For the first time in a long time, I’m lacking direction and have lost control – two aspects of my life I’ve always had a handle on. I feel completely confused and super frustrated. I have been given little explanation to what exactly is going on, but yet I’ve been interrogated with an abundance of questions, most of which I have no answer to. The miscommunication is not helping resolve the issues and the uncertainty of the situation surmounts with each passing day. It’s Day 3 now of being homeless and I’m not sure how much more I can take! I’m already beginning to crack!
In short, we weren’t evicted from our home, but we were asked to evacuate! Without getting into a ridiculous amount of unnecessary detail, apparently there is a natural gas leak outside AND inside of my house! And according to the gas company, the level is so high that it is unsafe to be in or around the premises. Therefore, we were forced to evacuate immediately. Actually the evacuation process was so rushed that before I could even gather a handful of belongings, my entire house was roped off with “DO NOT ENTER” red tape. I had to step over and bend under streams of tape just to walk out my front door. For a half second, it seemed kind of exciting. Then the reality of it hit me. How lucky I was that my house didn’t blow up at the flick of a light switch. How lucky I was that I hadn’t died in my sleep from the fumes. Most of all, how lucky I was that I didn’t come home to my best buddy lying dead on my living room floor! I can’t bear to think of that scenario!
In a way, I guess I saved my dog’s life because the night before we had a bad wind storm that knocked the power out. No power = no heat. So I had come home on my lunch break to check on Diesel since his ears felt cold that morning. I had planned on taking him with me to work (yes you can do that if you’re the boss) just so he wouldn’t freeze in the house without the furnace kicking on. However, upon pulling into my driveway, I discovered there was a mini circus going on. Everyone from the gas man to the cops, to the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to a bunch of other guys with fancy marked trucks were on hand. So you can imagine my surprise when I hadn’t a clue what was going on. Everyone was walking around with meter readers and caution tape. They were talking on cell phones and walkie-talkies. They were pulling out maps and marking various locations in my backyard. It looked like a crime scene. And once they roped off my house, it looked like a murder had been committed. I suppose in a way, it could have been the death of me. Maybe God likes me just a little afterall. I’ll come out of this a changed man with a new appreciation for the little things in life we all take for granted, like a roof over our heads and soft bed to sleep in. You really don’t realize how good you have it until it’s all ripped out from under you in a matter of minutes. You learn to be humble and gracious awfully fast. You’ll also find out who your true friends are and you’ll be reminded that your family is always there for you in times of need. And for that, I’m in debt to them for their kindness and generosity.
As you know, today is Valentine’s Day. And to help lift our spirits, I’m romancing my dog with a bouquet of sticks. I don’t care what crap Hallmark tries to sell me, a bouquet of sticks is sure to make him swoon. I wish I was in the mood for love instead of wanting to bash my head thru a brick wall right now, but as they say, this too shall pass. But until it does, Cupid can shove an arrow up his...well you know.
I haven’t been given a time frame on when, or even if, we can return. Of course we would like to settle back into our home again. But if advised, we may be looking for a new home. Therefore, this will be the last you hear from me for awhile. In order to make it thru this tough time, I’m forced to take a virtual hiatus. That means there will be no blogging, no tweeting, no Facebooking, no e-mailing, no IMing, no surfing, no nothing! I need to return to primitive days (you know, the 80s before the Internet went mainstream) and meet my basic needs. I have to focus on food, water, clothing, shelter and safety. My #1 priority right now needs to be me and my family (by family I mean my puppy). So the digital world will need to keep on spinning without me. It’s hard to imagine, but I think it can manage. Can I survive without a digital connection? I don’t know, but it will be rough! Until I return, I’m asking you to help keep cyberspace alive. Take care of my baby for me and I’ll see all of you soon, hopefully.
Oh yeah...Happy Valentine’s Day. And if anyone wants to get me a gift, I would welcome a cold beer right now. I think I could use it.
***NOTE***
You can also see this post featured on the frontpage of BrazenCareerist.com
No comments:
Post a Comment