Power Drain
2007-05-15, 1:46 p.m.

Day 996

It must have been a sign. I was rooting around in the fridge, looking for a container of leftover marinara sauce. Thought I could use it for the chicken parmesan I was getting ready to do. Just when I thought I had identified the sauce, the light in the fridge went out. Woo-hoo!!

Instead of making Chicken Parm for dinner, I made phone calls. We waited an hour to see if maybe the utility company might get it fixed quick. No such luck. We were able to figure out roughly where power was out & called some take out joints in the �safe zone�. Of course, by the time I had to leave to pick up dinner, power had been restored. Too bad. Could have eaten dinner by candle light last night.

Sad part? We have a gas stove. It works fine with no electric. I just couldn�t see to cook. Plus, I really didn�t want to cook anyhow. Guess what�s for dinner tonight?

Sadder part? The power outage & resultant surges may have taken out the dsl modem. No internet service at home since the power came back on. Phone works, but no dsl. If it�s not better by tonight (like their server got hosed by the outage and is now back up), I�ll have to get the phone company busy figuring out what got busted where. I can see the modem on the wireless signal links, but it doesn�t get through to the internet. Not good.

Last week was the 1 year anniversary of Cindy�s little melt down and visit to the �drying out� clinic at the ER. Needless to say, there was no mention of this made by me. It serves as a landmark of sorts, allowing one to gauge what ever change has occurred in the interim. I�ve certainly changed, but Cindy? Not so much. Worse maybe. Happy Anniversary.

A milestone of happier circumstances: Saturday will mark 1000 days of smoke-free living for me. I�m stunned. On Aug. 21, 2004, I never suspected to be where I am today - bitching about barely breaking 23 minutes for a 5K run. I�d have been lucky to do that on a bike back then, now I�m preparing for a 100 mile bike ride, hoping to keep it under 6 hours. Nucking futz I tell you.

For my 1K Day anniversary, I�ve mapped out a 45-ish mile loop to take on my bike. From home, I�ll ride out to where my Dad�s restaurant was/is, then head way north to where the Thursday Al Anon group meets, then head south & east to pass through the village where the Tuesday Al Anon group meets, and finally head home. My guess is that this will take on the order of 2.5 hours. Hitting up 3 different villages (Churchville, Brockport & Spencerport) on the route allows ample opportunity to re-stock the water bottles w/ sports drink, and passing through the two �ports� sorts lets me give a nod to my Al Anon buds. Swinging through Churchville and saying hi to Dad�s old diner will be nice too. Passed by it the other day � looks to still be up & running. May have to stop in and say hi to the new owners sometime.

More good news: Zach heard back from the outfit he interviewed with a couple of weeks ago. The interviewer was on vacation last week, but sent out an email & a phone call his first day back. Asked Zach if he was amenable to driving out to Syracuse once a week (90 � 95 miles) to work with their other office. Zach, being no fool, said no problem. The PE he�d potentially be working with out there is also an ESF grad, so that�s a good omen too. He�s to head to their Rochester office tomorrow morning to meet the Syracuse guy and also to meet some more of the local crew. Not sure if this is a second interview and there�ll be a few candidates taking turns, or if this is just their way of saying �Here�s the team, when can you start?� I�m approaching it with a second interview mindset and trying to temper Zach�s enthusiasm. He�s so excited he practically pees his pants when he talks about the place. He�d be a great fit with them, I just hope they see it that way too. The language has all been very positive, but we have to realize that this is a process and they are looking for the absolute best fit they can find. Hope to know more Wednesday afternoon.

I gotta go blow up a transformer. Product testing can be so much fun sometimes!!

If you use a pop-up blocker, hit "Ctrl" when you click to leave a comment