Power failures should remind us of our vulnerabilities

The power outage that hit both Cheney and Medical Lake last Wednesday was only momentary.

However what lingered was pause for thought on how strongly we are connected to the grid and how high our expectations are when we flick the switch on the wall for that instant illumination.

Less than 60 seconds in the dark was somewhat of productivity killer because it took time — albeit brief — to get the Internet running again. We were probably not at all alone.

That was unlike months ago when service was down for a few days. It made us resort to a backup plan, nothing really in the “play book” but mor...