Adventures in Frozen Land

Florida is funny.

Not that Pittsburgh didn’t have a good run at cornering the panic-stricken weather person market or anything, but the weather people in Florida are hilarious.  Because we’ve been having somewhat of a relief cold snap in temperatures, the weather has been the lead story on the news almost every night.  And they’re just a tad alarmed about it.  Like, “nobody freak out, but it’s going to go down INTO THE 40S TONIGHT!  The 40s!  We’re not certain you can LIVE THROUGH a cold spell like this!  Stay inside!  Cover your plants!  Better yet, DIG UP your plants, bring them inside, and lodge them in your PREHEATED OVEN!  Just to be sure!!”

So, anyway, in a seemingly unrelated turn of events (can unusually cold temperatures blow out transformers?  No idea…but I doubt it), our power went out this morning.  And, it didn’t just passively “go out” in the middle of the night.  No, no.  It BLEW out around 6:45 this morning.  I mean, there was an explosion-y sound and a big bright flash of light (which I suspect was the light in the pool blowing out).  Very dramatic.  And, since I work from home, I’ve been forced out into the real world with the retirees.

That’s right, folks.  I’m at Panera.

On one hand, it’s nice to be among the humans for the day.  However, I’ve learned an important lesson.  The coffee-drinking and pastry-eating crowd are LOUD.  But, you just can’t make up the stuff that happens to you out here.

So, I get into Panera this morning, and it was totally hoppin’.  I order a big, fat cup of hazelnut coffee, get it all decorated with cream and sugar, and carry it over to a table by both a window (for me) and a plug (for my friend, the laptop).  As soon as I pull my computer out of my bag, an elderly man appears by my side and says, “oh, are you planning on joining us, young lady?”  Hmmm.  Pardon?

See, I figured that the two-person table with nothing on it and no one sitting at it was free for the taking.  Clearly that was my bad.

As far as I can tell, one of three things happened.  Either (1) that was their usual table and they were unwilling to sit somewhere new, (2) they’d had their eye on that table and had subconsciously already put the flag into it, claiming it as their own, or (3) old people are messing with me.

Either way, I’m now sitting at the four-person table directly behind it.

And, I have the urge to see if my power’s back on.