Monday – 05 February 2007
This morning has started off well, so far.  Up, dressed and out with no problems.  The commute wasn’t bad.  And I just brewed coffee.

This weekend was… interesting.

Friday, before heading to Clitorati, I heard from Bill – the beloved of .  He called to let me know that her surgery went well and that she was recovering nicely.  She was still at the hospital, but would be home on Sunday.  After that, I was off to Clitorati.

Saturday… was a rather low-key day.  I had brunch with and her boys.  I took the car in for its 50,000 mile service and oil change.  I tried to get it washed, but a gentleman a couple vehicles ahead of me “broke” the car wash.  *sigh*  So, I went to CompUSA instead.  As I was leaving C-USA, I noticed that one of the car’s sensors wasn’t reporting properly, so I went back to the dealership.  Turns out that the mechanic just forgot to reset it.  No big deal.  I decided to try the car wash again.  This time, success!  I did a little shopping/browsing before heading home.  I fought crime around Paragon City for a bit before heading over to ‘s to watch Mirrormask.
She seemed to enjoy the movie.

Sunday.  No…  SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!   No, that’s not quite it, either….   SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!  There, that’s better.  A lazy day, to be capped off in the company of friends watching the culmination of the 2006-2007 NFL season.  *bliss*
I got up, obeserved the appropriate hygiene rituals and headed to breakfast (we occasionally push Saturday night breakfast to Sunday morning now).  As we were wrapping up, I got three rapid-fire phone calls… which I missed.  I caught the fourth one.  It was .  She was a little panicked:

A water main had burst outside her apartment.  Ordinarily, that wouldn’t be a big deal, all things considered.  But, the water decided to find the “path of least resistance,” which happened to be along a series of tree roots.  The tree that belonged to said roots is right outside her ground-floor apartment.  Right.  You’re beginning to get the picture.

By the time I got there, the water was a little more than ankle-deep… and rising.  We spent the next little bit trying to move things out of the way and try to keep water out of the bedrooms.  The municipal crews showed up and shut off the main.  Good.  There was still the matter of standing water.  Not so good.  I headed to Home Depot and picked up a wet/dry vac – two birds, one stone: I needed a new vacuum anyway.  The disaster recovery crew arrived shortly after I got back; they pulled the water out of the carpet… and then pulled up the carpet and padding.  Correction: ONE of the guys did all that.  His name was C.J.  He did the work of three guys… while his coworker was in and out of the apartment and intermittently talking on his phone.  About two hours (and a dehumidifier and seven axial fans) later, they were done.  They pumped four-hundred-twenty-seven (427) gallons of water out of the apartment.   C.J. said that the average job was between 100 – 200 gallons.

After making sure that her boys – who were staying with their grandparents – were okay, and I headed to catch the end of the Super Bowl at Alyce and ‘s.  When we got there, I called so that the usual suspects could talk with her.  Post-game, showed me the halftime show, which he had kindly TiVOed.  Then, Wii gaming!  Boxing was fun, but whooped my ass.  Twice.  It was a good way to end the evening.

Stray Toasters
You’re kidding, right?  Maybe tonight.  Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe later this afternoon.

Who knows?
“The Shadow knows!”

Namaste.