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That was a fun 10 hours or so that we were without power in most of Barcelona. Some barrios had ~some~ power but most of us were without. The one thing that su
by showsover 1y ago
That was a fun 10 hours or so that we were without power in most of Barcelona. Some barrios had ~some~ power but most of us were without.
The one thing that surprised me is how quickly rumors started about power being out in Portugal (true), France (true to an extent), Belgium (false), and the UK (false). Walking back home from work you heard the names of Trump being mentioned as well.
It's a bit scary to personally experience how quickly people can start panicking. On the other hand the bars that had some power had a great afternoon with tons of beer being served before it got too warm :-)
- consp 1y agoAs long as the beer is cool, you only need CO2! Great off grid mechanism. Or N2 in case of Guinness.
- xenospn 1y agoI never have any cash on me. That would’ve sucked.
- showsover 1y agoI spent my last 5 euros on a sandwich and a croissant to eat on the walk home. All in all a pretty decent experience.
- solarwindy 1y agoYour comment immediately brings to mind this classic of croissant eating in ‘interesting’ circumstances: https://youtube.com/watch?v=wp84sRpM1Js https://youtube.com/watch?v=wp84sRpM1Js
- fifteen1506 1y agoAdd the store on Foursquare, "good blackout sandwich, 5 stars"
- elric 1y agoIn my experience, shops you frequent will be sympathetic to that problem and will just let you come back to pay later. And I imagine that any shops that sell stuff that needs to be kept cool were especially amenable to that ...
- AStonesThrow 1y agoHow warm is "too warm"? I find cold beer, and cold soft drinks as well, quite repulsive. I usually try to order without ice entirely, and if I receive any bottles or cans, I permit them to come to room temp before consumption. Refrigeration is sort of a scourge to those who enjoy food. We are so used to simply freezing our esophagus and not tasting anything! Food is kept cold because it lasts longer, not because it tastes better. Sure, refrigeration makes restaurants and grocery stores possible. But it also presents challenges to cooking and it's very resource-intensive -- think about it -- basically everyone everywhere is always running their refrigeration -- that's a huge load on any system.
- showsover 1y agoI was referring to the fact that generally people prefer cold beer, not room temp beer.
- consp 1y agoPedantic, but most beers should be drank (according to the manufacturers and experts) at 7-13c depending on type of beer. Exceptions always exist to confirm the rule. Which is above fridge and around "cellar" temperatures. Unless you drink Schultenbrau, which tastes worse cold than at room temperature (/s, kind of).
- elric 1y agoTIL Schultenbrau is a real beer. I thought it was gag beer designed for the New Kids show. The same goes for wine, by the way: cellar temperature is usually optimal.
- AStonesThrow 1y ago> generally people prefer cold beer Do they? But why? Why would they? Are they simply accustomed to tasting it that way? I should say "not tasting it" because chilling a beverage basically kills its flavours, and they never make it to your tongue correctly. I would say that many people would be surprised and amazed if they tasted such things as Pepsi without ice, and without coming right out of the fridge. Unfortunately, any lack of refrigeration really messes up supply chains and will eat into anyone's bottom line, so it's not a realistic goal.
- MaoSYJ 1y agoMost information was spread by car radios. Rest were people asking and talking to each other.
- Zealotux 1y agoI am in Barcelona too. The combination of no power and patchy internet was the perfect recipe for rumors to spread, which was fun to observe. I went for a walk since I couldn't work and saw tons of people socializing, drinking beers (more than usual), and young people playing without their phones. It'll be a special day to remember, I think.
- prox 1y agoMaybe make it a yearly event, turn off all power (like Earth Day) just for the socializing aspect.
- Zealotux 1y agoI honestly thought we should make it a public holiday and shut down the electricity once a year, not so realistic unfortunately.
- diggan 1y agoIf we're ready for it and can prepare, it wouldn't be so bad I'd guess. Trouble yesterday was that we had no idea about the scope, I was in the middle of finishing moving houses, but was promptly held back when I arrived with a van to Barcelona and noticed it wasn't just my town that was without power.
- api 1y agoShutting off (anti-) social media would be enough.
- showsover 1y agoI was actually considering going for a ride on the motorcycle today if the outage lasted another day. Beautiful weather, a tank full of gasoline, and no stress about work? Sign me up!
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- Bad_CRC 1y agoI'm close to a refinery and seeing black smoke coming out 5 minutes later of the blackout was a bit of a scare tbh.
- TheOtherHobbes 1y agoSpain and Portugal had to deny a fake social viral that said power was out across most of Europe and the Russians were cutting undersea cables. On the upside, more people at all levels are going to be more prepared if it happens again.
- diggan 1y agoMost people I spoke to around Maresme area yesterday believed someone incompetent made a mistake somewhere, and that was the reason. Some people jokingly suggested cyber attack/Russian probes, but afaik no one took those seriously.
- rurban 1y agoThere was actually a Russian cyber attack on the previous friday, pinging some German city government sites to death. Dresden, Nuremberg and one other. But this was essentially kids play, compared to a nationwide power blackout. A cyber attack to bring down a nation's grid would be high sci-fi. This would need lots of explosives and expensive physical interventions. Russia didn't manage in Ukraine eg. Solar flares or temperature anomalies are much easier explanations. https://en.meteorologiaenred.com/What-is-induced-atmospheric-vibration-and-why-has-it-been-key-in-the-great-power-blackout.html https://en.meteorologiaenred.com/What-is-induced-atmospheric...
- debugnik 1y agoA security guard at my workplace actually told me they had "received a call" about power being out in Romania as well. I'm not sure how that one rumour spread.
- IAmGraydon 1y ago>It's a bit scary to personally experience how quickly people can start panicking. People have been panicking, internally, for quite some time. What happened is that the threshold to externalize that panic was dropped with this event. So this is a very real example of how people are always looking for confirmation of what they already believe, and for a relatively brief time after they receive that confirmation, can live in a reality that is not at all aligned with base reality. I find this kind of thing fascinating, and it's been happening more and more in recent years due to changing dynamics in the way we communicate.