Sunday, June 30, 2013.
Lightning Damage.
As I said at the end of yesterday's diary, Saturday was a very busy day. So much so that I neglected to mention that a lightning storm of astonishing intensity passed through early this morning. At around four-thirty, it knocked out the electricity. The crew that came out to fix that said that there were visible scorch marks on the ground in the rear of the Cool Water Ranch, right next to a power pole. Two fuses on the pole serving our neighbor two blocks away went off, like shots from a Civil Ware-era blunderbuss.
The electricians had us hot again by late morning. But that revealed another problem: the dreaded blinking red light on the bottom of the computer modem, an indicator of modem death. Even when we returned from our all-day marathon of activities, it was still blinking.
So many people had experienced this that it would be Wednesday before AT&T could get out to fix it. Could I just go to an AT&T store to get a new modem? I asked. Since that's obviously the problem? No, the rep said. Could I be sent a new modem by overnight? Yes, he said. And you're in luck, Mr. F, because they haven't gone out yet today, and you'll get it tomorrow. Wonderful! Send it out.
Without connectivity, there wasn't a lot I could do on the computer. I was hoping to update the website this week, but I need internet for that project. I spent the day straightening out my office. That's a project I think could take an entire week without being fully accomplished.
The Marys broke for lunch at noonish. La Carreta, of course. It mystifies me that they find it worthwhile to drive twenty-five miles round trip to eat the same chips, salsa, and queso. (That really is all they ever get.) So what was I doing there? Well, I have to be with them when they have time for me. And I had the mahi-mahi salad with avocados and cilantro vinaigrette, and that's as tasty as it is light.
