It’s been awfully hard to find time to sit down and read lately. I’ve been so inundated with work that I can’t make myself take enough of a break to get anywhere with the book (now books) I’m reading. I’d feel guilty if I did, and I couldn’t concentrate anyway.

Today, though, for the second time this week, the electricity was out for an hour. The first time was Tuesday, and it happened after dark, so I found out how well the candles Tammy gave me worked. (Very well, in fact, but without giving me enough light to read by.) It was at 5:46 pm, too early in the evening to go to bed, even if I could have made myself relax. So I paced around and cursed the darkness for an hour, for all the good that did.

Today it started at 2:42 pm. I know the time, because that’s when the TiVo recording of General Hospital stopped. I phoned the utility company, and their mystery voice told me that they expected power to be restored between 3:50 pm and 5:50 pm, so I might as well relax and go with it. (I think I just interpreted that last part; I doubt the recording said anything of the kind. It was just implied.)

No computer, no fax, no TV, but plenty of light to read by. It was a very satisfying way to spend what would otherwise have been a frustrating hour. And just as my eyes were getting heavy and I was closing the book, everything came back on. It took me a while to get back up to speed, but maybe an hour’s break (exactly an hour, ending at 3:42 pm, for some bizarre reason) was what I needed.

On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t what I needed, because by 5:30 tonight I was again cursing the darkness, and cursing the fact that I would have to work well into the evening to get everything done I’d promised for tomorrow. Oddly enough, the harder I thought I was working at it, the slower it went. Plus, some of the work I’d planned to do today got put off until tomorrow, meaning I probably won’t get a chance to take an hour and read. Unless, I guess, the power goes out again.