The first two hours back at work yesterday felt very weird. But after that, it felt completely normal. Just took me some time to rediscover my at-work groove, but once I did, I was super productive. And my best dog buddy Marley was happy to see me, so: win/win.
My work station kinda resembled a time capsule of sorts. My wall calendar was still turned to March, which feels like a lifetime ago. So much (and so little!) has happened since then. I was bummed too, because April’s photo featured this really cool tornado touching down on the Plains, but alas, I only got to enjoy it for the two seconds it took to flip to June.
So I reconnected with the coworkers who were there, and that was great, but honestly I was thrilled to just be downtown again. I’ve been stuck inside this peaceful suburban bubble for so long, it felt good to walk the familiar city streets again. I was back home today, which felt kind of strange but also normal at the same time. Being in limbo is weird, guys—it’s like being caught between two worlds. Regardless, I was on a roll, getting shit done, when there was a sudden BANG a few minutes after 10 a.m. It was so loud I literally jumped in my seat, and that is something I’m not prone to doing. I’ll hop, and even skip on occasion, but I’m not a leaper. Whenever we watch even a mildly frightening or tense movie, Tara always succumbs to the jump scare while I sit there stoically (and if I’m being honest, chuckling a little over her easily-frightened nature). I then realized that both the power and internet were out. How appropriate was that for Blackout Tuesday?! It sounded like a transformer had blown, but the neighbor’s porch lights across the street were on. I checked the circuit breaker for a blown fuse, but nada, so I walked next door to Peggy’s house to see if her power was out. It was. Then a guy across the street told us that we’re on a completely different power grid; apparently our street is the dividing line. Who knew? In any case, it was a transformer, but the power company was quick on the scene and everything was back to normal two hours later.
In the meantime, I was unable to work on the shared file I’d been editing, so I took advantage of the down time by putting up patio lights in the backyard. I’d ordered them from Amazon and they’d just been sitting on the kitchen table because that’s a chore that takes some time and effort. Well, there was suddenly an abundance of the former, so I hauled out the ladder (do you like what I did there?), figured out how and where to mount them—a process involving trial and error and cup hooks and a quick trip to the hardware store for more cup hooks—but got the task completed.
Tara came home for lunch and asked if I’d tested the lights out before putting them up. I’m no dummy; it’s common knowledge that one should always test out lights before putting them up. We’ve all seen how not doing so worked out for Clark Griswold (in a nutshell, not well), but…ahem: I was installing them in the midst of a power outage and thereby operating on blind faith. Fortunately, when I plugged them, they all lit up just fine and I was able to exhale.
Whew.
By then the power and internet had been restored (obviously), so I was able to finish up the document I’d been working on. All in all, it was a surprisingly productive day, from both a work and a house standpoint. I even scooped the litter box and took out the garbage. I freakin’ killed it today. Where’s my gold star?
Tomorrow I’m going back to the office, but only for half a day; I’ve got phone interviews scheduled in the afternoon. Thursday I’ll be there all day, and Friday I’ll be home. I have to admit, I like the balance here. It’s the best of both worlds.
Yesterday, the Rapid City Police Deparment sent out a memo to downtown business owners encouraging them to take precautions such as bringing loose items inside, storing large amounts of cash in a safe, moving valuable items out of window fronts, and checking for loose bricks around curbs and gutters. Fuck all this craziness, huh? We’ve only had one small, peaceful march, but everybody is tense with all the crap going on in the country and erring on the side of caution. I am so over everything. I listened to Joe Biden’s speech in Philadelphia calling for unity and condemning that orange-haired monster in the Oval Office and thought, THIS is the leader we need. Biden is a calming presence who can heal our country and, with a little effort, help restore our standing in the world.
Can it please be November already?
Mark My Words 
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