BLACKOUT

There I was, minding my own business yesterday afternoon, when all of a sudden the power went out! It was about 3 p.m., and Cliff called to me to ask if a circuit breaker had tripped. I said that was possible, though we didn’t have that much going electrically. I suspected it was more widespread, and with cell, phoned a couple of neighbors. “Your power out?” “Yup.” Waited a while because sometimes it is just momentary (even if all the electric clocks have to be reset.) Momentary, hah! Called P G & E (that’s Pacific Gas and Electric, for you non-Californians) to check on the status. “We’re having an equipment problem. Call back in an hour.” Tried again later. “We don’t have a status update yet”. I said to Cliff, “Let’s get out of here and get some dinner.” And so we did.

Well, here it is, a hot Friday night, and everybody and their uncle are out for dinner. “How long is the wait?” I asked. “Forty minutes.” By then it was nearly 7 o’clock, but they did take us 30 minutes later. Dinner was good. It was close to nine when we finally left the restaurant, and as Cliff headed the car for home, I picked up my cell phone and called P G & E. Again. Gave the pertinent information, and asked if the power was back on. “You don’t have any power?” the rep asked. “I don’t know. I’m not home.” “Oh. Yes, you should have power when you get home. Seems the power returned jlust minutes after we left for dinner.

And so it was. As we pulled up to the mobilehome park, lights were blazing, and when we got home, the temperature was a relaxing 72 degrees. That water cooler really works. Still, I slept most of the night on top of the blankets.

Okay, time for fun:

SOUTHERN ENGINEERS
Bubba and Ray (Tennessee mechanical engineers)
were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up. A
woman walked by and asked what they were doing.
We're supposed to find the height of the flagpole," said
Bubba, "but we don't have a ladder."

The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a
few bolts, and laid the pole down. Then she took a tape
measure from her pocket, took a measurement, announced,
"Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away.
Ray shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a
woman! We ask for the height and she gives us the length!"