Test and Reset

Current mental soundtrack: Scarborough Fair

DH woke up this morning to find our little street completely jammed with traffic, and no power in the kids' bedrooms or the outlets on one wall of the kitchen. We still haven't been able to find out exactly what happened, only that there was an accident on the main road that parallels our street. We're assuming it involved a power pole, but we'll have to wait until this afternoon to take a look.

DH reset the circuit breaker for the kids' rooms, but it took us a while to figure out the kitchen outlets. The one we knew was not working (home of the coffeemaker) is labeled as a GFCI outlet, but it didn't have the little "test" and "reset" buttons. Eventually, DH noticed that all the outlets on one wall were out, and the outlet behind the mixer did have the little buttons, so all is well now. I have no idea why those were the only areas affected--the rest of our house had power, including the kitchen lights and appliances.

Update (3:04 pm):We were right, it was an accident involving a power pole. And a fire hydrant, too:

Orinda customers will have power restored by mid-afternoon after car crash
By Robert Salonga
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/04/2009 11:55:53 AM PST

ORINDA — An early-morning car crash knocked over a utility pole, in turn knocking out power to more than 400 customers until at least this afternoon, police said.

The crash involving an SUV was reported about 5:40 a.m. on Moraga Way at Brookside Road, said Orinda police Chief Bill French. The driver told police that she swerved to avoid a deer, and ended up striking a fire hydrant and shearing off a utility pole. She was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Police shut down Moraga Way for three-and-a-half hours while PG&E crews tended to the damage. A spokeswoman for the utility said power is expected to fully restored by about 3 p.m.

Update to the update (4:30 pm):M reported that very few students made it to his first period class, and kids were still coming in during second period. The middle school and high school are on the south side of our town, just off Moraga Way, so over half of the middle school students live north of the accident site.

Update to the update to the update (February 5):The news story didn't even mention the mailbox that was completely demolished--this morning we saw the pile of mailbox pieces next to the fire hydrant.