4 ms·

I grew up behind the iron curtain and power outages were a given, twice a day. Freezing temperatures in the apartments as well. But that was the Romanian commun

by soco 3y ago

I grew up behind the iron curtain and power outages were a given, twice a day. Freezing temperatures in the apartments as well. But that was the Romanian communism and 50 years ago, not the USA today. Today I'm in rural Switzerland and never experienced outages, so I wouldn't accept arguments like "oh but everybody has outages on the countryside".

paganel 3y ago
> "oh but everybody has outages on the countryside". Everybody definitely still has outages in the Romanian countryside now, my parents (who live in the countryside somewhere in South-Eastern Romania) did have one for two or three days when there was that freakish snow-storm around last November - beginning of December. Not to mention the constant light flickering, I'm wondering how come all the electrical appliances are still in one piece. Later edit: I'm pretty sure Switzerland (and most of Western Europe, for that matter) very rarely have weather events like the one from these photos [1] [1] https://www.dobrogeanews.ro/judetul-constanta-viscol-zapada-toate-drumurile-nationale-si-cele-judetene-sunt-inchise-localitati-fara-energie-electrica-si-fara-apa-masini-persoane-blocate-in-zapada/ https://www.dobrogeanews.ro/judetul-constanta-viscol-zapada-...
- soco 3y ago
  I honestly don't know if we can compare - is it a matter of extreme events, or being prepared for extreme events? You know there's that running joke in Romania about authorities being surprised that it snows in winter, although I agree the article shows something quite extreme. So, how "rarely" is "rarely", and is it worth preparing for it?
  - paganel 3y ago
    I agree, but on the other hand Switzerland is on another level when it comes to infrastructure compared to almost any other European country, is not even fair (I've not been to Netherlands nor to the Nordic countries, maybe they come close to that).
- Nullabillity 3y ago
  I didn't read the comment as "and this never happens anywhere", but "and when this happens, it's due to shit infrastructure, and you can and should demand better". If you're in an environment that has strong enough winds to cause issues for power poles... you bury the fucking cables.
  - paganel 3y ago
    And then it becomes very tedious to service them. Or some guy digs a hole in front of his house and suddenly half of the county is without power, with that guy in intensive care. To say nothing of the fact than in 20 or 30 years' time everyone will have forgotten which cables are buried where, because that happens all the time, almost everywhere.
    - soco 3y ago
      Here they are buried and even I have the map of the cables going in front of my house - and no I'm not from the power company. If it doesn't work in one place doesn't mean it cannot work. Maybe the infrastructure in some places is better because those places were more concerned with the infrastructure in the first place? Because nowhere on earth did those underground cables just pop into existence...
      - paganel 3y ago
        As far as I know they have constant problems in places like NYC with just that, i.e. with underground stuff that no-one knows anything about anymore. > Maybe the infrastructure in some places is better because those places were more concerned with the infrastructure in the first place Probably, yes, but it is easier to make the infrastructure more user-friendly in order to be handled by not perfect administrations than to make those administrations as close to perfect as possible, because the latter case is only present/valid in only some select locations (for example see how NYC is not part of that club of select locations).

by soco 3y ago

paganel 3y ago

> "oh but everybody has outages on the countryside". Everybody definitely still has outages in the Romanian countryside now, my parents (who live in the countryside somewhere in South-Eastern Romania) did have one for two or three days when there was that freakish snow-storm around last November - beginning of December. Not to mention the constant light flickering, I'm wondering how come all the electrical appliances are still in one piece. Later edit: I'm pretty sure Switzerland (and most of Western Europe, for that matter) very rarely have weather events like the one from these photos [1] [1] https://www.dobrogeanews.ro/judetul-constanta-viscol-zapada-toate-drumurile-nationale-si-cele-judetene-sunt-inchise-localitati-fara-energie-electrica-si-fara-apa-masini-persoane-blocate-in-zapada/ https://www.dobrogeanews.ro/judetul-constanta-viscol-zapada-...

soco 3y ago
I honestly don't know if we can compare - is it a matter of extreme events, or being prepared for extreme events? You know there's that running joke in Romania about authorities being surprised that it snows in winter, although I agree the article shows something quite extreme. So, how "rarely" is "rarely", and is it worth preparing for it?
- paganel 3y ago
  I agree, but on the other hand Switzerland is on another level when it comes to infrastructure compared to almost any other European country, is not even fair (I've not been to Netherlands nor to the Nordic countries, maybe they come close to that).
Nullabillity 3y ago
I didn't read the comment as "and this never happens anywhere", but "and when this happens, it's due to shit infrastructure, and you can and should demand better". If you're in an environment that has strong enough winds to cause issues for power poles... you bury the fucking cables.
- paganel 3y ago
  And then it becomes very tedious to service them. Or some guy digs a hole in front of his house and suddenly half of the county is without power, with that guy in intensive care. To say nothing of the fact than in 20 or 30 years' time everyone will have forgotten which cables are buried where, because that happens all the time, almost everywhere.
  - soco 3y ago
    Here they are buried and even I have the map of the cables going in front of my house - and no I'm not from the power company. If it doesn't work in one place doesn't mean it cannot work. Maybe the infrastructure in some places is better because those places were more concerned with the infrastructure in the first place? Because nowhere on earth did those underground cables just pop into existence...
    - paganel 3y ago
      As far as I know they have constant problems in places like NYC with just that, i.e. with underground stuff that no-one knows anything about anymore. > Maybe the infrastructure in some places is better because those places were more concerned with the infrastructure in the first place Probably, yes, but it is easier to make the infrastructure more user-friendly in order to be handled by not perfect administrations than to make those administrations as close to perfect as possible, because the latter case is only present/valid in only some select locations (for example see how NYC is not part of that club of select locations).