Electricity, pfft who needs it? (2024)

The power keeps going out here today. Oh the fun and excitement. It's back on right now. Thankfully we have a plug in the other room that's connected to the backup generator, so while the power was out the first time for about 45min we scrambled and found an extension cord long enough, and plugged all the necessary lab equipment in so our work for the day won't have to be scrapped. <br><br>Kindda funny, before while it was out I plugged this computer in and, out of curiosity, decided to see if the internt's working. It is! So if it does go out again I'll still have Ars, yay! -- View image here: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/forum/smilies/biggrin.gif --

Sounds like a fun day.<br><br>At least you have a cool evening coming up! -- View image here: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif --

Nah, I'm not stressing out. Now if we couldn't have gotten power to the essential equipment we need (computer, plate washer, and plate reader) THEN I'd be seriously pissed.

What's a plate reader? Is it the thing that looks at those little microtiter wells and puts it on the computer?

hehe...<br><br>There was one time when I was working for U. Pitt, that a construction vehicle two blocks away hit a buried electric line, and killed the electricity for half the campus. The phones kept working, but everything else was powered in the buildings; so everything went down.<br><br>It was hilarious when professors were calling up asking why they couldn't access the internet or their email or anything from their laptops and why was it that they were getting low power messages from said machines when they were still plugged into the wall?!?<br><br>Finally, we got sick of waiting for the power company to come out and hook the line back up, so we were sent home early. Sucked for me, as an hourly employee, who was supposed to work the evening shift, but it was nice to have a pleasant afternoon off in the sun.<br><br>-- View image here: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif --

Last weekend where I work, the water pipes froze and burst, flooding most of the shop. It has been hellish since then. We only got some hard wired lights back in the warehouse/work area yesterday. Before that we had a couple of flood lights. Much of our equipment and most of our stock is covered with huge sheets of plastic while they tear down the wet ceiling. We lost hundreds of plaque boards and other assorted stock, and nearly every wall in the shop has had the bottom foot of drywall cut out of it. Which of course means everything has been pushed in from the edges of the room. It's hard to walk around all the blower fans pointed at the walls, and all the furniture and equipment that is strewn everywhere. And we still are trying to do all of our regular work. I ripped my shirt this morning while going back to reset a breaker for the umpteenth time, too.

<blockquote class="ip-ubbcode-quote">
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div>
<div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MrClark:<br>What's a plate reader? Is it the thing that looks at those little microtiter wells and puts it on the computer? </div>
</blockquote>
<br>Yup. Which is why one of the essential instruments to power is the computer. Not just to feed my Ars addiction, no -- View image here: https://cdn.arstechnica.net/forum/smilies/biggrin.gif --

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ProphetM:<BR>Last weekend where I work, the water pipes froze and burst, flooding most of the shop. It has been hellish since then. We only got some hard wired lights back in the warehouse/work area yesterday. Before that we had a couple of flood lights. Much of our equipment and most of our stock is covered with huge sheets of plastic while they tear down the wet ceiling. We lost hundreds of plaque boards and other assorted stock, and nearly every wall in the shop has had the bottom foot of drywall cut out of it. Which of course means everything has been pushed in from the edges of the room. It's hard to walk around all the blower fans pointed at the walls, and all the furniture and equipment that is strewn everywhere. And we still are trying to do all of our regular work. I ripped my shirt this morning while going back to reset a breaker for the umpteenth time, too. </div></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Ack. Those work conditions HAVE to be against the law, somehow!

You are not a powerful man if you have no power when the power is out.