Two blog posts in one day? What are the odds? No, really. What are the odds? You will find my track record with continuous blog updating is not the best. But as this is a new blog, at least for the rest of the year, it should be pretty consistent. :D
Today's story-
The Night the Power Went Out at My Ghetto Apartment and It Was Nineteen Degrees Outside.
The title pretty much explains it all, but what kind of post would this be if I left it there?
This little adventure begins at the end of my day. After leaving class (at 9:30 at night), I drove to Andy's fraternity house to pick him up. He often spends the night with me. Its a win/win situation really. I have a somewhat stocked fridge and I sleep better at night knowing there is someone who has survival skills, if need be. As I walked to my car, I decided to call my mother. As we chatted, she elected to tell me that my grandmother's pet bird had hurt its toe, and since then, had pecked off his entire foot! I have a little Parakeet myself and you can imagine the scenarios that began playing through my mind.
By the time I reached Andy's house all I could think of was getting home and checking on my little Mann. (Manchester is my Parakeets' name and I do believe it fits him well.) After nagging about five minutes, Boyfriend and I started for home, and so our fun began!
Since I live so close to campus (and Andy's house) we made it to my apartment in a little under seven minutes. As we pulled into the driveway the usually questionable dwelling place was even more daunting. It was dark and, with the stained wood exterior, quite looming.
"I think the powers out." stated Legolas, I mean, Andrew.
"No I see some lights on!" I'm the type to use denial when circumstances don't particularly agree with me.
As we walked from my car to the apartment building I restrained myself from running. Darkness isn't my favorite to begin with, let alone when your companion says, "If there is a time that someone is going to attack you, its gonna be now." (Luckily the man smoking outside made no sudden movements and I didn't have to attack his kneecaps.)
Finally inside I checked our kitten, Kenshi, who was not at all bothered by the lack of lights nor heat, since she has a nice fluffy coat, and Manchester who had been left close to the window in the bedroom to look out. I brought him into the living room and began to pile blankets on top of his cage. This had to happen during the coldest night of the season thus far AND the night I heard about my grandmother's bird's dreadful situation...
After getting Manchester all situated I did what any normal tenant would do and called the apartment's telephone number. I was answered by a very rude woman. When I told her about the apartments outage her answer to me was, "Did you call city utilities?"
"No," I replied. "I assumed the manager would call, since she, ya know, runs the place. Since we pay for this stuff to be taken care of."
"No. You need to call and report it yourself."
I could have just reached through the telephone line and smacked her across the face! I have never been treated so rudely. Actually, I have. But not when I was paying to have them take care of me.
After picking my jaw off the floor, I called city utilities. I don't know how long the power had been out or if anyone had reported it yet, but the dispatcher, a MUCH nicer woman, told me someone was being sent out now.
Thirty minutes passed.
I called back to ask what the status was and the dispatcher told me a few power lines had burned down and that it would be roughly an hour and a half to two hours before it was fixed. At this point my phone (and Andy's) was beginning to die. Naturally!
And so we waited. I decided to fight The Man by turning on all the candles I had in the apartment. (Candles are not allowed!) And we waited some more. Don't get me wrong, we found ways to entertain ourselves- like driving the poor cat mad with the laser pointer! Finally, after a while of doing things here and there we decided to crawl into bed and just talk. I won't lie, it was very nice to lay in bed without having Netflix playing. I asked him to tell me a story, and he told me about his childhood pets. AND HOW THEY DIED. Prince Charming right here, ladies and gents! But I love him regardless.
For those curious, our electric did come back. In total we were only in the dark two hours. And besides worrying for the well-being of my bird, it was actually fun! I often don't realize how much technology really does keep us from connecting with people on a truly personal level. I am glad I got to spend an evening with my loves without any distractions. And I'd be happy to do it again! Except, maybe, this time, with the lights and heat on. :)
-Little Miss Latina
