Los Angeles got hit by a blackout yesterday when a woman in Reseda plugged in a hair dryer at the same time a guy in Simi Valley turned on the air conditioning ... or something like that.

Union official Brian D'Arcy, however, blamed the city's policy of having employees work during the daytime.

Brian D'Arcy, an official with the union representing 8,200 utility workers, said technicians should have done the work at night, when power usage is lower and there is less potential for wide-scale shutdowns. Night work means higher wages, though, and the city didn't want to pay, he said.

"They're cutting corners," said D'Arcy, business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 18. "They shouldn't have done it in the middle of the day when people are coming back from lunch and turning their computers on."

The blackout really occurred because a couple of employees crossed the wrong wires -- and D'Arcy seems to suggest that they would've somehow been more alert doing this at 1 a.m. instead of 1 p.m.?

Besides, I think most people would get in trouble either way. If the power goes out at 1 a.m. and zaps your alarm clock, well, you'll be late to work anyway.