We've Been Had

More people go to this school than any other in the entire nation. We're a diverse bunch, and there's lots of us. Obviously, a lot of systems and personnel are needed to run this gig. Yet, even things at NASA go awry every once in a while, and our university has just joined the technically incompetent club.

According to The Daily Texan, there are plenty of security procedures and systems in place preventing an electrical outage. Nevertheless, the other day, the power went out all over campus. This could have been the result of a inadverdant human error, or an even more plausible idea such as a Microsoft system error. Sadly, it was none of those things. We were outdone by a rat. That's right. One measely rodent kicked our ass. The rat actually destroyed a transformer. Now someone has to explain to me how the hell a rodent not just mangled, chewed up, or frazzled some wiring, but actually DESTROYED.....DESTROYED a transformer. Don't these things come in metal cases of some sort? Are we dealing with mutated, ninja rats? In which case, im not afraid to admit, im a bit scared. Furthermore, shouldn't some underpaid worker be sitting and watching a video camera trained at the transformers? Shouldn't he/she notice the fact that a rat is in the process of taking out a transformer (which by no means should be a quick task)?

Apparently I'm supposed to be impressed by the fact that the power came back within an hour. To tell you the truth, I'm not impressed at all. If people have enough time to start a small bonfire in the courtyard, or begin games of frisbee, the problem was not solved quickly Power outages at the length of an hour were something common in Turkey where the people running the electricity companies were probably recent graduates of kindergarten, but they should not occur here. Oh oh and look at this: "Emergency lighting and exit signs in the Union failed to light up in response to the blackout." YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! Might as well take them out if they're not going to work in the first place. A situation caused by a rat is hardly anything to make a fuss about, right? David Punch, associate director of operations for the Union said this: "We inspected the lights in January, and we were to replace the batteries...I simply did not follow up on it." January. 3 months and 25 days ago. I don't even have to go to caps on that one...it's just too ridiculous all by itself. Lucky there wasnt a fire or anything, we might have actually needed those things. I'm pretty sure that guy should be handed his ass sometime in the near future.

Really though, I'm okay. I was a little upset that I wasn't quite finished checking the facebook when the power went out, but life goes on.