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Journal Chacham's Journal: Blackout Ramblings 10

Journal by Chacham

When this computer shutdown improperly, Mozilla loses its history in the address bar. Somewhat annoying. As the last parts of the blackout fades away.

The blackout was interesting. Most people here got their electricity back on Friday evening or night. Considering that Orthodox Jews will not use electricity on the Sabbath (that is will no turn on the switch, but will enjoy the light if turned on before the Sabbath) it was very interesting. Hot food was had by those who had (neighbors with) gas ovens or people who went out of town. Air-conditioning was mostly had by those who left it on. Who knew which lights to leave on without seeing them come on when hitting the switch? I didn't even think about that. And so on.

Most interestingly, this is the third electric outage we've had recently. So far two storms took us out and now this. I just wonder how our electric system can be this vulnerable. Every time a wind blows i wonder when the flickering will happen. And those places who were lucky enough to have coal plants, had electricity almost immediately. I hope we go back to coal. Its much safer, more natural, and better overall for the environment than nuclear reactors.

There's gas and ice outlets that not many think about. And stores with ice-cream and no generators. With the outage less than fourty-eight hours, i was told the insurance won't cover it.

And the worst part of all. I was forced to read a *book*. What will happen next?

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Blackout Ramblings More

Blackout Ramblings

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  • Suppose you had your stereo up on 10 just before the power outage. Power comes back on the sabbath, do you just leave it cranked up all day? Do you invite a gentile friend over to turn it off? Please don't construe this as a slam on your religion, I'm just curious.

    I completely disagree with you on coal fired plants. First off, my background, I have an Associates of Applied Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology, along with my BS in IT. I worked in the nuclear field for 8 years. I operated plants and mai
    • Suppose you had your stereo up on 10 just before the power outage. Power comes back on the sabbath, do you just leave it cranked up all day? Do you invite a gentile friend over to turn it off?

      Firstly, i would have turned it down beforehand. :) Anyway, the answer is to live with it. I *could* have someone turn it off for me though.

      I completely disagree with you on coal fired plants. First off, my background, I have an Associates of Applied Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology, along with my BS in I
      • Thanks for clearing that up, I remember learning a little about that in a World Religions class but I didn't know how that worked.

        Coal is a fossil fuel like oil. CO2 from burning fossil fuels is a greenhouse gas that some poeple say is contributing to global warming. Not enough trees and plants to absorb all the CO2.

        There is a good site picked in New Mexico for storing nuclear waste deep underground. It has been approved but blocked in the courts. Some links on that here [ncsl.org] and here [ohio-state.edu].

        I think another reason w
        • Thanks for clearing that up, I remember learning a little about that in a World Religions class but I didn't know how that worked.

          Don't believe what they teach you there. Unless someone who believed in that religion taught it to you, it is unlikely that it was taught properly. Then of course there are all the sects and even more, the varying degrees of religiosity.

          After that, there's the many little laws that are unmentioned here, that detail the if, when, and hows of doing things like this. :)

          Coal is
          • You're underestimating just how little waste is actually produced. According to the (Australian) figures I have here, with the CIA's figures for US electricity consumption (World Factbook), the US would produce only about 8,000 tonnes of "waste" per year if all the electricity were from fission reactors. Of those 8,000 tonnes, 7,200 is actually the same fuel that went in - reprocess the fuel to separate the two, and back it goes. Another 80 is plutonium - which can be mixed with depleted uranium to form Mix
            • 720 tonnes per year to bury.

              Compare that with the 280,000,000 tonnes of ash produced by coal-burning stations today, which is mostly just buried.

              Interesting.

              One issue though would be, that the 720 tonnes is *unusable* ever again. The ash, at least, isn't poisoness, and possibly could (safely) be ejected off the Earth if it took up too much space.

              On the religious side, by the way, when my mother was young her best friend was the rabbi's daughter. One day, the friend came round to ask my mother's parent
              • One issue though would be, that the 720 tonnes is *unusable* ever again. The ash, at least, isn't poisoness, and possibly could (safely) be ejected off the Earth if it took up too much space.

                Actually, the ash is the less usable of the two. Even those 720 tonnes of "waste" can be used for other things - among other things, pacemaker power cells, for example, and a power source for deep-space probes (solar power just doesn't work much beyond the Earth's orbit). Compare that to the ash - which contains many

                • Also, by the time the first 720 tonnes is ready for disposal (50 years on), fusion is likely to be a realistic alternative - meaning you never produce any more.

                  Interesting.

                  >Of course they wouldn't. Not unless someone's life was in danger, and there was no other way of saving it.

                  Hm. To me, that seems pretty weird; OTOH, my religion doesn't impose any constraints like that, and I can't imagine it ever trying...

                  Well, if you believe that everything comes from G-d, and that He arranges events in the wo
    • Suppose you had your stereo up on 10 just before the power outage. Power comes back on the sabbath, do you just leave it cranked up all day? Do you invite a gentile friend over to turn it off? Please don't construe this as a slam on your religion, I'm just curious.

      I lived with an orthodox roommate for 3 years. He usually went to sleep early on fridays because there was little he could do other than read (which he couldnt do if the lights were off) I once left the light on by accident when I left the roo

  • I am curious... Could you use the clapper to turn things on and off on the Sabbath?

    What about having motion sensors on your lights?

    What about an answering machine that automatically answers to a speakerphone so you dont actually answer the phone but you just have to talk to someone?

    Meaning no disrespect, it's hard to understand why when a line is so blurry, it's not just erased completely. I mean; you can turn the knob on the faucet, but not a light switch? Interesting, indeed.

    Anyway, re: coal.. A coal

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