Fire alarms

For some reason, I always seem to get stuck in buildings with fire alarms going off during inclement weather. Tonight is no exception.

When I was a freshman in college, a fire alarm went off about 3:00 in the morning (only an hour after I had gone to bed studying for a final). Everyone in our dorm had to trek out in their pajamas across the street while the firemen went in to check everything out. Of course, none of us were prepared for the snow that started to fall as we waited outside.

A quarter later, after I had moved into my sorority house, the fire alarm went off on a very stormy night. Shortly thereafter, the power went out and we had to wait outside in the dark until the firemen could verify that there was no fire. During that time, my friend A. and I decided to walk to my cousin's apartment where the two fell in love, and after 8 1/2 years of marriage they now have a 1/2 year old boy. I'm such a good match maker :)

But I digress. Tonight, about 8:45 PM, I was on the phone with a friend when all of the fire alarms in my condo started to go off. I about had a heart attack, and my friend thought I was in a bomb raid or something. Having settled in for the night, I had to quickly grab a few things to wear and get outdoors where it was freezing and snowy. About 45 minutes later, we were finally able to go back inside.

So what was the cause? We don't know. The firemen were able to tell that the problem alarm was on the second floor, but two out of the three units were unoccupied at the time. They did their best to check in the windows to see if there was any smoke or other evidence of a fire, but didn't see anything. So, their solution was to disable the alarms on the second floor and allow us back into the building. When I asked whether that was really safe, considering they didn't actually search the two unoccupied units, they responded that they always try not to knock down any doors unnecessarily and that with older alarm systems such as ours, false alarms are usually the culprit. So, I suppose I'll know later tonight if my alarms start going off again and my floor is on fire from the unit below me.

Good times...

More snow

Brrrr... It's cold and snowing. I'm really tired of all of this snow. I live in (or rather, near) Seattle for many reasons, but among the most important is the temperate climate. It's like we switched places with the east coast this year or something, because they've been unseasonably warm there. I wish that the snow would stay in the mountain passes, where skiers, snowboarders, etc. can enjoy it without it interrupting everything in the city.

Traffic is pretty much crawling, and people still at work are taking up to an hour to get out of the parking lot. I'm glad that I decided to work from home today in anticipation of the weather. Although they are much more prepared this time than they were in November, it will freeze over night and become icy, which is always a good combination with driving (not).

Check out the brief video from my backyard:


Video: Snow Day

Holiday vacation

I love this time of year. You get time off in both November and December for the holidays. It just sucks that we don't get anything again until May. That's a long stretch.

Anyway, this week is a bit busy, because I'm getting ready to fly to Montana for Christmas with my boyfriend and his family, and then we're going to Canada to go skiing with my family. I finished up a good deal of work today, and then went out with a friend to a cool jazz show at a bar with some of his friends. They even played a couple of jazzy Christmas tunes, which was nice. Good time with good people.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have to go warp speed to get all of my packing done and ready to take off on Friday morning. I've never been to Montana before, so I'm looking forward to seeing everything even though I know that it's going to be really cold. At least I'll have L. there to keep me warm, and since his body temperature is always a lot warmer than mine, I'll just have to cuddle up.

What is it with guys and body temperature? I've never dated a guy who wasn't consistently several degrees warmer than me. And it's always my feet and hands that are freezing. I read somewhere that women's bodies sacrifice the extremities to keep the womb area warm. While that's a sort of interesting theory, I'm not sure how far I'd get attracting a guy and procreating without limbs. So, that plan seems a little flawed. Dunno.

1918 flu pandemic

This is an example of why I'm so anal about washing my hands and staying home when I'm sick. I wish other people would do the same...

Links and clips

I just finished updating my sidebar links. It had been awhile and I figured out that a few weren't working anymore. So, I updated them and linked out to some new sites. I added to the funnies and music areas, so make sure to take a look and a listen if you have time.

Also, I just caught up on the Daily Show, and saw this hilarious gem about president shrub's vibrating mode. Brilliant!

I'm flattered

I'm Person of the Year according to Time Magazine. And if you have a blog, you are also a Person of the Year.

But it sure took long enough. I started this blog almost 2 1/2 years ago. And before that, I had my own Web site full of interesting information and pictures. I guess they are correct about the community-minded thing though. Things such as MySpace and Wikipedia do make it nice to collaborate online with others, and it's sure a heck of a lot easier to sign up for an account on Blogger than code your own Web pages.

Oh well. I'm flattered that someone noticed.

Bringing out the best - or worst - in people

Listening to the radio over the past few days, it's been nice to hear how everyone pulls together in a crisis to help one another. On KIRO AM 1000 (one of our local radio stations), people have been calling in either requesting help or offering assistance and information.

But, there is a dark side to all of this aside from the lack of electricity. There has been a surge in people having their generators stolen, and criminals are taking advantage of houses where people are away. I guess there is no rest for scum. Not that it's any better that they do such things when the power is on, but it seems even more insidious during a disaster. And my dad reported seeing $2.99/gallon gas yesterday at one gas station. No better time to jack the prices up than when people are most in need. I understand adjusting prices for supply and demand, to ensure that supply does not run out. But, this seems rather steep.

Hopefully things will be back on track for everyone this week. This storm has really taken a toll on the region.

Power is back on!

Thank you Puget Sound Energy! The power went out last night, sometime late, after I went to bed. The wind was crazy loud, and when I woke up around 3:00 to pee, it was eerily dark everywhere.

Power was out at work, so I hung out in my chair, reading in front of my nicely lit fireplace. I'm quite happy that I have a fireplace, considering I've never really used one before, but somehow remembered to pick up some Duralogs yesterday on my way home just in case. This evening, my place was down to 59 degrees, so sitting in front of the fireplace was crucial to stay warm.

L. and I ventured out to get some additional supplies and food this evening, and about a half an hour after we got back, I heard the heater come on and the cable box lit up. There's nothing quite as exciting as that moment when you realize you're back to civilization.

Anyway, I'm quite thankful that there are so many hardworking people out there getting our electricity back up!