Gonna Be A Blackout

Gonna Be A Blackout
Amy Stephenson
Published on July 13, 2012
Where were you during Blackoutmageddon 2012?

We were casually enjoying a few Porters at our second-ever Uppercasing meet up at Magnolia Brewpub when the lights cut out at 8:56. They stayed out for a while, weeding out the fair-weather drinkers, flickered back on after about an hour, then proceeded to blink on and off again a few more times. The crowd at Magnolia cheered and applauded basically every time the lights either went on or off. According to SF Gate, more than 10,000 customers were affected. According to twitter, the blackout hit Lower & Upper Haight, as well as parts of Western Addition, Nopa, and Hayes Valley. PG&E's twitter said they had multiple crews on the scene by 10pm. We checked out the street and it looked like the lights were out from about Central to Clayton, between Page and Frederick, including stoplights. We watched a few pedestrians dash across the Masonic & Haight intersection with cellphones thrust out as flashlights, even though most of the cars were treating the intersection like a 4-way stop (save a few jerks who plowed through). Generally things were calm, if dark. Did you lose power? See anything interesting while the lights were out? Send us photos, and we'll post 'em: [email protected]