“We Do Our Best Work In The Dark…”

Something tripped the grid last night and much of Walnut Creek found out what it was like to live back in 1845 – with some folks either running, screaming out into the darkness or calmly sitting down and finishing their meals in a suddenly very romantic setting.

The Sages have told us we find out who our best friends are when things go wrong and that was proven true as the trusty News24/680 Tip Line and our Flash Alert line signaled calamity – movie-goers forced to come up with their own ending as the last five minutes of Mission Impossible Numero Whatsis was abruptly truncated and calamity prevailed at some intersections as traffic lights winked off and all traffic laws forgotten.

A mystery of sorts surfaced near Rossmoor as a gentleman was found, down and bleeding, at the intersection of Rossmoor Parkway and Tice Valley Boulevard. Rossmoor Security called for medical attention and arriving firefighters determined their patient had been beaten – with a possible assailant still in the area. Police arrived to ask the appropriate questions but things went dark – pardon the obvious usage – soon after. So, another puzzler moved onto our “To Do” list.

Things ramped up when the two dozen Flash Alert subscribers in the Cinemark Theater for the latest Mission Impossible romp promptly Flashed us at approximately the same time – thus proving the efficacy of that system as well as our belief that any intern standing too close to the screen really can sustain a first-degree “Flash Burn” when that thing cooks off.

Folks began to check in with various tales of hardship and derring-do, but we liked Reader “Mika’s” approach to things when she wrote:

“Actually, it was not too bad. We were lucky to have all the food we ordered, the music which was usually too loud for me was not there so we could talk, and it reminded me of dining outside in the piazza in Rome during the summer; humid, hot, but with great food.”

Positive messaging. Paints the picture. Suddenly, we weren’t scrambling for batteries, we were in Rome with Mika and that felt good. So, thanks Mika!

… and to everyone else who checked in during our Hour(s) of Darkness – you helped us map this thing before PG&E could!

Keep Flashing!