I blame Bush

We lost power for about 45 minutes today here on the Upper East Side. The lights went out about 3:45 and just came on again at about 4:30.

Chaos!

We really are just an incident away from civilization disintegrating into "The Hills Have Eyes." From my Fortress of Solitude high above the streets, all I heard was a cacophony of car horns blowing as all the traffic lights went out on the streets.

And it brought home how risky that damn Triple Play package is from Time Warner, as my land line phone service went out since it's powered by the cable company now. And, natch, my cell battery was down to only one bar (it's now feverishly charging!)

Just in case the blackout was going to carry on to the night, I got out my little battery powered radio and flashlight, the latter courtesy of my friend Jan Brady's mom, who, bizarrely but fortuitously, gave her two flashlights, one of which she let me borrow during the big East Coast blackout of '04.

I was also stealthily mapping my way to my favorite Irish pub on Second Ave., as they managed to somehow keep the beer cold last time, and I couldn't very well work without my computer or reliable phone service - but then the power came back and spoiled all the fun.

Now I have to get back to work.

So all I got was 45 minutes of no AC. Thanks for nothing, Con Ed.