Oops

As storms go, the hype and unpreparedness were the only notable aspects. I think we had maybe two gusts at work last Thursday, and the first one took out the power. No flickering, or off for a bit on for a bit. Out like someone had flipped a switch. Common sense and a desire to go home early came into play. I figured there was no way to reroute the power, it must have been taken out between us and the nearest substation, otherwise it would have been rerouted. Wherever the interruption took place, it was a single point of failure, and at a minimum that point had to be repaired. After fifteen minutes people started leaving and I was one. Having a lingering cold made the idea of vegetating at home sound very nice too.

I had a post disappear, where I was cogitating over america's deepest and most terrifying fear. Individuality. During the War of 1812 or The Civil War a reknowned and highly respected general, and I believe a baron, was here as an observer. He commented on the personal freedoms which Americans had and were unprecedented in the rest of the world, yet weren't embraced here. Rather, we were driven and drove peer pressure so fiercely individuality was imperceptible compared to other western cultures of the day. Anyone remember who made this oft cited observation? It occurs to me the deep-seated terror of being noticed is with us still, and I wonder if it is manifested in our cowardice when it comes to changing course. To do so would attract attention, and pursuing a deadly error is less bothersome to us, if we can do it without remark. Yup, embarassment is truly worse than state sponsored mass murder.