Thank God we decided to go out for an early dinner within walking distance to a neighborhood restaurant. On the way home we watched a spectacular lightening storm which is odd for Hawaii. I was speaking to one of my brothers when about a half hour later or less, Oahu was plunged into darkness.
Somehow the lightening storm wreaked havoc on the generators and everyone without a auxiliary generator was without power.
Tip: Be prepared.
Because of the last earthquake causing blackout three years ago, our family had a crank radio (thanks to my sister), a transistor radio (thanks to my mom), Blessed candles, plenty of batteries (thanks to Radio Shack's sale yesterday), matches and board games.
Joey and I played Scrabble by candlelight. My husband listened to the radio for updates. Thanks to the guys at
KSSK, we were kept up to date with news, humor and experts answering questions like how long will the fish last in the fishtank without the pump. BTW, we didn't need a expert to answer that. My fish using stay without the pump from late evening to early morning because they noise from the filter bothers my husband :-)
Also, our decision to keep our landline phone with the corded phone was a good one. Two of my brothers were able to call close to midnight there time to wish me a happy birthday. Our cell phone did not work.
Well, anyway, we turned in early since there really wasn't much to do. We all got a good night's sleep and today we will continue my birthday celebration since it ended quite abruptly last early last night.