The power went out today just after our 2hr group meeting. It was around 4pm. I was planning to leave early to get my allergy shots - by early I mean before 5-how sad is that? Anyhoo, we trouped into lab quickly to turn off the instruments/machines and such to prevent them from being ruined by power surges - and then were kind of loitering around as people in other groups were as well. Only the emergency lights were on in the hallways.
Power outages mean that not only do our computers go down but also our hoods go down. This means we have to get out of the labs if we are in them b/c the air quality gets really bad. I went to lab one last time to check my lab notebook and saw our group leader doing a walk-through, she told me that we should probably go home as it was after 4pm. I immediately told my colleagues, grabbed my bag and got the hell out of there. I got to my car and drove as if the hounds of hell were after me. Well, almost :) She didn't have to tell me twice.
The power was also out in our building across the street(where my park was parked) b/c a lot of them were outside in the parking lot just standing there. We(my co-workers and I) are so conditioned that whenever the power goes out, we don't leave unless we get an official word regardless of time of day. We usually don't get one. Eventually, individual managers can tell their reportees whether or not to leave. It's a little sad but that's the way it is. Some people feel very proud of the fact that they waited 2-3hrs in the parking lot until the power came back. Losers! I usually try to find my manager to see what the word is.
Even though I had to go get my allergy shots, I didn't care, I was just glad to be leaving work while it was still light out :)
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