~Monday~ I drove to work and got a parking spot near the Raleigh Rose Garden where you can park all day without paying.
I sent an email to Pam who mentioned this weekend that one of my aunts had died last week, as I wanted to get her last name (she was long-divorced from my uncle) to locate her obituary online, which I eventually did:
You know what I thought when I saw the name of that funeral home. You know you’re thinking it, too. So, of course I checked.
Indeed! I wonder if that’s helped or hindered their business in any way.
I had no work meetings today. Hallelujah.
The highlights of my day were submitting my weekly status report (sad, isn’t it?) and submitting the EDUCAUSE Core Data Survey for our university.
I knew it was a bad sign when there was such a long line of cars on Gorman street waiting to cross over Western Boulevard. Upon inching closer, I noticed the traffic light was out at the intersection and a cop was attempting to act like one. Not wanting to take a chance that I wouldn’t get through in the current flow, I turned right into the McDonalds with plans to drive around it and out onto Western Boulevard.
When I passed in front of the Bojangles that’s after the McDonalds, all of its employees were sitting out front. Can’t cook chicken with no power.
This did not bode well for the electricity situation at my nearby townhouse, and sure enough my power was out when I got home.
I called the gym, which is also on Western Boulevard, but way up toward Cary at least, to make sure they had power and the person answering said, “It flickered for just a minute earlier this afternoon, but it’s on now.”
It was quite crowded when I arrived, with none of the elliptical machines that I like to use available, so I did ab crunches even though I did them yesterday. By the 13th, 14th, and 15th sets, I was really struggling, but got through them.
As I walked up to the cardio area, a guy stepped off his elliptical machine to wipe it down, and I got in line for it. I only did 30 minutes and scooted on out of there at about 7:05, only to find my power still out when I got home. I also found this guy stretched out on a neighbor’s car like he owned it:
I took as cool a shower as I could stand, with it being so hot in the house and my body temperature still up as a result of my workout. I was still sweating when it was all said and done.
I called Progress Energy for an estimated power restoration time, and I learned that it wasn’t until 10:30PM. Ridiculous.
On my way to meet Joe for coffee, I stopped at a drug store in Mission Valley to see if they had my non-aerosol hair gel that I like to use, to no avail.
I grabbed two hot dogs at the nearby Coney Island place, which turned out to be a big mistake: the hot dogs were much more expense than Snoopy’s and their air-conditioning seemed to be non-existent. Oh yeah, and it took them almost ten minutes to slap two dogs on buns and add some chili and slaw to them. Won’t be returning to that place.
I ran into the Rite Aid across from Olde Raleigh Village, where they didn’t have my gel, but a suitable brand/price substitute, so I grabbed two of them. At the register, I couldn’t get the sale price on them unless I registered for a frequent buyer card of theirs, and so I did reluctantly. When I got home I threw the paperwork, and the cards wallet/key cards that came with it, into the trash.
Joe and I hung out at Caribou Coffee until they closed at 10:00. My phone rang at some point and it was the Progress Energy computer with that inane message that says to, “Press 1 if your power is back on, 2 if not, and 3 if you don’t know.” And when you press 3, it says, “It’s important that we know if your power is not back on. Please call us at 1-800…” WHY DON’T THEY START OFF WITH, “We think your power is back on, so if it’s not…”???
While Joe was up getting a coffee refill, he heard a guy standing in line get the same call and make the same comment about not really understanding if they were saying his power was back on or not, and how could he call them to tell them it wasn’t when he said he didn’t know. Customer service fail.
So imagine my surprise when after a stop at the grocery store on the way home, I pulled into my driveway at ten minutes after my last projected power restoration time of 10:30 and found my power still out. After this Facebook status update:
I quickly put my food in the fridge and freezer, keeping it open minimally since it had been over five hours that my power had been out, and I called Progress Energy again. “Your power restoration time is 11:30.”
Annoyed, I did the only thing a girl can do, I went down to Flex for scareyoke and cheap well drinks night. Oh yeah, and free electricity.
At Flex, I called Progress Energy yet again at 11:15, and heard, “Your power restoration time is June 28th, 12:30AM.” I was pretty much over it by then, and at 12:15, I left without checking for another update.
I pulled into a lit townhouse area at 12:28. Over 7 damn hours. Ri-damn-diculous.