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Jun. 25th, 2003 10:02 amAbout 3:00 am the phone let out a rather loud bleep and the house grew ominously dark and quiet. The constant roar of spinning hard drives, whir of fans, and gurgle of aquarium filters quit.
I woke up again off and on, but decided around 6:09 to give it up and get up. I walked over to a window where I could read my watch. I checked to make sure it was not a downed tree in the back yard that was causing the problem, as had happened when I returned from CONvergence two or so years ago. No trees down there.
I sat on the porch, damp and cool, with the paper, then went inside and lighted a few candles. Half way through the NY Times, I ran downstairs with a candle to check the big aquarium and the fuse box. As I figured, both were fine, although I think the fish knew not quite what to do by candlelight. It certainly drew them, if not like moths to a flame, perhaps like hungry men to the table. Still, I did not feed them because I did not want to wait in the basement with the candle until they finished eating.
After I read the paper, I dug out the phone book to call the electrical company, which is almost always a waste of time. When the wires were down in the backyard, it took them two or three days respond. And, indeed, their phone message indicated that they were aware of power outages, and that unless there was arcing wires, it probably wasn’t worth the long wait to speak to a service representative.
I decided I might as well light the candle in the bathroom, shower, shave, and head off to work. On the way, trees and branches littered the way I took past my dentist’s office for a copy of my bills there, and on out through Richfield on Lyndale to Bloomington.
I woke up again off and on, but decided around 6:09 to give it up and get up. I walked over to a window where I could read my watch. I checked to make sure it was not a downed tree in the back yard that was causing the problem, as had happened when I returned from CONvergence two or so years ago. No trees down there.
I sat on the porch, damp and cool, with the paper, then went inside and lighted a few candles. Half way through the NY Times, I ran downstairs with a candle to check the big aquarium and the fuse box. As I figured, both were fine, although I think the fish knew not quite what to do by candlelight. It certainly drew them, if not like moths to a flame, perhaps like hungry men to the table. Still, I did not feed them because I did not want to wait in the basement with the candle until they finished eating.
After I read the paper, I dug out the phone book to call the electrical company, which is almost always a waste of time. When the wires were down in the backyard, it took them two or three days respond. And, indeed, their phone message indicated that they were aware of power outages, and that unless there was arcing wires, it probably wasn’t worth the long wait to speak to a service representative.
I decided I might as well light the candle in the bathroom, shower, shave, and head off to work. On the way, trees and branches littered the way I took past my dentist’s office for a copy of my bills there, and on out through Richfield on Lyndale to Bloomington.
