OK, so it's Monday, big deal. I don't need to get up early for work or school. I used to have serious Sundays back when I did. I'd start to get down about two in the afternoon. Now I can do pretty much whatever I want, of course, within reason, most of the time. Yesterday I wasn't down but I was apprehensive, very apprehensive. I had a dentist appointment first thing Monday morning.
Wanda, as you may know, works for a dentist. She is, and has been, the Front Desk Wench for many years. This is good for us since I get mostly free dental work, and I have lousy teeth. It's not my fault, honest. I brush, I floss, I rinse with fluoride. I have a very dry mouth and that's a problem. I do what I can but every time I go in these last few years I have some new problem. I was not looking forward to hearing about another one.
Today was very quiet so Wanda was planning a half day. Yesterday we decided we would ride in together. My appointment was early and when I was done I figured on going to a Starbucks. My plan was to drink coffee and write a new post for the blog. We went to see Harry Potter last Friday and I missed my usual Saturday post.
Once again, "The best laid plans of mice and men."
I went with Wanda this morning, as planned. I had my teeth cleaned and worried for nothing as I had no new issues. I do have a couple of problems the dentist has been "watching" for the last year. He said it's time to take care of them., "We have our work cut out for us," he said. This is a different way of saying I need my teeth cut out of me, I guess. One of these days, soon I think, I'll have more bridges than the state of California.
The Starbucks, one of three close to the office, is a five minute drive. They have a very busy, terrible parking area so Wanda drove and dropped me there. I ordered a coffee, a scone, and went outside to read. While nice in the sun there was a chilly breeze blowing and I went back inside to write. Just as I got to the Wi-fi page, the lights flickered, once, twice, and went out.
I was sitting in a Starbucks with a computer, a book, a coffee cup, no power and no car. Assuming power would be restored soon, I opened my book. Just as I found my place the customers were asked to leave. The manager said, "I'm sorry sir, I have to ask you to leave." I was upset, I just paid over five bucks for coffee and a scone. I had no where to go and no way to get there even if I had some where to go. So, I called Wanda.
"Is your power on?" I asked. It was but had "flickered" a few times. We decided to wait a few minutes, thinking it may be restored quickly, it wasn't. I called her again, she picked me up,
and back to the office we went.
It was now ten o'clock and I didn't feel like writing. Once again I opened my book.
I'm sure you folks have on occasion, used a public restroom, it's never very pleasant.
A half dozen or more offices use the restroom in her building. It's a large room with one sink and a toilet. The supplies must be purchased by someone who is very, very, frugal, or just plain cheap. The toilet paper looks like wax paper, is on a long roll and doesn't tear properly. The hand towels, also on a long roll, are worse. I could have overlooked the terrible supplies, if only the damn toilet flushed, properly.
Have you ever flushed a toilet and had the water begin to rise toward the seat? It's a horrible, horrible feeling. I was watching, helpless, as the toilet started to overflow. I spotted a plunger so I plunged and it folded over on itself, rendering it useless. There was also something I assumed was a plunger. It looked like a "pointy bellows" so I used this device and slowly the water level started to go down. I should have walked away, but, I couldn't, and I didn't.
I don't think it's fair to leave what may be a potential "toilet problem" for the next guy. I had to make sure everything was in working order. After all, I thought, it's the public bathroom for Wanda's office, so I flushed, again.
This was like being in a horror movie. Water started filling up and overflowing the bowl. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, water started pouring out of the tank bottom. I was standing in a small lake, or a river, without a paddle. Eventually the water stopped and I had to find a way to mop it up.
Under the sink I found a roll of lousy paper towels and plastic bags. I began to pull lengths of paper off the rolls to sop up the water on the floor. Thirty minutes later the floor was mostly dry and I was mostly wet. I had a heavy plastic garbage bag filled with paper mush. I took the bag to the outside trash bin which was, of course, locked. It's really too bad that business' have to worry about people stealing their garbage.
I am now at home. As soon as I post this I am going to make an iced coffee. I will veg out in front of the TV and watch mindless entertainment. One power outage and one overflowing toilet is enough for one day, at least, for me.
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