WyBlog

#Snowtober Day 4: still no power, no heat, no sign of PSEG, nobody cares

Another freezing night, 32 outside, 42 inside. I could see my breath when I woke up. Around my neighborhood the downed trees are exactly where the snow left them on Saturday. Nobody has even tried to move them or cut them up. There are no utility crews, PSEG says they're "working," but maybe that's on Planet Fantasy. Their trucks must be equipped with Romulan cloaking devices because nobody I know has seen one.

Local DPW and town officials are AWOL too. We can usually count on seeing DPW chief Mario Bifalco puttering around in his white pickup in between beer runs but lately he's been the invisible man. Back in the summer after Hurricane Irene there was a steady stream of politicians walking around reassuring us that things were going to be alright. Where are Mayor Dassing and her councilmen now that we're freezing in the dark? There are no bulletins in The Patch and the town website's Big News is the leaf collection schedule.

Here's a hint guys, it's a little late for that. When it comes to disseminating information you knuckleheads get an "F."

And where's the Red Cross during this emergency? No shelters are available, and there are no places to go to get warm, unless you count Ringside Pub.

Yes, I Occupied Ringside, along with a whole lot of other guys to watch football and eat wings. Thanks Bob, for letting us charge our phones.

Other than that though, it really is every man for himself this time. Nobody gives a rat's ass about us. Barry ain't comin' to Caldwell to shake hands and pick up sticks.

You wanna know what's really rich? My PSEG bill came in the mail yesterday. Yup, with the power out, with trees down as far as the eye could see, they sent a meter reader to my house. And then a clerk hit print on his PC and the mailman brought me an invoice for electricity PSEG is incapable of reliably delivering. If I don't pay they'll turn me off; hey maybe I should try that! Then they'll have to send someone out and it's not like I'll be losing something I've come to rely on.

This is the third time in less than a year that we've had a multi-day power outage. And at four days and counting it's now the longest outage too. Congratulations CEO Ralph LaRossa, you've consistently managed to lower the bar, even to a point beneath my meager expectations. Go tilt at a few more windmills and tout your Smart Grid technology. From where I sit it's all worthless. Seventy-six million bucks for fancy electic meters? Maybe you shoulda spent some of that money on tree trimming.

Chris Christie says to be patient. Easy for you to say Chief. You've got power. And heat. You aren't throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of food from your refrigerator. Again. You didn't listen to your daughter cry for an hour because Halloween was canceled. You aren't huddled under blankets in front of a fireplace debating whether or not you can make it to the bathroom and back before your toes succumb to frostbite.

To all you lame-ass self-important poobahs: thanks for nothing.

Posted at 11:18 by Chris Wysocki   [/misc]   Comments | Perm Link |
Technorati Tags: PSEG power heat Ralph-LaRossa Caldwell Ann-Dassing   |   Tweet