My plants were faring well, despite being slightly drowned in the severe downpours that had occurred. The rain appeared to have taken up permanent residence in Austin, and unlike some of the population, was not leaving to see momma anytime soon. The horizon was dark and the sun popped in and out like a shy visitor.
The week prior to Memorial Day was quite busy. I had to take our car for its annual inspection. I had prepared myself for an hour out of the office, and had to work, accordingly, to make sure I was out of the house early, at the office and back on the road again by eight. I managed to whisk around the chores, and was at the pool earlier than usual. I made my way back to my condo and saw that Raul was also early. I stopped to say hello, and was just about to let him know I could not chat for too much longer, he asked if I had heard about his mother. I was a little shocked. Was she coming to town? After all, it was Memorial Day weekend, but then realised that mommas don't leave town! Unfortunately, (although not unexpected,) she had passed away the day before. I was going to be late! I do not mean to sound harsh, or make light of the subject, but it was one of those moments when you say to yourself, "Why today!" I stood and commiserated, and tried not to look at my watch, but then for all my good intentions, I made the classic mistake; "Okay, well you have a great weekend...", and managed to follow up as quickly as I could, by saying, "Or as good as you can, in the circumstances", and decided to leave before putting my foot any further down my throat!
roads were quite clear, as is the norm for the Friday before a holiday weekend, and after being passed from one employee to another, I finally arrived at the desk that was dealing with 'my car'. The coffee bar was open and I sat with a Cafe Mocha, a Kind bar, and my book and read until I was approached to say my car was ready. It did not take very long, was far cheaper than I anticipated, (not having checked to see what a 'state inspection' costs,) and I was back in the office a little after nine thirty. I did make a stop! I needed another box and some soil for my second squash plant! I had been to see Joe during the week, showed him pictures of my handkerchief, and he was rather impressed at what he called my 'ingenuity'.
Arriving back at the office, Dana asked where we should stay on our three day weekend. I was a little surprised, as I thought the whole idea had been put on the 'back burner', but it appeared he had been coerced by an ally of mine, namely my offspring, who told him, in no uncertain terms, that I needed a break! He had been looking at a couple of hotels in the Dallas area, thus taking opportunity to go and see his oldest brother. This meant we were far enough out of town not to contemplate coming home at the end of the day, but not too far out that we could not drive to our destination. I was a little ambivalent, as I had not prepared myself, mentally, for the trip, and told him not to worry, as a long weekend would suffice to recharge the batteries. However, he returned to my desk a few minutes later, and told me that two process servers, one with whom he has worked with for about twenty years, and one just two, were very excited at the prospect of actually getting to meet us! (It is always amusing when you 'know' someone, but have never actually met them.) We booked a hotel!
Friday afternoon did not quieten down, and we did not leave the office until after six. I went swimming, and then we went out to get our tacos. The rain started as we hit the freeway, and it was almost impossible to see anything. We drove slowly to the restaurant, and I was dropped at the front door. Although it took only four steps to enter the building, I was soaked! All eyes were upon me, with my umbrella, still closed, in my hand. "He is parking the car", I said to an avid audience, not knowing why they were listening, but they were. A couple more people came in, and then Dana appeared, saturated, dripping from the rim of his hat to his flipflop clad feet. A cheer went up! The run back to the car was just as wet! The rain was horizontal, and the umbrella of no use at all.
As we drove into our complex, and headed up the hill by the side of our building, Dana slammed on his brakes. A tree was across the alley, and blocked the way. "I'm wet anyway", said my hero husband as he got out of the car, and headed up the hill. Thankfully, the tree was not too heavy, and he maneuvered it to the grass, thus clearing the path! What a guy!
"I thought I left the lights on", he said, as we got inside the house. The power was out! Memories of our last power outage came flooding back, and I started to panic. "What if....". I was told not to 'go there'! I called the electricity company. "Did the lights flicker or just go out?" was the question, when I finally got through to a person at the 'emergency' number. I explained that I was not home. "You were out in this?" he said, sounding rather judgmental. "I didn't go out in this. This happened whilst I was out!" I said, in defense, hoping that I had not upset him with my tone, as I did not want my name to be put on the 'black list'. He explained that the fault would be fixed as quickly as possibly, once safe to do so.
We ate in candlelight! Romantic it was not! We had to pack for our trip and I was unsure that it would be safe to leave if the electricity was not reconnected. "What if...", was followed by "Don't go there!" I tried not to!
The next morning was dry. The electric storms had raged through the night and I decided to go and assess the damage. I swam in a modicum of debris, as the pump was not working, but it was not too bad. We packed via torchlight, and once the sun rose, we were ready to head out. I called the emergency number, once again. After thirty three minutes, I was connected. "311", the voice said. I had not called 311. (311 is the alternative to 911, where something needs reporting, but it is not an emergency.) The lady at the other end of the line said that they were helping with the calls to the emergency power outage number. She was very pleasant, but pointed out that I had called previously. I explained that 'last time' there had been a problem, and my neighbours had been without electricity for several days because no one could actually get through to the workers. She saw the problem and promised that we were on the list, although which list she did not specify! She said that as there had been a lot of weather, the engineers had not been able to go out, for safety reasons, and there was no fixed time, according to the computer, as to our estimated time of reconnection. I asked her if she would mind, clarifying what that actually meant, "As a layman, I am not sure I quite understand, but are you saying that your computers cannot estimate the time of reconnection, because your servicemen cannot estimate a time they are going to go out and about?" She told me that was exactly what it meant. I thanked her for her time, and for her patience. I hoped I had not come across as being rude. She told me that I had been most courteous and continued to chat. Now, for the second day running, I had another dilemma! Someone wanting to chat, and me aware of the time! This time, however, I was concerned that as I had been waiting thirty minutes to speak to someone, someone else was hanging on waiting to speak to an operator! I chose to ignore the dilemma. She continued to chat. (Dana said she was probably recharging her batteries, as I was being most friendly, and she had told me that it had been 'quite a night' on the phones!) She told me to hang tight, go and go have a cup of coffee, and relax. "I shall have to go out to get a cup of coffee. I have no power". The laughter was raucous on both ends of the line. She apologised profusely, and told me that her face was a 'picture', and if only I could see it. After about twenty minutes, I thanked her again, and hung up. I was confident we would have power before long!
We headed out and stopped at the petrol station. Samantha called, and I noticed I had a missed call from my elderly neighbour. I called her back. "Do you have power?" she asked. I told her that I had just spent a very pleasant time on the phone with an operator who promised that we would be up and running as soon as possible. "But last time....what if....?" I told her that I had explained everything to my new best friend, and they would ensure all junction boxes were checked. Also, I had left my porch light on, so if it came on, and she was still without power, she should call the emergency number. "But how did you get to speak to a person?" she asked. I told her that I had been on hold for thirty minutes, and it was actually 311 who answered. "In fact, don't call the emergency number, just call 311, and tell them that you have an invalid on a ventilator". She said that was a very good idea. I asked her to let me know when the power was back on, and if my porch light was on, to ensure we all had power!
Dana and I headed north. We stopped at our usual half way point, to get some provisions for my brother-in-law, but they did not have what he wanted, and the small shop that had previously been there had been totally revamped and was now a large convenience store! We used the facilities and went on our way.
The hotel was very bright and clean. We had a view of the pool, and the highway! As there is no beach in Dallas, that was sufficient! Dana let out a gasp. "I don't believe it!", he said. I asked what was wrong. "I forgot my power cord for my laptop, and with the electricity being out, it is dead!" I told him he could borrow my laptop. "It has all the numbers for everyone we are going to meet!" he said. "So does your phone", I reminded him. "Where is your laptop?" I then asked. He looked again. "I don't believe it! I forgot my laptop!" We both laughed. We were still in Texas, and not in the depths of some unheard of country, where what we call 'civilisation' did not exist! "Oh no!" he continued. He had forgotten a couple of other things that could be procured at any Walmart! "It's Plano! Not Timbuctoo!" I reminded him. (Although it would not surprise me if Walmart has made it that far!) We headed out to the store! I sent my neighbour, Cathleen, a message to see if the electricity was on, and also our Chairman to let him know I would not be there to clean out the skimmers in the morning, although the punp was obviously out of action without electricity. Cathleen said that she was at her mother's and that the map online showed we may not get power until Sunday,. Our Chairman replied and said that the power had just come back on!" I told Cathleen, who was grateful that I could tell her, from the Dallas area, that she could go home! As we left Walmart, I wondered if I should call Dorothy. As the thought entered my head, my phone rang. "Your light is on, and so are ours!" she said, most happily! Our network was working perfectly!
Once back at the hotel, Dana had called the people we were going to meet for dinner. They could not make it and asked if we could do Sunday instead. He called the people we were going to meet on Sunday and asked if they could do this evening, instead. They said they could and would pick us up at six! All was well. I decided to go for a swim.
I had been watching two families at the pool, from my window, for about an hour. Both had stayed in the corner of the pool, and were not venturing to the middle at all. As soon as I showed up, started to swim very close to the other edge, the father of one family decided that his family should make the most of all of the water and it did not matter where I swam, he was there! I started to go diagonally. The corner to where I was swimming had not been occupied at all. However, as soon as I headed that way, he decided this was where his children should swim. His young daughter saw the dilemma and told him that she did not want to go into that end, and wanted to stay where she was. I was most grateful, but he decided that the kids needed to see him jump in, and hit the water as hard as he could, just as I approached the corner. I was amazed! I chose to remain silent, and true to my mother's words, "If you ignore it, they will get bored". He did! The boy from the other family was most respective of the space, and we swam around each other. He was around six or seven, and far more mature! I asked his mother to say thank you. She seemed to be rather pleased with my letting her know that her son was so polite! Perhaps the visit to 'momma' for the first family had not gone too well!
Dinner with the couple I call my 'second favourite' Rick and Steph, was great fun. Dana had apparently met them about twenty years ago, but does not recall! We swapped 'war' stories, personal history and had a great time. Having 'known' them for two decades, it was good to put faces to names (although we had seen pictures) and spend some time together. It was like meeting a pen-pal for the first time!
Knowing that my power was on, I slept fairly well the first night in a strange bed. The next morning we got up, and ate a hearty breakfast. When I say 'hearty', I mean 'a lot'. Waffles, cereal, toast, omelettes. It was wonderful. However, we met up with Rick and Steph again for a Sunday morning service, and went out to lunch. It was lovely to spend so much time together but I wondered how my stomach would handle the rest of the day!
Wanting to sleep because I was so full was not an option. I decided to take advantage of the empty pool. I swam, and swam, and when I felt I could not swim anymore, I did! How could I eat another meal? "I feel like I have out of town to visit 'momma'," I told Dana. "Three square meals a day!" Then I asked, "What do you mean, five thirty!" I had barely had time to get back to the room, and changed before we headed out again.
The young couple we met were delightful. Her father's family grew up around the Austin area so she was vaguely familiar with the surroundings. His family did not! However, we had a great time, despite having to eat another meal, and they were very grateful that we had wanted to meet. There are so many people with whom we speak on a regular basis that we will probably never meet. Dana has been mentoring the young man on the finer points of the industry, as well as trying to send some work his way, and he and his wife were most appreciative. The term 'good old fashioned values' came to mind, but it made me laugh when I thought that I was the 'older' to whom they were showing 'respect'.
We headed out after breakfast on Monday, and went to see Dana's brother. He sent us home with a care package, despite my telling him that I also go to Costco, and I shop once a week. It was good to see him.
The trip home was slightly shorter, as we made the detour to Rick. (Dana's brother - popular name!) As we hit Bell County (two away from ours) I told Dana that I needed to stop. Buc-ees was just along the way, and they have the 'best restrooms'. We came off the interstate and crossed the bridge. "What is this traffic?" asked my husband. I explained that the 'convenience store' was very famous and people were queuing to get in. "But the traffic is backed up over the bridge", he said. "It can't all be for Buc-ees". Oh yes it can! He was amazed. With about 100 'gas pumps' all of which were occupied, and with queues at one end of the store, heading into the center and beyond, he wondered "Why?" At that, I spotted Buc-ee. "Quick, you need your picture taken!" I knew Samantha would find it amusing. A great Buc-ee fan, she has t-shirts from several stores! Thankfully, after using the 'amazing' restrooms, the queues had gone down, because Dana insisted he buy a t-shirt. "For Matnee", he said! The t-shirt was not for her, but for him, for her! Step-father extraordinaire!
Home, at last, power restored, and freezer in good working order, we had dinner and collapsed. It had been a lovely weekend, and a great break. I was not really looking forward to a week of work, but it would be short.
The rain did not cease. It rained everyday, on and off. Storms came through and left. I swam in the rain, and listened for the birds. If the birds were singing, I knew the storm was far enough away. There were a couple of times when I heard rumbles, but they were just rumbles. The skies turned grey, then purple, then back to clear.
Saturday was fun. My daughter and I went shopping and dodged the giant raindrops only once. I finished my book, and had a couple of hours in the warm, if not sun!
I think the rain may have decided that Austin is not the place to remain, although it is having a hard time deciding when to go, if not where. Still holding on to the possibility that Austinites want it to stay, it is reluctant to leave. The sun has taken authority today, and despite the few dark clouds that are demanding 'squatters rights', most have given in and left. Those that remain, it appears, will be evicted by Tuesday! A wet and windy June will be tolerated for so long, and then our summer will begin!
Feeling quite refreshed, despite the abundance of food, and busy week, I am ready to start again! The rumbles of thunder are still making their presence felt, but my Sunday will not be spoiled. I am going to find a new book, take my towel and bag, and go and do what I do on a June weekend! I am going to think of something fun to report in ............ another story!
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