Update
Ok, so the snow yesterday was wonderful. The rest of the day . . . not so much. Went into work around noon, after the roads cleared some. We're being forced to take annual leave for any time missed yesterday, even though it was the worst winter weather Baton Rouge has seen in almost 50 years, a winter weather warning was issued, practically every other school or government institution shut down, and even other departments on campus are not charging leave for their employees who were late or absent due to the weather. We are. Go figure. I don't regret staying home -- 4 hours of leave isn't worth my life, and I truly would have been afraid for it on the roads before noon. But it still sucks.
And then I get home and am in my nice toasty apartment for less than an hour when the power goes out. It doesn't come back on. As of about noon today, when I went home to pick up something I forgot during my lunch, it *still* wasn't on. Last night I slept badly, huddled beneath about six blankets, with candles burning in the bathroom sink so I would be able to see if I needed to use the toilet. The cats spent the night huddled together under the couch. The snakes spent it buried under their water dish. I'm honestly worried the two little ones might not survive if the power stays out another night.
This morning I had to dress by candlelight and stick my head under a barely-above-freezing faucet to get it wet enough to brush out. I didn't even bother pretending to shower. The temperature in the apartment was maybe 40 degrees. I know, I've been in the South too long. I've turned weak. So sue me. Cold is fine as long as it stays *outside*. I like my inside to be warm.
I have heard an estimate of 5pm tonight for the power coming back on. We'll see if that happens. If not, I may have to bum a bed on someone's couch who actually does have power.
In other news, I've been a writing and submitting fiend this week. Wrote two new short stories and submitted both, and dug a few bits of poetry out and submitted that too. Got a rejection notice on the Floyd piece from the first place I sent it (incredibly fast turn around), but sent it right back out somewhere else. We'll see. The poem I got accepted a year ago still hasn't seen print, although I've been assured it will come out in the Spring issue, so we'll see on that too. But mostly I'm just happy to be writing again. Not sure where my sudden eloquence has come from or how long it's going to last, but I'll take what I can get.
And then I get home and am in my nice toasty apartment for less than an hour when the power goes out. It doesn't come back on. As of about noon today, when I went home to pick up something I forgot during my lunch, it *still* wasn't on. Last night I slept badly, huddled beneath about six blankets, with candles burning in the bathroom sink so I would be able to see if I needed to use the toilet. The cats spent the night huddled together under the couch. The snakes spent it buried under their water dish. I'm honestly worried the two little ones might not survive if the power stays out another night.
This morning I had to dress by candlelight and stick my head under a barely-above-freezing faucet to get it wet enough to brush out. I didn't even bother pretending to shower. The temperature in the apartment was maybe 40 degrees. I know, I've been in the South too long. I've turned weak. So sue me. Cold is fine as long as it stays *outside*. I like my inside to be warm.
I have heard an estimate of 5pm tonight for the power coming back on. We'll see if that happens. If not, I may have to bum a bed on someone's couch who actually does have power.
In other news, I've been a writing and submitting fiend this week. Wrote two new short stories and submitted both, and dug a few bits of poetry out and submitted that too. Got a rejection notice on the Floyd piece from the first place I sent it (incredibly fast turn around), but sent it right back out somewhere else. We'll see. The poem I got accepted a year ago still hasn't seen print, although I've been assured it will come out in the Spring issue, so we'll see on that too. But mostly I'm just happy to be writing again. Not sure where my sudden eloquence has come from or how long it's going to last, but I'll take what I can get.