With the Lights Out

You ever get the feeling you are angering the gods of futility with your stubborn progress?

I had been working on a sexy front-end update to an atrociously designed database for the better part of two weeks, but the end was near. A few semi-colons, a parenthesis or two, save, upload, test, done.

But then, nature had other plans.

It was a bright and sunny day that bled into a dark and stormy night. The wind must have had something to prove, because it howled through my window with the complimenting chatter of breaking glass and the emergency vehicle sirens.

And then the power went out.

And then it came back on.

I patiently rebooted the computer, opened my files, and set back to work.

And then the power went out.

And then it came back on.

I decided it best not to risk frying my computer, so I called it a night. I grabbed a book and waited for the power to go out again. Only it didn't. So I hopped in the shower.

And then it went out.

And stayed out.

You'd think sharing a grid with three casinos would guarantee everlasting light.

Once I managed myself into some clothes, and passed the obstacle course that is my living room, I stepped outside, figuring I'd pick up some tacos and wait for everything to fix itself.

It soon became apparent that the lights were out everywhere. No street lights, no traffic lights, and strangest of all, no tacky casino marquees. Just darkness. Everywhere, darkness.

That's the last time I let ambition get the best of me.