Holy Power Outage

Do you remember Hurricane Ike? He hit the Gulf Coast in 2008* and triggered a wind storm in Central Ohio that knocked my power out for a full week. J and I were living close to the university, in the apartment I just vacated, and we dealt with cold showers and no power for seven days. But it was September and the weather was, thankfully, mild. We pulled through and celebrated with hugs and shouts of joy when the power was finally restored.

Fast forward to June 29, 2012 when a violent storm - one deemed worse than a hurricane based on the speed of the winds - ripped through the Midwest and knocked out power for 1million in Ohio alone. Our governor has declared a state of emergency due to the power outage and the fact that we are currently steeped in weather that can only be described as 'hot as balls'. The temperature has been in the 90's with a heat index in the 100's. My area isn't like Kansas, thank fuck, with the 118 actual degrees, but still, it's pretty sweltering. And according to the electric company's website, I won't have power back until July 8 - and that is just an estimate.

So far so good. Johan is OK as the living room isn't too bad yet and I know I can most likely board him if necessary. I just lay on my bed, sweating into the sheets, reading. I finished I Couldn't Love You More by Jillian Medoff in two days and just began Gone Girl last night. And that's all I do. I lay and read because there isn't anything to do. Well, that isn't exactly true. On Saturday I ventured out because Johan was out of hay. After finding a gas station that was actually up and running, I drove all over creation (OK, OK, I just drove down 23 but I did stop at several stores only to find they were closed) and found an open grocery and an open Pet Co. Johan got bedding, veggies, and hay. I got goldfish crackers and beer.

I have internet from time to time but my laptop was on its last legs. So this morning (Sunday) I drove to the office to power up. Only the idiots who gave me my new access card didn't give me the right level of access so I almost didn't get in. Then the cleaning staff arrived to save the day and here I am, on my office computer with my cell phone charging and two laptops plugged in. I'm doing actual work and everything, just to feel like I'm doing something dammit. But I don't know how long I'll stay. I worry about Johan and what I'll do if it he gets too hot. How will I know? I worry about the fact that I'm stupid and I bought two bags of goldfish and one box of fruit roll ups and thought "OK, I'm good". I'm worried because the cleaning people told me that my area would be the last to get taken care of if it was like it was back during the ice storm of 2005 (I thanked them for their pessimism and asked them to cross their fingers for me anyway).

I think worry is the wrong word. Pissy is a better word. I'm pissy because I don't have electricity and "why is my area always the one that has to go the longest without" runs through my head from time to time. Other times, like when I listen to the radio in my car with its lovely fixed AC, I think about how much I don't envy the AEP workers who are taking shit from all sides because "work faster you sons of bitches" and "why the hell are our power lines still above ground you idiots?" And I have to believe they are doing the best they can the fastest they can and it's just my bad luck that I end up in areas that get taken care of later than others; and I remind myself that I'm not in a single home in the middle of a forest but surrounded by individuals and families who are also without power.

It's inconvenient and damned uncomfortable but there are things to remember. I wasn't on the highway when the storm tore through. Neither my car nor my building suffered any damage. I have hot water this time. The weather isn't quite as bad as we thought it was going to be (though it is still, as I said above, hot as balls). Still, I have that little pouty attitude of "it's not fair" because my power is most likely going to be out for over a week this time and I thought I lived in a schmancier area that would be taken care of quickly.

But what can you do? At least my electric bill will be lower next month.

*I had to look it up so I'm pretty sure Ike was in 2008 and I think it hit the Gulf Coast but this is a silly blog by a silly girl and not, you know, hard hitting news.

Whiz Bang

Today started out splendidly. I woke up early and got out of bed (well, off the couch as it were) by 6:30. I was packed for work and so decided to drink coffee and read the news until 7, when I got ready for work. Being up early, I took time with my appearance for a change, thinking about the outfit and even putting on makeup as I had a networking event scheduled this evening. I set off at about 7:40 and was feeling pretty optimistic.

Then I somehow managed to forget that the oncoming traffic had two lanes and so I tried to make a left turn and got hit by a car. Here, this is how it happened.

The accident was, obviously, scary. After all, someone smashed into the back of my car and I didn't know what was going to happen. Fortunately, I was fine as were the driver and passenger of the other car. The driver wanted to be mean to me at first, I could tell with his approach, but I was so helpful and forthcoming and deferential (I was shaking and just wanted it over with) that he ended up being nice to me. He was even nicer once I started crying uncontrollably whilst also apologizing for crying uncontrollably.

Nothing like a car accident to fuck up your day, especially when you are at fault. Unfortunately, he insisted on calling the police and I am incapable of lying to the police so I didn't try to say that I had the green arrow (if I had, no one would have gotten a ticket... but I didn't say that so I got a ticket) and received a citation that will cost me $126. That is one hundred twenty six more dollars than I can afford. And my car is banged up enough that I had to take it to a shop. I won't have any body work done but I need to have something or other fixed so that I don't end up in a worse situation on the highway. That will cost me many more dollars than I can afford as well.

But it is over for now. I've dealt with the insurance people (my car isn't a very good one so I only have liability) and I followed up with the other driver to ingratiate myself and to thank him for not being a total lunatic. Even though he seemed like he wanted to be mad, I appreciated his holding back and being calm and courteous in the end. The cop was super nice too. I think he felt really bad for me just because I couldn't stop crying.

I'll be working from home until I get my car back though I took personal time today, just because I couldn't focus on anything really. I'm extremely fortunate to have the ability to work from home even though I don't like doing it very often because there is no one to talk to or gossip with and the pig yells at me all day. But I'm grateful for the ability and will take full advantage of it.

The best thing to come out of this was that I finally made myself a Side Car utilizing this recipe from one of my favorite blogs. These are just as delightful as Her Laundress states and they certainly did the trick when I needed fortification. It is my new signature drink, replacing the Singapore Sling, and I plan on ordering it every place I go since I actually know how to make it. I looked up the measurements and it looks to be roughly 1 1/2 oz brandy, 3/4 oz Triple Sec, and 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice. Try it, seriously. Don't like brandy? Hardly noticeable (and I like brandy), at least if you use the kind I am, which turns out to be diluted.

Drive safely, children. You never know what idiot is on the road with you forgetting how many lanes there are.

Teenage Angst Revisited (or, how I feel today)

Talking myself out of angry gloom

This MS Clinic bullshit is really pushing me to the limit of my patience. I looked at their site for their number and found a patient questionnaire that is evidently supposed to be filled out and returned prior to scheduling. So why the fuck did nobody tell me this when I called, twice, to follow up? Mother fucker, I had to drop off my MRI disc and was told seven to ten days, only to follow up with a phone call and find out one to two weeks. At no time did anyone say "oh, by the way, did you look on our website and find that you have to fill out ten mother fucking pages of medical history? Oh, you didn't know that you had to go on line? Whoops!"

So I filled out those ten fucking pages and am sending it via UPS overnight so that they'll have it tomorrow. I can't understand why no one told me about it. So now I get to call and sit on hold for however long so that I can ask if there is anything else I need to do. As in anything. Because it is apparently my responsibility to research and find out what their fucking requirements are. My goddamn neurologist didn't tell me this. His assistant fucked me by telling me to hang onto my MRI disc, and no one seems to understand that a regular citizen such as myself does not automatically know what to do in order to be seen by a specialist once the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has been made.

Between this and the fucking fucked up marriage, is it surprising that I can't sleep? And all of the fun is being drained out of my life. Today I had to cancel my flight to San Diego because I realized that I desperately need tires (sorry, Chey!) and I can't afford both. Being a grown up fucking blows.

On the bright side, someone told me I looked like I was losing weight. This is totally due to stress and nothing healthy I've done myself. I don't eat as frequently anymore due to sheer lethargy. It just seems too much trouble to figure out what to eat once I get home so I eat bread and cheese and then just give up because it is too much effort. And I'm not really exercising. I ran one day last week, did some squats and lunges on Saturday, and hauled a heavy ass table home from the liquor store. So yay for stress actually having some form of a positive effect!

So woe is me and boo fucking hoo. According to the chick I spoke to, they are hoping I'll hear back today or tomorrow. I'll start holding my breath in a minute. Oh, and it "usually doesn't take long at all to get an appointment with him because he keeps slots open for new patients."

If you don't see me passed out and blue in the face it's because I don't believe a fucking word people say anymore.

Sheesh. When did I get so bitter? Here is something to make up for this post:

Cry baby

Seriously?! OK, so I decided to call the MS Clinic for as a follow up to find out when I might hear about an appointment. I dropped the fucking MRI disc off on July 6 and was told it would be seven to ten business days. This upset me. I cried. But not too hard, because I was downtown and had to be careful of pedestrians and one-way streets. I've marked my calendar every day to reflect how many business days have gone by. Today is business day seven. So I thought I'd call if only to be reassured that it wouldn't be long now.

Nope. Now I'm told it is usually one to two weeks after the physician gets the disc(s) and medical record(s). He'll review everything and then see which doctor can/will take me, and then I'll get a call.

Maybe it doesn't sound like that big a deal, two weeks rather than ten days, but that adds four extra business days, which means another two non-business days are in there and I may not hear from the mother fucking clinic until July 19th, which is just two days shy of one month since the god damned diagnosis.

This has been, without question, the shittiest summer I've had in a really long time and I seriously think things need to improve before I lose my shit altogether.

Boo hoo. Woe is fucking me.