Power Outage

On Friday night a massive thunderstorm came through DC. The weather report had indicated a possibility of thunderstorms, but what we got went beyond that. Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour. Near continuous lightning (most of it heat lightning, but it was still a pretty cool show). And then the power flickered and went out.

When I woke up the next morning we still didn't have power. This meant, among other things, that I couldn't make myself tea and I couldn't take a hot shower. The morning took a lot longer than usual. Kevin destroyed me in two games of Settlers of Catan before he decided to head out to Charlestown and get out of the heat.

I psyched myself for a cold shower then went to the gym, which at least had air conditioning. I was also able to charge my phone and get a hot shower. Feeling much better about life, I decided to go see Magic Mike. A couple of hours in a dark, cold movie theater would be the perfect way to escape the mid-afternoon heat.

There was a 2:25 showing. Since it was about 12:30 at this point, I figured I'd have time to get something to eat before the movie started. It took me a bit longer than normal to get to the movie theater, but it wasn't too bad. Most of the traffic I encountered was due to stop lights having been turned into four-way stops thanks to power outages that seemed to have struck at random.

I made it to the mall around 1:00 and quickly discovered that I was not the only person who had this idea. I picked a garage and began looking for a parking space. An hour later I still hadn't found one. It seemed that every time someone got in their car and left, it was the car right in front of me who managed to get the spot. By 2:00, the garage was more crowded than when I began and I decided to give up.

It took me until 2:30 to get out of the garage.

I think Hell, if it exists, may involve spending eternity searching for a parking space that doesn't exist. Without any music, which I at least still had. There was a lot of car dancing while I tried to stay calm in the endless gridlock.

When I got home our power was back on. We were really lucky; there are still a ton of people in the area without power (including Kevin's mom, who stayed with us last night).

I think I learned my lesson, though. Next time there's a power outage, just stay home. Or at the very least, don't go anywhere with a parking garage.