During the winter months, power outages are expected at some point no matter where you live. Bad weather is usually the culprit, whether it’s a strong wind or slippery snow. Well, at 11 a.m yesterday, on an otherwise beautiful February morning, our power went out, shutting Research Solutions down.

A call to Pacific Gas & Electric confirmed that a power line was down on our block, but would be fixed and back up within a couple hours. It was close enough to lunch time, so a few of us went down the street for some grub at Adanberto’s. It’s the kind of place you get what you pay for… cheap and greasy Mexican food. They have great horchata, though.

Upon returning to a dark office, another call to PG&E confirmed that the fix was going to take a little longer than first expected. I noticed a guy wearing a hard-hat outside and went looking for some answers. It turns out a line didn’t go down, but was somehow grounded at the pole. He didn’t know how it happened and I’m still not sure what that means, but the top five feet of the pole burned up and broken off. They now had to replace the entire pole.

At this point, we were told that it would be many hours before our building had any power, so we went out and got a generator.

It took a while to get back up and running, and we stayed late to catch-up. Why? Because we know that our clients depend on us and… that’s just how we roll.