It’s time for another Green Island blackout party!

There are some things that I definitely appreciate about the Green Island Power Authority, the municipal utility that provides electricity and other essentials to our Town and Village. For one thing, it’s very inexpensive. Compared to National Greed – er, Grid – my monthly light bill is miniscule. And since the power is actually drawn from the hydroelectric generators at Niagara Falls, as opposed to the usual National Grind – er, Grid – locations, at least it’s coming from a renewable energy source.

That being said … when something happens to the power grid in Green Island, the whole neighborhood goes into panic mode.

And that’s what happened last night. At around noontime, something happened with the power grid, and the Town and Village lost power. The community’s Facebook page was filled with everything from anger to gallows humor.

Yeah, I was responsible for a couple of the gallows humor posts, not gonna lie. That joke about asking who took a piss on the power pole this time that caused the power outage? My joke.

But by sundown, the jokes subsided. And now it’s anger. And frustration. And people worried about their perishables and plunging temperatures. This shit is getting serious. The Town and Village actually opened up the Community Center as a charging and warming station. They don’t do that unless there’s a concern that the power isn’t coming on for a long while.

I figured I’d wait it out – rather than go home and freeze my tuchus off, I drove over to nearby East Greenbush and sat in on a game of bingo. No, I didn’t win, but at least I stayed warm for two hours. I then contacted my girlfriend, who graciously offered me lodgings for the night.

And this morning, when I woke up – the power in Green Island was back on. Power restored. The anger now turned into more gallows humor (posts on the GI FB page about “Let There Be Light,” for example), but there were also some serious posts about whether this whole ordeal could have been avoided.

Could the Green Island Power Authority have communicated with its residents with more clarity during this troubling time? Was there some issue between GIPA and National Grunt – er, Grid – over repairs and/or delays?

I can at least tell you this. It’s gotten to the point where I’m actually preparing for such situations. Not “if” we lose power, but “when” we lose power. I ordered one of those solar charging power packs from Amazon – the kind that can recharge a cell phone or power a laptop, should the need arise. And during wintertime, I monitor how much food I keep in my fridge, because who knows if a snowstorm or a lightning strike or a blown transformer or a squirrel that chewed through a wire could knock out our power again, I don’t want to lose $25 worth of eggs to a power outage. Trust me, I don’t have time to go buy another dozen eggs should that happen.

And I’m going to keep a spare “getaway bag” for emergencies like this – two changes of clothes, two days’ worth of medicines, and an arsenal of resolve.

Yeah, just what I need. Another blackout to knock my routine out of kilter. Ugh.

If nothing else … I did at least make it through the worst of it.

This time.