Putting tomorrow on hold

Do you know how much a modern office relies on electricity? I got a good lesson in that when I arrived at work Friday morning. A truck had hit the corner of our building the night before, tearing down the conduit for the wiring and pulling the electrical box itself off the wall. Uh-oh.

I couldn't answer the phones because our phone system runs on electricity. I tried to use my cell phone to retrieve voice mail messages but couldn't get a signal inside the metal-roofed building. Even if I'd been able to get calls, I couldn't have scheduled appointments, because my calendar is on my computer.

I couldn't type letters or documents because the transcriber and the computer were down. I couldn't mail the letters I'd typed the day before because I couldn't make file copies of them or use the postage meter.

As I sat there in the narrow stream of sunlight that came through the open door, doing everything I could do with nothing more than paper, pen, and a working stapler, the lack of air conditioning became increasingly problematical. Finally, at 10:00 a.m., I called it quits, put a sign on the door, locked up, and headed for home. My boss wasn't in the office on Friday, but I'm quite sure he would have done the same.

The owner of the building told me they hoped to have the power up late Friday afternoon, but "to be honest, it'll probably be sometime on Monday." The battery backup on our phone system lasts a matter of hours, not days, so even if we do have electricity in the morning, I'll have to wait for a telephone systems repair service to come out and reprogram our phones. Only after they finish their work will we start getting calls from all the people who were frustrated in their attempts to reach us on Friday.

But that's tomorrow's mess to deal with. That and whatever the vet has to tell me about Kadi's test results. Tonight I'll fold my laundry, watch Big Brother with a large yellow dog tucked under each arm, and go to bed with a good book.