So I have a basket (2 loads) of laundry started which means two things. One, my back, hip and sciatic nerve must be feeling better if I'm willing to brave 3 flights of stairs with a basket. Two, I have time to sit down and write a bit. Three, we have electricity! (ok, the third was a last second thought, heh.)

Yesterday was an adventure. Power went out here at 4:12pm just as I was getting into 30 Minute Meals with some E! True Hollywood story as my flip-to show. You know that funky monitor/tv screen shimmy then squeeze to a point and then *pop* black they do in movies? Yeah. So my tv does its little shimmy, Mike's UPS goes *BBBEEEEEEEEEEEP!* and the fridge coughs for a moment then everything came back. I had long enough to think, "Damn, I wonder if that crashed Liriel?" before everything did that little death dance again and didn't come back.

I sat there looking at the very blank tv screen and listened to the fan slowly wind down. It's a quiet fan most of the time but in that sudden silence it was the nosiest thing going. Then Mike's UPS announced how displeased it was at being forced to keep an unused PC up. I finally (after a far too long chunk of time) shut down Mike's PC but left the UPS on and beeping. I don't turn off stuff like that unless I get the go ahead especially when the machine attached to it isn't one of mine.

Ok, I've been stuck at this point for 3 hours now. 3 hours for 3 paragraphs? Forget this. Time for my notes from last night, unedited, as they are on the page in my paper journal. With pictures of each page too! Look at my beautiful handwriting by clicking on the page # link

Page 1.

- Buses running. Makes sense and they know the route best.
- Need to remember to get batteries for the speakers.
-Kool FM & Oldies. They Rock. Requesting Amusement called in.
- "We'll be right back" *click* (re: the switch from I guess what was car battery power to generator power)

- "Going without power is disconcerting"
- Not really for me because of the camping setup. We have everything we need to keep going. Wish I had ice in the fridge so I could get the cooler going. The fridge has me worried.

It's really dark. It's great. 50 mil people. 4:12pm. 6 hours. 60% Water Treatment. "I miss my tv." Waa!

It's neat to be sitting at my PC desk listening to a radio station with visions of families listening 50 years ago.

Page 2

State of Emergency

Mike wanted to go for a walk, I came with him. On the way out of the building we noticed a flickering light in the hallway. I figured that someone was sitting in the hallway by candlelight (?) Weird thought. Anyway we went for a walk, I got some "light trail" photos with the Yashica. (I think film will do it better than the digital does.) Mike decided he wanted to go see the stars somewhere with less car lightage, and there's no way I could make the walk. So home I came.
On the walk up to our place, I checked on that lone candle, deciding that if the candle was still lit and untended I would go blow it out. It was both. As I blew it out I realized that the holder was plastic. That really really pissed me off.
I then realized there was...

Page 3

...still more light flickering away. They had put another bunch of candles down there stairs, on a couple spots. One was right beside the nasty plastic "garden" in the foyer.
Out I march in righteous anger to the backyard where there's a small group chatting. Exactly what I would do if my friends lived close on a night like this. I really didn't mean to be a bitch. I just couldn't believe that anyone would be arrogant enough to risk the homes of 11 other families.
It went something like this:
"hey are you the guys with the candles in the hallway?"
"Yes"
"Could you please not do that? Leaving candles untended like that isn't cool."
'We're going in and out every...

Page 4
... five minutes."
"Then a flashlight would work, eh?"
"Look, we're going in and out every 5-10 minutes" (This becomes their refrain)
"Ok, well that's still untended and there's another 11 families living in this building."
Repeat "5-10 min" me "untended" a couple more times until...
"Ok look, we'll blow them out."
"No. I'll blow them out." (I'm such a trusting soul)

I stomp upstairs and tell Mike that if they re-light the damn candles I'm going to call the police.
I just checked and the lights are still out and I feel like a cranky bitch. Ahh Well.

Page 5

I can't wait to see the satellite images. Plus the images of Toronto & NY. My Porch by moonlight.

I stopped feeling guilty about being a bitch about an hour after I was one. Why? Because I watched the scary strobe of fire engine lights painting my living room several times in that hour. They were just clocking it up Erb at I'd guess something like 80 km/h, probably more.

And on that note, I'm posting this.

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