So if this is what I read, we were about 2 weeks out of the way, correct?

And regarding EMP ... I thought it only affected items that were actively running power? Ie, if the TV was turned off at the time of event, it would be OK after the event (no power surge).

With 1-2 days warning, couldn't they just pro-actively shut down the grid for the duration of the event then re-start things?

Would this affect folks on the opposite side of the planet? Ie, Europe goes down and we keep chugging along?