Yesterday it got up to 70°F and was sunny in the morning. Today it was near freezing and raining all day. And then it went below freezing and was still raining. Our superintendent made a smart call and dismissed school an hour early. After all the kiddies were gone, we teachers were allowed to leave. So I did, and headed off to the polls.

I actually drove today (I usually walk) because of the threat of ice later. I don’t mind driving short distances in ice, but walking home? Gah! My rear window and passenger-side window were covered with ice, but the windshield and driver’s-side window weren’t.

Ohio has Closed Primaries, which means you have to declare your party before you vote. I’m Independent (or at least I was when I entered the church where we vote) and didn’t want to just vote for the one issue on the ballot, so I decided to vote Democrat. (Which is almost as boring as voting Independent in this county, except for the presidential candidates – any other Democrats there were unopposed, though most of the positions were Republican only. I mean, there are five guys vying for coroner and NONE of them were on the Democrat ballot.) I voted for someone I wouldn’t mind seeing as my future president. 🙂 (I know, I know, that’s most of the folks on the Democrat ticket.)

Once I was done with my civic duty (congratulating a first time voter on her way in – that would be Suzanne W, Becky’s next door neighbor, Amy. Doesn’t that make you feel old? Sure as hell makes ME feel old!) I headed back home. I spent a few hours online enjoying myself and was just thinking about working on college stuff when, at 4pm, the power flickered on & off. And on again. And off. Repeat for a few minutes. Finally it went off for good.

So I got onto my laptop and read one of the files for this week’s curriculum class (which I’d saved on the laptop, though I’d forgotten to save the questions the professor asked) and wrote up a short essay on how we do curricula here in Ohio. Was reading the second paper when my laptop warned me it was 10% to go on battery. I turned it off and thought about what to do next.

I realized that I don’t actually have any landline phones that don’t require power (I should get a cheap-o one just for such an occurrence) so I called dad with my cell phone. He was at the Flamingo Hotel getting ready for the big Westar Conference taking place this week. We chatted for a bit, then I said “bye” and decided to make supper. Yay for peanut butter & jelly sandwiches! 🙂

I listened to a David Tennant-read audiobook on my iPod (whose battery lasted long enough for the book and then some) while I ate supper. I even got out my Nintendo Gameboy Advance for a bit and was delighted to see the battery was still charged. Even without power, I was geeking. I love being a geek. (Still, I’m not as cool as elsaf, who, during the Detroit power failures a few years ago, was still able to get online. GEEK!)

Well, four hours and eleven minutes later and we have power again. Hooray for DP&L! Hooray for heat! Hooray for electricity and batteries! 🙂