Saturday, January 17, 2009

Hurray, its 4 degrees outside. Feel that warmth!

When the kids got in the car to head off to work/daycare today (school was closed due to superfreaking cold temperatures), they counted down the in-van temperature as the digits fell:

4

3

2

1

0

-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

-6

-7

-8

-9

-10

-11

-12

-13

. . . and then it held steady.

Yeah, really cold.

But then your body adjusts and you move on.

Inside the office, where no one cares what the temperature is, work continued.

There was a new development during the lunch hour, however. I was consulting on one of my ongoing projects down on the second floor when the fire alarm went off. I cringed for two (or maybe three) reasons:

1. The buzzing alarm is extremely loud and there seems to be a speaker about every ten feet.
2. Fire alarms mean everyone has to go outside until the ALL CLEAR. (And remember that it was super cold!)
3. Through the oddities of chance, I am a Fire Warden--which means that I am partially responsible for checking to see that everyone follows the evacuation plan. I get a bright red trucker hat as the symbol of my authority and a walkie talkie that I don't really know how to use properly.

So, I had to go back upstairs--use the stairs rather than the elevator, please--and get my coat--it's COLD outside--and collect my walkie--to find out when we are allowed to head back in.

But it was a bit different this time. I saw some people actually looking concerned and walking fast, so I got the feeling that something might really be up this time. Eventually, I checked the rows, had my gear, and was heading downstairs. But people were already coming back upstairs at this point. The ALL CLEAR had been announced from outside, I guess, while I was competently protecting my colleagues.

What happened was this. Apparently, due to the very cold weather, a water main in the cafeteria broke and water was pouring onto the floor. That was bad enough but there was a concerning smell that made witnesses fear that it was worse than just water (turned out later it wasn't, but no one knew that at the time).

In the end, all was well, but it was an unexpected turn of events.

And no, I still didn't get out there to take some pictures of the snow. Because, really, it's just snow and you've all seen it before. Now, if I can find a way to keep my garage door from freezing shut, I'll be just fine tomorrow.

1 comment:

David said...

Also, you know it's cold when the flag hanging on the front porch crunchesas it waves.

Brrr . . . .