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Talked to a retired lineman at my uncle's BBQ who changed how I see power grids
He said the whole system runs on trust that nobody trips a breaker during peak hours, not on fancy tech - literally told me 'we're all just hoping the guy down the line doesn't screw up' and it hit me how fragile it really is. Anyone else suddenly worried about blackouts after hearing how old-school this stuff actually works?
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pat_roberts551d ago
That's basically what my grandpa said about the town water tower too.
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fionam112d ago
Wait he actually said that? Like the whole thing is basically held together by everyone just not messing up at the exact same time? That's terrifying honestly, I always figured there was some super smart computer system doing all the balancing behind the scenes.
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lewis.brian1d ago
Right?! That's EXACTLY what I thought too! I always figured there were these super smart computers with all these backup systems and fail safes and stuff. But nope, it's just people all doing their jobs and hoping nobody drops the ball that day. Makes you wonder how anything ever works at all, honestly. It's kind of wild that the whole thing doesn't just fall apart more often. Definitely puts a different spin on "trust the system" when the system is basically just a bunch of people trying not to screw up at the same time!
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