Sunday morning the Gazette says 80,425 Montreal customers are still without power.
Videotron came back overnight at Blog HQ. After three days, my internet access rose from the dead.
Updates from April, 2023 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
Grocery stores are open on Easter in an unusual move after many people had to throw out food that had thawed out.
(I may be living dangerously, but I’ve now eaten two things which had partly thawed but were still cold, and I’m fine. It seemed no different from putting items in the main fridge to gradually thaw.)
JaneyB
Same. A food safety site says a full freezer is good for about 48 hours (but half full for only 24 hours). The fridge is only good for about 4 hours so meats and leftovers have to go but the ketchup, cabbage and butter will be fine. Also my kitchen was about 10C, not 30C. I did move a few things to the big fridge known as a balcony just in case though.
Blork
I was surprised that after 68 hours the stuff in my basement freezer was still frozen. High moisture stuff was frozen solid (chicken, pork loins, chicken stock) while low moisture stuff was springy to the touch but still hovering around -2C. Odd things like Italian sausages feeling soft (but cold) while the ground pork right next to it was frozen solid.
Even the fridge’s freezer was pretty good. Stuff had thawed but still had frost on it.
Kate
Grocery stores and restaurants are obliged to be scrupulous and chuck food out if there’s any question. So far, I’m 3 for 3 with eating food from my fridge and being fine.
MarcG
Kate, don’t be a one-person study, follow the science svp!
Chris
MarcG, Kate is being perfectly sensible here, it’s not food that’s been in the sun for a month, it got a wee bit warmer for a short while. Eat it now. Stores are ridiculously wasteful and paranoid, probably fearing lawyers. Trust your sense of smell and taste.
Kate
Chris, stores and restaurants have to follow conservative guidelines on food safety. Not all food toxins are apparent to human senses so they can’t risk allowing their customers’ health to depend on some stock boy deciding the food is OK to sell.
MarcG 10:55 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
I’m surprised there hasn’t been more hollow appreciation for Hydro Quebec line workers (such heroes, very praise!) like there was for hospital staff at the beginning of the pandemic.
Kate 11:32 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
Reddit has some thanks items (“Thank you to everyone working their ass off at Hydro-Quebec!” and so on) – maybe that’s hollow, but it’s pleasanter than reading complaints.
Meezly 13:01 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
The Plateau/Mile End seems to be pretty hard hit with many neighbours still without power since Wednesday!
Tee Owe 13:15 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
“After three days, my internet access rose from the dead” – and over Easter weekend too – that’s very witty
shawn 16:58 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
Sarah Dorner in Outremont reports on Twitter that power came back for a few minutes and then a transformer blew somewhere and it went out again. So that’s gonna keep happening I guess.
Blork 17:27 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
That’s what happened at my place on Thursday night. On Saturday afternoon there was a knock on the door and a Hydro Quebec guy told us he was about to turn the power back on (at this point it was only our block that was dark; everything else in the area had been back on for 20+ hours). He asked that we run around the house and turn all the thermostats down to minimize the surge. He was doing that for all houses on the block.
Kate 19:22 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
Blork, I read somewhere that they were asking people not to use washers, dryers, dishwashers. I don’t know how long this request was meant to run, because I’m a bit overdue for a wash day.
John B 19:28 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
I got a robocall about 48 hours into my blackout asking that I turn down thermostats in unoccupied rooms by 2 degrees, and that I avoid using “inessential” appliances like washers & dryers. I don’t own a ton of clothes, and a washing machine was starting to get pretty essential by the time the power was restored.
EmilyG 19:39 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
My power was out here in Pierrefonds from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday evening. Internet just came back now.
shawn 20:51 on 2023-04-09 Permalink
In my case, my power was restored when I was downtown and the triplex was empty at the time so I don’t know if they knocked on our doors or not. No one mentioned getting a phone call.
GC 07:32 on 2023-04-10 Permalink
I have digital thermometers and I don’t think they can even be changed without power. I suppose I could run around right *after* the power was restored, but that wouldn’t really help with an initial surge…
Blork 10:22 on 2023-04-10 Permalink
GC, that’s what we told the HQ guy that knocked on our door, but he said to run around turning them down as soon as the power comes on. Not as good as having them down before the power comes on, but better than not turning them down at all. Bear in mind that there’s the initial surge, and then there’s the second surge a few minutes later when everyone starts turning on all their appliances and whatnot.
MarcG 10:39 on 2023-04-10 Permalink
If you have access to the breaker box you can switch them off there.
GC 21:54 on 2023-04-10 Permalink
For sure, Blork, but it gets back to what John B was saying on another thread about our over-dependence on electricity… And, MarcG, good point. I could flip the breakers so there wasn’t at least the initial surge.