Well, I've got electricity now, but still parts of the country and parts of Canada don't as the "great blackout of 2003" continues. People are still not sure what caused it all... the Canadians are blaming us, we are blaming them and people in Washington are blaming a utility in Ohio. Confusion's rampant.

The city's slowly coming back to being normal. Last night was a busy one for fact collectors: 80,000 911 calls were answered; 60 (ten folds the average number of 6) fires were handled by the FDNY; 10,000 police officers and 3,000 fire fighters were on duty; four burgalaries were reported (all four resulting in arrests) and sadly one person died due to the blackout. Two more deaths in Canada have also been reported.

For commuters there was some good news, like toll-free passes through NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway and free bus rides in the city. But still, according to reports, traffic lights remain disrupted accross the affected areas. Even in my area where electricity was restored last light, flashing traffic signals made traffic, once again, a bitch.

People are being advised to conserve electricity and head for the beaches, except for the city where beaches have been closed due to possible untreated sewage in the water. There people have been told to use public pool. Even the Red Cross has setup "cooling centers" at schools around the city. Subways - and even MTA's website - are still not running and major flight delays are expected.

Gosh, I didn't expect to wake up to all this. It's bigger than I had intially thought it was.