Power on. Not!

How bloody hot was it around here in SoCal today? Suffice it to say, I was reminded of the old joke: At the International Astronautics convention, the delegate from Poland strode to the rostrum and announced, "We plan on landing a space ship on the surface of the sun!" Dumbfounded, other delegates shouted, "You fool! You can't land on the sun. It's too hot!"

"Hah! We plan on landing at night!"

(For you toddlers out there, people from Poland were once looked upon as dismayingly ignorant, and worthy of ridicule. Times change). Update: these people are now called "Texans".

But the point is, it's hot around here, and that can mean trouble for the power grid. We had rolling blackouts throughout the area yesterday, which was a creepy reminder of the energy crisis we had foisted on us back in 2001. Yesterday's problems weren't caused by a slithering Enron-type conglomerate however. In the words of our intrepid governor, "I think it's the same as when you have a car," he said. "You can have the best car in the world, but a car can break down. The key thing is you have an organization that responds quickly." Oh.

One wonders why Schwarzenegger's approval ratings are heading south.