Pause to remember

As we celebrate Veteran's Day in the US and Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth nations, I recall being in Toronto on this date a few years ago.  A report on the radio noted that at 11am on November 11, the demand for electric power in the province suddenly dropped by 350 megawatts as people stopped using their computers, their washing machines, many industrial machines, and other power-draining activities for a few minutes of silence and contemplation.  The announcer pointed out that this was an amount of power sufficient to serve the entire city of Burlington, Ontario!