everything just "feels" bad...
As the neighbors split up temporarily to gather grills, charcoal, and meat, agreeing which house to set up at, you look up into the now dusky sky, trying to convince yourself that you`re really being silly, it`s just a simple power outage. Someone hit a utility pole, a transformer blew...there could be a lot of reasons for it, but there`s certainly nothing sinister going on, is there? You start to recall the Reuters news piece you read last week about how U.S. intelligence agencies had released a report warning about direct threats to the nations power grids by terrorists organizations funded by Iran. But if they knew about the threat, they`d prevent the chance of it ever happening...right? You fight the sudden surge of panic rising up in your throat, your heart racing, head spinning, you feel faint...but you need to get into the house while there`s still some usable light and gather flashlights, candles, matches, and your mind starts to focus on what supplies you need, and if you even have everything. You had a list compiled somewhere of "prepper supplies" you`d need in the event of an emergency, but how many of them had you gone out and purchased...you feel the panic rising up again as you rush into the house in the dimming light to gather supplies.