Hope someone cleared out the break room fridge first! Time to get those solar panels and power walls installed (or move the studio to Vegas).
Seems like there ought to be a better solution for this problem than cutting off power for days.
I think I’m going to be suffering from Windows Weekly Withdrawal (not yet recognized by the DSM). I don’t drink that often, but I’m going to need a patch tuesday or two.
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It’s comforting to see Leo’s clock is still running. 
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TWiT’s new dark mode is activated. Good thing Jeff isn’t in town lol 
Hoping that things come back up sooner than thought but knowing pg$e it’ll probably be longer.
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It’s certainly not only because of the weather but a trend in US infrastructure to take as much money as possible while putting as little into the infrastructure as possible.
It’s seen everywhere in Bridges and drainage systems, water pipes etc all across the US. Climate Change is forcing us into a situation where we are now slapped across the face with the consequences of profit over anything else.
It’s sad and makes me sad. Be safe out there in CA.
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California seems to have a history of this, too. Enron, anyone?
Amazing how politely Leo and staff are taking this. It must HURT to have this happen.
I remember what it was like when we were new in our town owning the radio station, had not bought a generator yet, and a major storm came through. No radio station. No way to put information out to the listeners. The best word I can think of is feeling “helpless.” It was even worse when a storm put the final nail in an old transmitter! Same feeling. Even when we have power by generator, streaming our audio OUT is an issue as we depend on the internet carrier to be up and running, and powered cable lines along the way lose their signal amplifiers!
The equivalent to this California outage in our (Michigan) area to this is when winter ice storms or Spring thunderstorms roll through and take out lines. We’ve seen 4 and 5 days, up to a week in some parts of our state without power. It’s never easy! (and even though we have a propane generator they EAT the fuel and cost big bucks to run! We insist on propane so we’re not at the mercy of piped-in fuel at our studios.)
We’ve had listeners actually angry at us for having power when theirs is out …and there’s no logic in the world that makes them feel better when they call us. Let’s hope residents stay civil and helpful to each other through this issue in California and use this as a reminder to be as prepared as possible for future interruptions when it’s over.
Leo and Company: Thank you for all you do and the effort put into programming when things are “normal” for your listening and viewing family. We’re ALL concerned for your family, your business and your area.
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This one is different. This is the result of PG&E repeatedly deferring maintenance on the infrastructure. Even known failure points were ignored which resulted in downed power lines during high winds which cause cities to burn. As a result PG&E was successfully sued and put into bankruptcy. While in bankruptcy they can’t do any infrastructure upgrades. This is why the governor had strong words yesterday that we need to get them out of of bankruptcy so they can fix their grid and prevent this from happening. Or the more cynical version of all of this is that PG&E is waving a huge middle finger at California customers because because they were successfully sued so they are shutting us off “to limit liability” with an abundance of caution under conditions hat probably don’t require it. “Limit liability” was their words (not mine) on TV last night.
EDIT: To clarify, once PG&E is able to actually improve the grid this shouldn’t have to happen anymore. They’re stuck in limbo from doing any preventative maininance at the moment because of the bankruptcy so until then, this is how they deal with it. At least this is my understanding (I could be wrong.) I’ve live in Cal most of my life and I’ve never had proactive high wind power outages or see cities burn to the ground from downed power lines that I can ever remember.
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PG&E didn’t do proper maintenance on their equipment and now it’s their customers that have to pay the price by being without power, potentially for up to 5 days. Not to mention all the people who died and lost their homes from their negligence.
Glad you’re all safe, and I can sympathise with power outages, but up to five days is brutal.
There has been plenty of notice. And I don’t watch live tv except Wheel of Fortune, and the occasional football game. Nor live radio (now that The Tech Guy is a podcast). Anyone who says they didn’t get notice really REALLY wasn’t paying attention to anything.
He’s an idea, install bikes with dynamos and the hosts have to power their own shows 
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We just tested Comrex at my house and I will be able to do the Tech Guy radio show from home if I need to. We’re now thinking the outage will continue through Friday. 
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Mate, just call up the original TWiT crew and do a retro show in a bar recorded on a phone. 
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Well, there’s always solar power to consider.
My best to everyone and hope there are no large fires in the near future. Enjoy the few days off and look forward when you come back online.
Chris
New Albany, Indiana.
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Sorry, but glad you are finding a work-around
Don’t want to trigger a political debate, but this could be the new normal due to climate change, or as said above, this is the new normal due to suing a utility into bankruptcy from negligence claims.
The new head of PG&E is an attorney, and this does avoid potential future claims and sends a not-so-passive-aggressive message to state regulators.
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Wishing you the best. Stay safe! I will keep you all in my prayers!
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