Midnight Madness and All Systems Down...
Sunday started so nicely. It was productive, at least for the brief time I participated in it...we had a very good Joans rehearsal, and are rarin' to go for this Friday night at the Flesh Hungry Dog Anniversary show (show starts at 9:00, get your tickets in advance!).
I went home, made some din-din, straightened up the place a little and went to bed around 10:00. It was still fairly warm outside (probably in the mid-40s), and the radiator in my bedroom never does shut off all the way (it's a knob issue), so I had the window cracked and the fan going.
About 1:30 in the morning, I woke to the smell of something burning. I bolted up and searched the apartment, but there was nothing to be found--no smoke, no coffee pot left on (like last time), nothing. I figured it must have been a car going through the alley burning oil or something and went back to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, I woke up to the same smell, only this time it was stronger. Something definitely WAS burning--and it was close. I still couldn't see any smoke (it was hazy outside because of the humidity, so if there were any smoke, I wouldn't have known it under the orange lamps in the alley) but I smelled it and it was sickening. I looked at the building across the way and saw a flickering reflection in one of their stairwell windows.
Shit! Something WAS on fire and it was in my building, next to my apartment! But none of the smoke alarms was going off, and none of my neighbors (some of whom were still up) made any noises that indicated they were evacuating. Just then, I heard the sirens of an approaching fire engine and figured somebody must have called them. I heard water being pumped in the alley. I leaned further to look out my living room window, and saw them spraying inside a dumpster.
So that was it. Somehow a fire got started in one of the dumpsters, and since my bedroom is about 15 feet along the back wall, the smell drifted along and the fan blew it into my window. But not the smoke itself, which would have set MY smoke alarm off. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes and the firemen were on their way. After they'd left, I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. I still smelled the gross debris from outside.
I decided to go surf the internet for a while and see if there was anything decent on iTunes. And the internet was down. Damnit, of all the times! Oh well, I thought, I'll just go back to sleep. I woke up a 6:00 with a miserable sore throat and nausea from the smell outside, plus I was groggy from so little sleep. It dawned on me that since I have the "bundled" services from my cable company (internet, phone, cable TV), my phone may not work either. Sure as hell, I lifted the receiver and heard no dial tone.
Te-fuckin'-riffic.
So I called into work with my cell phone, leaving that number as my contact number if they needed to reach me. I finally did get back to sleep for a few hours and when I woke up, I realized I'd better call Big Cable Company and ask what was up. The rep asked for my information (then made me repeat all of it when SHE got my phone number wrong), and said that they'd have to have a technician come to my apartment. Of course, no appointments were available yesterday (when I was actually HOME), so the earliest one was today between 2 and 5 (because they have to keep you hanging around waiting for hours--they can't give you even a one-hour window--they're just SO busy). The soonest I can get an appointment between 5 and 8 is on Thursday, so that's what I've ended up doing. At a cost of $49.95 to myself, naturally.
I wondered if the dumpster fire might have something to do with it, but I went outside to look, and the dumpster was nowhere near the cable boxes. So apparently it just went out on its own. So, until Thursday, I have no functioning internet or home phone. I'll have to check all my e-mail, etc., at work and use my cell phone at home (which doesn't have the greatest reception).
Anyway, I may not be able to post much, or read anyone else's blogs, until Thursday. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up a little...
UPDATE: The cable TV did come back on its own last night, so that's one thing I have, at least. It's pixilated and cutting in and out a lot, but at least it's working. I wish the Internet and phone would come back on THEIR own too! But so far, no dice...
I went home, made some din-din, straightened up the place a little and went to bed around 10:00. It was still fairly warm outside (probably in the mid-40s), and the radiator in my bedroom never does shut off all the way (it's a knob issue), so I had the window cracked and the fan going.
About 1:30 in the morning, I woke to the smell of something burning. I bolted up and searched the apartment, but there was nothing to be found--no smoke, no coffee pot left on (like last time), nothing. I figured it must have been a car going through the alley burning oil or something and went back to sleep.
Twenty minutes later, I woke up to the same smell, only this time it was stronger. Something definitely WAS burning--and it was close. I still couldn't see any smoke (it was hazy outside because of the humidity, so if there were any smoke, I wouldn't have known it under the orange lamps in the alley) but I smelled it and it was sickening. I looked at the building across the way and saw a flickering reflection in one of their stairwell windows.
Shit! Something WAS on fire and it was in my building, next to my apartment! But none of the smoke alarms was going off, and none of my neighbors (some of whom were still up) made any noises that indicated they were evacuating. Just then, I heard the sirens of an approaching fire engine and figured somebody must have called them. I heard water being pumped in the alley. I leaned further to look out my living room window, and saw them spraying inside a dumpster.
So that was it. Somehow a fire got started in one of the dumpsters, and since my bedroom is about 15 feet along the back wall, the smell drifted along and the fan blew it into my window. But not the smoke itself, which would have set MY smoke alarm off. The whole thing was over in about 15 minutes and the firemen were on their way. After they'd left, I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. I still smelled the gross debris from outside.
I decided to go surf the internet for a while and see if there was anything decent on iTunes. And the internet was down. Damnit, of all the times! Oh well, I thought, I'll just go back to sleep. I woke up a 6:00 with a miserable sore throat and nausea from the smell outside, plus I was groggy from so little sleep. It dawned on me that since I have the "bundled" services from my cable company (internet, phone, cable TV), my phone may not work either. Sure as hell, I lifted the receiver and heard no dial tone.
Te-fuckin'-riffic.
So I called into work with my cell phone, leaving that number as my contact number if they needed to reach me. I finally did get back to sleep for a few hours and when I woke up, I realized I'd better call Big Cable Company and ask what was up. The rep asked for my information (then made me repeat all of it when SHE got my phone number wrong), and said that they'd have to have a technician come to my apartment. Of course, no appointments were available yesterday (when I was actually HOME), so the earliest one was today between 2 and 5 (because they have to keep you hanging around waiting for hours--they can't give you even a one-hour window--they're just SO busy). The soonest I can get an appointment between 5 and 8 is on Thursday, so that's what I've ended up doing. At a cost of $49.95 to myself, naturally.
I wondered if the dumpster fire might have something to do with it, but I went outside to look, and the dumpster was nowhere near the cable boxes. So apparently it just went out on its own. So, until Thursday, I have no functioning internet or home phone. I'll have to check all my e-mail, etc., at work and use my cell phone at home (which doesn't have the greatest reception).
Anyway, I may not be able to post much, or read anyone else's blogs, until Thursday. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up a little...
UPDATE: The cable TV did come back on its own last night, so that's one thing I have, at least. It's pixilated and cutting in and out a lot, but at least it's working. I wish the Internet and phone would come back on THEIR own too! But so far, no dice...
posted by Aaron at 12:48 PM
5 Comments:
Aren't you glad the fire department doesn't operate like the cable company? Sarah
Sounds Hellish! I'm so glad that your building wasn't on fire, though. Still, sorry for all the insanity with your cable and your internet connection. Oy...
Sarah: Yes! The fire truck would take FOREVER to get here from India...:-)
Stephen: I'm glad, too! (Although it would make a helluva good excuse to move to a bigger place!) But the insanity with the cable company should be finished Thursday night--then it'll just be back to my REGULAR insanity. :-)
Hain't that awful? I think it is a damn shame that cable companies charge for coming and fixing something that was their fault to begin with. When a customer has a complaint or problem they'll get back to you by the time Halley's comet returns but if you're a day late with the payment it's cause for making a federal case out of it. (I thought I'd add some Hoosier idioms) Hain't that just awful? My Granny ust to talk even more Hoosier than the homogenized dukes mixture that lives here nowadays. Ed
Ed: Yes'm, it IS awful! I was going to make a similar observation about the disparity between their late service and our late payments, but I figured I'd ranted enough--besides, I was beginning to hyperventilate! :-)
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