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February 06, 2016 - 12:59 a.m.
"surprise snowstorm, travel delays, power outages, and more"

Hey Journal!

What a mess of a day! I had it all planned out! The day before we leave for our cruise -- I was going to finish up everything I had to do at work, maybe come home a little early. Dan was getting home at 1pm and we were going to finish packing, then go out to dinner, and then get to bed nice and early!

Well, that all went out the window. I woke up at about 7:45 and looked at the security cameras at work before I got out of bed. The place was covered in snow. White out conditions! I hopped out of bed and got ready for work as quick as I could and had to shovel the driveway when I got outside.

Anyone who knows me knows well that I am not fond of shoveling. It's not my thing. I just wasn't made for it and that's okay. However, with Dan away, I had no choice!

Once I was able to get going, I hit the road. The side roads were terrible and the main roads were slushy but passable. It took me a while but everyone was driving slowly and cautiously and I made it to work without a problem. I got there a little before 9 and our parking lot was plowed but it was starting to accumulate again.

When I got in, I talked to Dan on the phone and he had arrived at the airport for his flight which was supposed to take off at about 9am. Of course, because of the snow here, they had delayed it. That wasn't surprising but I figured he'd be able to get out.

The snow kept coming down and I worked hard to get my desk cleaned off and get everything squared away for our vacation.

The chef came in to work today because he was expecting a delivery but I spoke to Steve on my way in and we decided to close the restaurant. So many people had the day off from work today so that would already cut our potential lunch-goers but those who did go to work weren't going to come out to lunch after they probably had a delay or something! It was the right decision for the day but it turned out to be even more of a good choice later.

At about 11:00, the power went out and I was sitting alone in the dark basement. Our office is the only one with a backup security light. I installed it a few years ago and this was the first time I think I've really seen it in action! It worked great... I had plenty of light to continue working at my desk.

The power came on again about 10 minutes later and everything went back to normal.

I kept cranking out work, did daily closes, paid bills, and took some member payments. It was a productive day while it lasted.

Then at about 12:00 the power went out again. I kept expecting it to come back, but it didn't. I was trying to get as much done in the basement as I could but then I came upstairs. I couldn't stay up there long, either because the alarm was beeping and it was so annoying!

Steve came around 1:00 or so and once he found out the power was on, he didn't want to stick around. He hung out in the restaurant for about 15 minutes and then he headed home. He asked me if I was going to go home as well but I couldn't!

The power had been out for long enough to drain all of the battery backups we have and once that happens, the system has to be manually restarted. For the most part, you should just be able to switch the server back on by pressing a button but lately (for the past year or so) we've had a problem where you have to manually restart a long list of system services because they don't start automatically when the computer reboots!

So, I waited and waited and waited. I went downstairs, did some work, then came back up. Nothing. I wound up hanging around until 3:00. I checked the outage information and it said the estimated restoration time was about 7-9pm! There was no way I was hanging around until then!

The snow stopped at 1:00, almost on the dot!

Oh, but let me not get ahead of myself...... there was more to Dan's story. His flight was cancelled. He had to try to rebook on another flight and at this point we didn't know if he would be able to get into New York at all. If he stayed in Texas, what would happen to his return flight after the cruise? There were connecting flights home available, but he didn't want to risk getting to Chicago only to find out he wouldn't have been able to get to LGA! What a mess!

The line at his gate agent was insane. All the people from that flight were scrambling to change to another and he would have been at the END of the line. No good! He went over to another gate agent with no line and she was able to quickly get him on the next direct flight, the only problem was that it didn't leave until 7pm!

Dan spent the day in the airport just watching TV shows on his phone. He caught up on American Crime and Agent Carter. At least now he's caught up and doesn't have to watch them when we get back from our trip!

So, the roads were perfect by the time I left for work. While I was waiting for the power to come back I had moved my car and brushed all the snow off. I parked it in the sun and it was melting pretty quickly. As I drove home through the Trapezoid, the trees looked wild! They were all snow-covered and there were a lot of globs of snow falling in the wind. It was really cool-looking!

I got home and I was unhappy to see the driveway covered and a GIANT mound from the plow. I couldn't even pull in! I parked in the street and started shoveling. Again, not cut out for that. The diagonal neighbor saw me and came over with his snowblower! He made quick work of the berm and then did the driveway. He only did half of it but I figured we could pull in single file!

After I went inside, my back was hurting me. See, I told you. Not cut out. I put an Icy Hot patch on it and took an Advil. Yes, I'm wimpy! I also didn't want my back bothering me for our whole vacation! Ugh!

I'm happy to report that my back is better now. Thank you for your concern!

So, I went inside and did some work. Packing and doing Dan's laundry. The plan was to wash his stuff when he got home but that all got out of whack so I did a lot to get started. I got more packing done and then the power came back on at work.

I hurried to get dressed and ready and at about 4:30, I left to go back to work. I got there around 5 and all of the lights were on inside. Of course, just the way we had left it this morning when the power went out. I went to the office and started the server. Much to my surprise and delight, it started PERFECTLY! It hasn't done that in about a year and I was shocked. I think it may have to do with some free space I made recently but nevertheless it was great. I got all the systems back up and running and then I hurried to finish the work I had to do.

I submitted the payroll for next week and got everything in order. I put the finishing touches on all of the stuff I had to do and then I closed up and said goodbye to the golf course for the next 10 days! Peace!!

My mom left work at 5 and came to meet me at the golf course. She texted like a fiend while I was finishing my work and then we went to get something to eat. We stopped at Target in Bay Shore because I wanted to get contact solution. Target had a deal for buy two get a $5 gift card and I had TWO $4 off coupons! It was great. That was a total savings of $13! BAM!

The gift card promotion didn't work and so I had to go over to guest services. The older woman who works there, who is the woman who sold me the Sisam Mummy several years ago, remedied the situation by issuing me a $5 card! Wahoo!

Next up, we went to Boston Market for dinner. I got the 1/4 white with mashed potatoes and corn. After we finished eating, I headed to the bank to do a night deposit. Then I got home around 8:30.

When I got home I continued packing, watched some Judge Judy that I had recorded earlier and put Dan's laundry into the dryer.

Tonight's episode was the continuation of yesterday's but it was strange. There was no reason for this to be a two parter. It was such a boring case and Judge Judy went into depth about a backstory that didn't really matter. I dunno, it was just weird!

I took a shower and then watched a little TV. What a whirlwind tonight has been!

Dan's plane landed around 10:30 and he had to get his luggage and then get to his rental car and make his way home. He arrived back here around 12:15 and we've been rushing to get ready since! We threw his dirty clothes into the laundry and then he started packing like a fiend for the cruise.

Dan is now completing his packing and I THINK I'm all done! Well, off to finish up and get to sleep. My mom is picking us up at 4:30 and that's less than 4 hours away right now! Oh, boy!

Basically, nothing today turned out how we planned it!

Cruise ship... HERE WE COME!! Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)