A Power Blip

Well, yesterday proved to be unexpectedly eventful. I spent the morning pretty normally, checking out books in the Lower School and covering new books in the main library. (I caught up on all my book covering! Woo hoo!)

But then, shortly after lunch, I was sitting at my desk working on my computer when the room suddenly plunged into darkness and the air conditioner ceased. (My computer stayed on because of its back-up battery.) The power was only out for a second -- maybe even a fraction of a second -- before flicking back on again. I listened to all the devices around me whir and groan back to life and one of my co-workers said, "What was that?!"

It's very unusual for us to lose power. I imagine the guys in the tech department were freaking out about the computer servers. We soon learned that it wasn't just us -- the "blip" affected a large section of the city and threw the tube into disarray, causing service to be suspended on multiple lines. The electricity network said it was due to a transmission fault that was quickly resolved.

Normally I wouldn't have cared about the tube suspension -- I live only slightly more than a mile from school and as you know I usually walk anyway. But as luck would have it, I had a doctor's appointment down in Marylebone after work.

I wound up hoofing it down Finchley Road toward Baker Street and then over to the doctor's office. I passed Madame Tussaud's on the way, and was amused to find this large translucent image of Kate Moss on a partition outside the back door. How weird it must be to be Kate Moss and see your (presumably wax) face looming over the Madame Tussaud's service entrance.

And then we had a surprise rainstorm! The forecast said nothing about rain, but a big black cloud appeared complete with thunder and dumped a surprising amount of water. As you can see above, no one was prepared with an umbrella. I darted into a doorway and waited it out. It was like a Florida rain, very localized with big warm drops, and it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Apparently, I have developed the ability to conjure things up merely by mentioning their absence on my blog. Squirrels? Check! Rain? Check!

(I have noticed lately that I don't have much money. Let's throw that out into the universe and see what happens.)

Anyway, I made it to the doctor's office with minutes to spare, and registered at the front desk before being sent up to the third floor. And even this became surreal, because I got off the elevator and there was no one around. It was a silent hallway lined with doors, and none of them bore my doctor's name. I wondered what to do -- should I just yell for him? I decided instead to go back down to the front desk, which I did, and they called up and confirmed that the nurse was there. Then someone from the front desk accompanied me back upstairs, as if I were a small incompetent child, and he pointed to a sign on one of the doors where suddenly my doctor's name had appeared as if by magic.

"I swear that was not there before!" I said.

And then the nurse opened the door and confirmed that yes, she had in fact just changed the sign. Whew! I am not crazy.

The appointment was uneventful and then I had to get home again. Most of the tube lines were still out and the Jubilee Line, which I usually take, had severe delays. So I decided to take a bus. I walked partway up Baker Street just to get away from the congestion around the tube station, before catching the same numbered bus I rode with Dave from Marble Arch the day before. It carried me all the way up Finchley Road, practically to my doorstep.

Fortunately, the brief, heavy rain fell here too -- Dave said we even had pea-sized hail. The moisture has given the garden a boost and everything looks much happier all of a sudden. As you can see, our yellow peony is now blooming, as well as our clematis. Hopefully we've broken the cycle of dry weather and will now get some more regular precipitation.

We got take-away for dinner -- Dave was exhausted after school and I was too, having hoofed it all over Marylebone in a downpour. We ordered from a barbecue place on Baker Street that was surprisingly good. My only complaint was, no collard greens. What kind of barbecue place has no greens?!