The Ice Storm
Nov. 28th, 2001 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rinueThe things in my apartment that run on electricity (in ascending order of importance):
- Television
- Lights
- Sterio
- Computers
- Telephones
- Water Heater
- Everything in the kitchen, including the cooking range
- Central Heat
- The gates into and out of the apartment complex
I have been forced to take this inventory on account of the fact that my power was knocked out about an hour ago. I spent that hour running down the battery of my laptop in order to bask in its glorious heat and dash e-mails to the effect that my term papers will not be in tomorrow, even if the school remains open. I also confirmed that yes, temperatures will continue to be sub-freezing into the forseeable future.
My current assets, as they stand are:
- a heavy cloak from renfaire, which I am wearing atop a felt cap and three layers of sweaters.
- a reliable spring-wound pocketwatch
- a zippo lighter with a fresh flint and plenty of fluid
- the ability to engage in fine-motor tasks while wearing kid gloves
- some clean-burning, unscented, safely stable parafin-wax shabbas candles (ah, Mrs. Manichewitz, how I love you,) with a lifetime of about 36 hours each...
-... and about an half hour of daylight to determnine where Val hid them when she went on her mad reorganizing spree this weekend.
Current Mood: preparing to be eaten by wolves
Current Music: dripping faucet
16:25
Recovered the candles from behind the stemware. Val's mind remains a fascinating mystery to me despite our decades of aquaintance. Persuaded one of the telephones to work -- the old land line with no ringer. Good old Lydia. Power is apparently out for the entire region with no word on when it might be fixed. In a rare stroke of luck, one of the gates happened to be open when the outage hit, yet I find myself strangely unwilling to partake of an exodus. I, who am terminally restless. But what superior adventure could I find out there? Call me Stott of the Antarctic.
16:55
Consulted the Mythic Tarot for its opinion on the power outage's likely duration. Instead, it chose to tell me yet again that I strenuously avoid intimacy out of a deep-seated self hatred, although it does acknowledge that I justifyably think I'm much cooler than most people. Damn you, Mythic Tarot.
17:00:53 The power is on again!
17:01:20 No, it is not.
17:01:35 Yes it is!
17:01:42 No, it is not.
17:02 - 17:05 It continues to flicker on and off. I play Hungry Hungry Hippos against myself.
17:06 The power is off again.
18:19
Have spent the past hour playing nearly everything Bach ever wrote for piano and some of what he wrote for organ. I justified this by saying that it kept my hands warm. Truthfully, I don't want to meet the man who can resist the urge to fugue whilst wearing a black velvet cape and carrying around white tapers. And yes, Toccata in D was part of the repetoire.
Val has arrived home and may be mildly frostbitten.
18:32
Val and I huddle on the bed in as many clothes as possible and talk about our various neroses. She is very annoyed that she's "the pretty one" and I get to be "the interesting one." I object that I am quite pretty, thank you, and she is interesting. Her insecurity largely stems from judgements placed upon us by Patrick's parents, who amuse me more than they do her. (This is because we both think they probably like me better, although this is not always certain as they debate it constantly.) We lament the fact that we are not in love with Patrick although we love him more than almost anyone in the world and we wish someone would be.
19:03 The power is back!
19:04 Not actually.
19:20
I explain the history of Fleetwood Mac in a sequence reminiscent of VH1 behind the music with me playing all of the band members. I do this in order to convey my Stevie Nicks phobia. (I am not, it must be understood, afraid of Stevie Nicks, who I like. I am afraid I will become Stevie Nicks, a highly accomplished bachelor who never notices that she is lonely although everyone else does.)
20:08
Motivated by near-paralyzing hunger, we manage to contact the chinese food place. We are warmed by their love of us, dating back to the time I braved great hardship on the day we moved in. (An enigmatic entry on the subject can be found here) Also, they make stir fry with jalopenos in it, which says something about them. Val and I both have a mad crush on the girl who answers the phone. (Her voice is very soft, but you can hear every word.)
20:41
Food arrives, and we tip the delivery guy profusely for braving the elements with no more than an Accura and a Maglite. I talk to Val about the conversation which kept Dee and I up 'til 9:30 am a few days ago, which Val says is better than watching a movie. Mad plotting ensues, and I become very optimistic about the future of certain rpg characters. (Dee, you will be hearing about this. Live in fear.)
21:31 The power is back!
21:32 No, really!
21:33 It is!
21:34 Val and I are thoroughly disappointed and refuse to turn the lights on.
- Television
- Lights
- Sterio
- Computers
- Telephones
- Water Heater
- Everything in the kitchen, including the cooking range
- Central Heat
- The gates into and out of the apartment complex
I have been forced to take this inventory on account of the fact that my power was knocked out about an hour ago. I spent that hour running down the battery of my laptop in order to bask in its glorious heat and dash e-mails to the effect that my term papers will not be in tomorrow, even if the school remains open. I also confirmed that yes, temperatures will continue to be sub-freezing into the forseeable future.
My current assets, as they stand are:
- a heavy cloak from renfaire, which I am wearing atop a felt cap and three layers of sweaters.
- a reliable spring-wound pocketwatch
- a zippo lighter with a fresh flint and plenty of fluid
- the ability to engage in fine-motor tasks while wearing kid gloves
- some clean-burning, unscented, safely stable parafin-wax shabbas candles (ah, Mrs. Manichewitz, how I love you,) with a lifetime of about 36 hours each...
-... and about an half hour of daylight to determnine where Val hid them when she went on her mad reorganizing spree this weekend.
Current Mood: preparing to be eaten by wolves
Current Music: dripping faucet
16:25
Recovered the candles from behind the stemware. Val's mind remains a fascinating mystery to me despite our decades of aquaintance. Persuaded one of the telephones to work -- the old land line with no ringer. Good old Lydia. Power is apparently out for the entire region with no word on when it might be fixed. In a rare stroke of luck, one of the gates happened to be open when the outage hit, yet I find myself strangely unwilling to partake of an exodus. I, who am terminally restless. But what superior adventure could I find out there? Call me Stott of the Antarctic.
16:55
Consulted the Mythic Tarot for its opinion on the power outage's likely duration. Instead, it chose to tell me yet again that I strenuously avoid intimacy out of a deep-seated self hatred, although it does acknowledge that I justifyably think I'm much cooler than most people. Damn you, Mythic Tarot.
17:00:53 The power is on again!
17:01:20 No, it is not.
17:01:35 Yes it is!
17:01:42 No, it is not.
17:02 - 17:05 It continues to flicker on and off. I play Hungry Hungry Hippos against myself.
17:06 The power is off again.
18:19
Have spent the past hour playing nearly everything Bach ever wrote for piano and some of what he wrote for organ. I justified this by saying that it kept my hands warm. Truthfully, I don't want to meet the man who can resist the urge to fugue whilst wearing a black velvet cape and carrying around white tapers. And yes, Toccata in D was part of the repetoire.
Val has arrived home and may be mildly frostbitten.
18:32
Val and I huddle on the bed in as many clothes as possible and talk about our various neroses. She is very annoyed that she's "the pretty one" and I get to be "the interesting one." I object that I am quite pretty, thank you, and she is interesting. Her insecurity largely stems from judgements placed upon us by Patrick's parents, who amuse me more than they do her. (This is because we both think they probably like me better, although this is not always certain as they debate it constantly.) We lament the fact that we are not in love with Patrick although we love him more than almost anyone in the world and we wish someone would be.
19:03 The power is back!
19:04 Not actually.
19:20
I explain the history of Fleetwood Mac in a sequence reminiscent of VH1 behind the music with me playing all of the band members. I do this in order to convey my Stevie Nicks phobia. (I am not, it must be understood, afraid of Stevie Nicks, who I like. I am afraid I will become Stevie Nicks, a highly accomplished bachelor who never notices that she is lonely although everyone else does.)
20:08
Motivated by near-paralyzing hunger, we manage to contact the chinese food place. We are warmed by their love of us, dating back to the time I braved great hardship on the day we moved in. (An enigmatic entry on the subject can be found here) Also, they make stir fry with jalopenos in it, which says something about them. Val and I both have a mad crush on the girl who answers the phone. (Her voice is very soft, but you can hear every word.)
20:41
Food arrives, and we tip the delivery guy profusely for braving the elements with no more than an Accura and a Maglite. I talk to Val about the conversation which kept Dee and I up 'til 9:30 am a few days ago, which Val says is better than watching a movie. Mad plotting ensues, and I become very optimistic about the future of certain rpg characters. (Dee, you will be hearing about this. Live in fear.)
21:31 The power is back!
21:32 No, really!
21:33 It is!
21:34 Val and I are thoroughly disappointed and refuse to turn the lights on.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2001-11-29 02:34 pm (UTC)this means more often than not it is arse-numbingly cold and then once in a while, normally the middle of the night, it goes so hot you can't wear clothes. i sympathise, but tell me how cold does it get in Texas?
Depends