Numbers game

Woke up at four a.m. with a head full of numbers. Bills, birthdays, estimates; dates, train times, blocks of streets. Went to kitchen, drank water by the orange street-light coming through the window. Back to bed, back to sleep to the sound of the village siren (fire? ambulance? they are all volunteers and summoned by siren). Alarm went off at six-thirty. A little light seeping in, but a cloudy dawn, not bright. Switched on the lamp... nothing. Switched on the overhead light... nothing.

Immediate thought: another problem with the electricity, another electrician's visit, another oversized bill to pay.

Looked out of windows. Street lamp was off, but that says nothing, as the sun was on its way up. Neighbour's lights were off, but that says nothing, they leave for work before six-thirty or get home later. Checked the fuse/trip switches: everything looked fine.

Wondered if I'd need to drive to Melville or Manhattan to find an office with power and internet for work....

Called the power company. Recorded message: "outage in Mastic Beach, a crew has been despatched, estimated fix time 8 a.m." Cool. In time for first meeting of the day.

Decided to drive to Shirley and buy coffee at Dunkin' and take it to beach and watch sun come up. As that thought appeared, so did the dog. Most unusual. She usually sleeps until at least nine. Thought that dog plus coffee wouldn't mix, don't have enough hands. Decided to do dog-walking first, then coffee on beach.

Just as we were walking out the door, the power came back on.

Walked the dog, paid the bills, found the street directions, decided what to do about estimate and birthdays, and made coffee... all before eight.

Good start to the day :-) And no numbers in head tonight :-)