Power failure...life success?

Technology can take over our lives, often without our realizing it. We plan to watch television at a certain time, or to record shows for later viewing. Almost any career one can think of involves some dependence on computers, and at the very least electricity. The removal of such technology in a sudden and unexpected manner can leave many of us lost without the safety and familiarity of our daily routine. I've encountered this phenomenon before, and Monday morning proved to be another showdown with the VOID.

Things were going well. I had settled in, and started reviewing my e-mail. The only crucial matter involved a small change to the flap of a book jacket, albeit one I'd already turned over to our prepress department. I had handed it in a little early though, and the change was small enough to catch. Suddenly, the lights flickered and everyone gasped as every computer on the floor shut down. The lights came on immediately though, so I shrugged it off and hit the power button on my machine. The pleasant start up chord was followed by the computer immediately winking off, yet still the lights remained. Mysterious. I pressed the button again and got the same result, even as the lights around us began to dim. On the roof, I heard the constant hum of the air conditioning units grind down to deathly silence. Several lights went out completely, while others remained dim. The lights remained on in my cubicle and a few others, and a printer nearby was still running. But the larger lights in the ceiling and our computers were dead.

I took a walk around the floor of murmuring writers, artists, and web page designers and programmers. The results varied from aisle to aisle with no rhyme or reason, as some people had lights but no computers, some had computers but no lights, some had both, and others had neither. As is my way, I began to feel anxious about the small correction on that jacket. A voice of reason deep within my brain assured me that with most of the computers down, that file wasn't going anywhere. Besides, it was only a brownout and not a full-blown blackout. Word spread that a fuse had blown, and that the Long Island Power Association was on its way. I meanwhile had a meeting to attend, to review the latest hunting catalog I designed. All I needed was a pen and a notebook for that. My team met in a conference room, our editors on speaker phone from their offices, and we ran through the issue in our usual efficient twenty minutes, with minor corrections to be addressed once we had access to our servers. Even those people who had power to their individual work stations had no way to access the files on the central server. And with the AC down, the conference room got very warm, very quickly. The meeting didn't end a minute too soon.

When I returned to my desk, I expected a blinking phone line, perhaps a message from the company updating us as to the status of the situation. It was 11:30, and the morning was already a lost cause. I hadn't heard from my own supervisor, but an early lunch suggestion from friends in another department , advised to leave and check in to learn when the situation was resolved, sounded like a plan I was agreeable to. Several of us wandered aimlessly through a nearby mall, finally settling to eat in a food court, when the call came in that their department at least had definitely been told to go home. We all returned to find half an empty parking lot. Inside, the power seemed to be working, but there were glitches. Our security system, for example, was set to the default weekend access, making our keycards useless unless we worked seven days a week, something none of us did. Fortunately, one door was propped open allowing us entry. Back at my desk, my machine had power. Meanwhile, the floor was nearly empty save for a sighting of TheWriteJerry. I was really feeling the heat though, so it was just as likely I waved to Snuffleupagus. In either case, he's real, damn it.

I checked my e-mail, but the e-mail server was down. I checked my files to work on them, but our central server was down as well. I couldn't work locally because our fonts are stored on a server as well, and internet access was also out of the question. J-No stopped by(I told you he was real), and said he'd spoken to the head of his department who said she hadn't dismissed anyone, even though there were only two or three people still on our floor. I had no idea what to do. How long before the servers were restored? Did I really want to be alone in an office building without air conditioning when temperatures were potentially in the triple digits? Even if I could work, none of my teammates were around and I could only get so far. Fortunately, the head of one of the creative departments passed by and told me I could leave. I ran down to the gym, but they too had closed due to the earlier power outage. And so I found myself out in the world on a Monday afternoon that was neither a holiday nor a planned vacation day. I was still feeling a little lost, but remembered the dismantled washing machine at home. My dad would be busy driving one of my aunts to the doctor, but he'd probably be working on the machine by himself in the afternoon. For once, I could actually be useful on a weekday. Family, and matters of the home, are more important than office work, though it's easy to forget that sometimes. With the distraction of work completely removed, I was able to see.

We didn't fix the washing machine. I managed to ascertain that both belts had to be moving at all times, since they share a common pulley coming down from the motor. Yet the larger belt that controls the spin cycle remained a little too loose, and the smaller belt that controlled the rinse cycle was adjusted perfectly. Because the larger belt was loose, it remained slack in the common pulley, creating friction. I watched it smoke as burning rubber assailed my nostrils, and called up to my dad to cut the power. We didn't have any other belts except for the ones he'd bought and the old ones we removed, but he did have some similar automotive ones to try. I fit a smaller one on to test my theory, but it was too small and the motor mechanism wouldn't budge. He ran out to an auto parts store, but inadvertently got one that was an inch smaller when I advised no more than an eighth to a quarter of an inch. It was too late for today, but I think we're getting closer, even as mounds of laundry get taller.

I also spent a nice part of my afternoon lying under an open window in the path of a small fan, watching more episodes of Knight Rider, including one that featured a very young New Edition. It was a little surreal watching KITT lay down some fresh beats for Bobby Brown and the future Bell Biv DeVoe. As the sun lowered in the sky, temperatures cooled somewhat. With my race a week away, I really couldn't afford to skip any kind of exercise for even a day, so I headed to the local park to walk for an hour. The terrain was perfect, with a lot of hills and steps, as well as a gorgeous view of the sun setting over the water at the beach. The rest of the week may be challenging, but I feel ready to face it. For a few hours I learned that the outside world I remembered from my childhood, the ability to go to the beach and the park on a weeknight in the Summer, hadn't gone anywhere. I just needed the power to fail so I could rub my eyes and emerge into life.