yes, i was affected by the blackout. i live in jersey. i must say after the initial fears it was kind of cool in a way in my neighborhood. everyone was out in the street just hanging out and talking. there was no phone service either. so all outside communication was pretty much shut off, except for you car stereo. my girlfriend and i walked down near our local 7-11. i know the owners and they were all just hanging out front. they lost all there frozen foods (ice cream too!). they weren't all that upset though. we hung around and talked about things for about an hour or so. i couldn't help but think that this is what it must have been like years ago. when there was no tv or radio. people actually communicated with each other! seems like that doesn't happen much anymore. it was pretty cool. no nonsense, ya know, just people helping and talking to other people. sorry for anyone who was really inconvienced by it, and not trying to make light of it, but i kind of dug it!
