[nynor]

i get a recorded message from the power company tonight. it says, in part, that due to the unusually cold weather we are having (it is damn cold for SLC, 9F right now and it is only 9.37PM, i am curious to see how low we get tonight), there is a huge power load. it then goes on to ask me to turn stuff off (i have only a couple of lights on and the computer and TV, but i check to make sure) and turn the heat down 5 or 10 degrees. yeah, right. my thermostat is already set at 68F.

then i look outside and remember that it is the christmas season. i BET there is a large power demand right now!

this is the first time i have ever had a call like this. a few years back, at about the same time of year, unseasonably cold, a substation blew. a bunch of folks were without power for days, some for a week.