cold shower in the dark

When the power goes out, electricity isn't the only thing that stops working... apparently I become ridiculously absent minded and honestly, probably appear very dumb to those around me.

It stormed a lot last night. Starting around 3pm, the sky became very dark, with rain and thunderstorms blanketing the area. At 7:30pm, after a long commute home from work (2 1/2 hours), I was starving. My roommate informed me we had no power at the apartment, so I called Mama Lucia's and made sure they had power, and we planned a field trip to Mama's to feed ourselves, as we had nothing that didn't need to be cooked by electricity at home. Everyone and their mother was at Mama Lucia's for dinner, and I was getting increasingly grumpy by the minute. (Anyone who knows me understands that if I'm not fed I become very grumpy and crabby and bitchy and I snap at people I love, but they know it's just my stomach talking so they still love me back) Instead of waiting for a table, I suggested we just go next door to Giant and get some pre-made deliciousness. After picking up an Odwalla juice and a bag of salt and vinegar potato chips, I walked around Giant, pouting, and didn't want anything I saw. We decided to go back to Mama's and deal with the wait. As soon as we step out of Giant... downpour. We were soaked. And my chips got wet too.

We ordered our food- I ordered my usual Chicken Francese (so yummy) and the big guy throwing pizza dough smiled and winked at me after waving hello. He knows me. I used to go there a lot. He called me "#1" because once I called for a pick-up order and I was #1, and I got excited, and he laughed. Ever since then, whenever he sees me, he yells out, "NUMBER ONE!" and asks if I want a sample of some kind. The food was ready, and my friend Mike showed up to join the party. We took the food back to our dark apartment, stopping at Mike's car so he could give me Nintendo (complete with a power cord- without which I would put the Nintendo in my closet for the duration of it's life, so that was helpful) because he owes me $40 and we like trading. So we traded.

Eating by candlelight in the apartment, we (Laura, Mike, Me, and Joe "Window" Anderson- shoutouts) started discussing those new trendy restaurants where you eat in pitch black, to heighten your sense of taste. Waiters wear infrared goggles so they can see, and they guide you to and from the table, the restrooms, etc. I really want to try one of these places!
Dark Dining

Did you know the Internet is powered by electricity?
We considered going to a movie since there was nothing do but sit and stare at each other in the dark. I suggested we use Laura's laptop, since it was charged, it could run on battery and then we could use the Internet to look up movie times. Her blackberry works fine when the power is out and SHE can access the Internet, so why not the laptop?
Laura: "Are you honestly saying that?"
Me: "What?"
We had a lesson on Internet and routers and electricity and cell phone radar or something versus laptop radar. Whatever. We didn't end up going to a movie.

The hot water heater is also powered by electricity.

Growing up on well-water, whenever our electricity went out, you lost ALL water, didn't matter if it was hot or cold. You had 1 single token flush, and then that was it, unless you poured gallon-water into the tank, then you could flush again. The cool thing about being in an apartment, is you always have water! So, once it was decided we weren't going to a movie, I thought, well, maybe I'll just take a dark shower.

Laura: "You better hope there's enough hot water still..."

Me: "Why? What the hell. There's no hot water either?! This is like pretending to be Amish."

Bubbles for Sampson

Sampson is my goldfish. I originally thought he was a bully, until my other black goldfish, Pumperknickle, died. Now he's an only goldfish so I try to be nicer to him. At any rate, if any of you are familiar with goldfish, they need very clean tanks because they're dirty and create bacteria and then they can die.
Mike: "Sampson needs his water filter to work, hope that doesn't cause problems."
Me: "Well he just needs air, right? If it gets bad maybe we can just blow bubbles through a straw into the tank."
Mike and Laura: *blank stare*
Me: "....not a good idea?"

I was afraid all my popcicles would melt since the refrigerator was off, so I ate one, which probably made the rest of them melt faster since I opened the freezer door, AND took a cold thing away from the other cold things. We went to bed at 10:30, which hasn't happened in a VERY long time. The next morning, the power was still not working so I took a very cold shower in the dark to welcome the day.