Today started out well ... at least for me. I've been up late yet again working on a tight deadline (which could be a whole other post!) all week, and I was so happy when Mike agreed to get up with the boys this morning so I could grab an extra hour or two of sleep. And then I woke up. Two of the boys had managed to spill milk all over the kitchen, everyone was angry, and Henry was rank. Not much new there. Eventually, Mike took Henry to school, and I got showered and dressed for my later than usual work shift for today. Two minutes before I was supposed to log in to work (sheesh!) the crew digging up our road to put in new water mains accidentally hit a gas line. Fire trucks and police cars screeched to a halt directly outside my office window, and the mailman had to drive through the yard (they really take that pledge seriously!) to make his deliveries. After tense consultation, the town officials decided that our neighborhood had to be evacuated until repairs could be made.
So off we trooped with the boys to the grocery store, which has a small cafe with a big sign boasting free Wi-Fi. Work was busy, and I was trying to work on an unfamiliar laptop, and it turns out that you get what you pay for with free Wi-Fi at the grocery store: that is to say, nothing. I finally managed to go online (have I mentioned that my work is all done live on the Internet?) via the free Wi-Fi of a nearby car dealership, which apparently was set to discourage freeloaders by kicking everyone off (and logging me out of work) every 10 minutes. It was a fun time, sitting at the table with two loud and excited boys, the TV blaring behind me and the piped-in grocery store tunes blaring in front of me. After they had some lunch, Mike took the boys to the park, leaving me to wrestle with a busy work day in an unfamiliar spot with an unreliable connection.
So I posted about it on Facebook, that wonder of wonders, and a reply came from my aunt Janis: Hey, you could come to the senior center! We have Wi-Fi. And sofas!
Sold! Between jobs, I rushed out to the car and made my way over to the senior center, where the Internet was strong and the people who were there didn't mind sharing some of their space with me. I was there for about an hour and a half before I had the all clear to come home, and I have to say that it's kind of weird but the most calm and least stressful part of my day was spent there. Seriously, it was so nice and quiet, I might just start going there once a week to hang out and work!
Back at home, Mike was trying (unsuccessfully) to nap while Liam and Max were whooping it up all over the house, and Charlie was barking and jumping on everyone. Mike ended up having to take the night off work because we had no way of knowing if and when we would be allowed back into the house. And that has turned out to be a good thing, because it's now 6:00 p.m., and I'm an hour away from being halfway done with my work for the day. It's going to be another long night here at CFHQ, but I can't wait to see what new excitement tomorrow brings!
No comments:
Post a Comment