Power's out

When I got home from the library today I noticed a high pitched noise coming from the television. I tried flipping it on and off but it didn't do anything. When it was plugged in, the noise was there, but when it was unplugged the noise disappeared.

Then I noticed that the dvd player was dead too. I figured that the plug must just be dead suddenly so I found an extension cord and plugged them in somewhere else, which also didn't work.

I thought it was a power outage as I looked to the microwave to tell me the time, and then realized that the microwave was on, so it was just the plugs that were out. I started an inventory:

Out:
all ceiling lights
all living room plugs (includes several lamps, television, dvd player, radio)
dishwasher
oven (but not stove)

It doesn't seem like a very long list but it covers the vast majority of my apartment, since I tend not to spend very much time in the bathroom or bedroom.

I checked the breakers to see if any were switched off but they weren't. I flicked a bunch of them but nothing happened.

The circuit my computer was on was still working so it wasn't a big deal. I had half an hour before the rest of the power flickered off, and this time it affected the people across the street too so it wasn't as weird.

All the fire alarms went off but there wasn't any fire anywhere. I went down to the electrical room, deactivated the alarms for the whole building and then my flashlight died.

Now I'm at my parents' house melting stinky cheese in the toaster.