Where were you when the lights went out?

So there I was drinking my second cup of coffee this morning when the lights went out. As my frequent readers know I am an early riser. And the lights going out is not a rare occurrence in winter but there was absolutely no causative weather. But it was Mercury in retrograde. Boy was it ever.

I have this emergency lantern in the kitchen that is suppose to go on when the power goes out. It didn't. And I have oil lamps, candles and various flashlights. I try to keep the flashlights in the same locations so whether I am upstairs or down stairs I can quickly find a light source. It was so pitch black, however, that I all I seemed to find was the corner of tables, fur kids and their bones.

I finally made it to the area near the fireplace where I know I have those propane lighters for the fire and a couple candles and two oil lamps. I need to buy more lighters. They do not want to light of late and I have placed a box of wooden safety matches near them as backup but only about one in four of those light. Finally got a candle lit and went to find the flash lights. The upstairs flashlight was in the location for the downstairs free standing battery light. And it was not upstairs where the flashlight had been assigned.

I lit several more candles and the oil lamp (one of the two definitely needs more oil). Note to self: lamp oil, propane lighters, and matches that actual work. It is clear by now, since this has taken some time, that the power is not coming right back on so I started a fire and placed my coffee mug on top of the wood stove to warm my coffee. One cup of coffee is not adequate to deal with Mercury in retrograde. And then I go looking for the missing emergency light as it is easier to read my Kindle by. Addition to note to self: Never throw the last piece of firewood on the fire before going to bed, get a lighted case for Kindle, and neon collars for the black fur kids.

Next on agenda as the power was not on yet was to find the dumb phone (one that does not require electrical power to do its thing) and plug it in to the line to replace the smart phone. Find phone book. Find cell phone. Addition to note to self: Pre-program the outage number for the electrical company on to the cell phone so you do not have to find dumb land line phone and phone book. Oh, and charge the cell phone. And buy more batteries - AAA, AA, D.

Thankfully the sun came up eventually. Immediately my sister called for her weather report. I was not in the mood. I had not found the emergency light I am missing or a note pad for that note to self list.

In my defense it is Mercury in Retrograde. And I have been involved in two things which have created total chaos in the normal placement of things - the refurbishing of the rental unit, and the search for mortgage and appraisal documentation mentioned in the previous blog. So to the every growing Note to Self add - establish order. And sanity.