iVagabond

Power is like your appendix; you kind of take it for granted until it goes bust. And bust it went with this latest storm. I had to pull a Jimmy Carter and put on a sweater, but even that wasn’t enough. I wish I had a generator. I wish I had a stack of firewood. I wish I had a chainsaw. Sadly, I couldn’t find a genie in a lamp (who was no doubt taking up residence in a more hospitable part of the country). So I did what every other cold and hungry resident did – I went off in search of an open coffeehouse.

I’m sorry I ever took for granted the ease of walking downstairs to brew up a cup of coffee. When you have to stand in line a half an hour for your caffeine fix, you start seeing the worst in humanity bubble to the surface. People are on edge when they are lacking food, coffee, and hot shower. I walked into Whole Foods, which was low on staff and high on customers, and I was concerned that an organic food fight was going to break out. Serenity now, serenity now….

Given that the stress level in town was high last night, I thought it was a good idea to escape the chaos and go the movie theater. Most people go the movies to cool down or dry off; last night it became a place to defrost. The movie had something to do with people only living to 25, after that age time literally becomes currency which they trade until they run out (and expire). Honestly, who knows what the movie was about – I just know that I was out of the house, out of the cold, out of the madness. I would have gone anywhere. I would have gone to the opera.

Even operas end (eventually), and kick out the patrons. Today was a new day, and with that the same challenges of food, warmth, and coffee. I have a mild addiction to the “everything bagel” with jalapeno cream cheese and sliced tomatoes from Lox, Stock, and Bagel, so I went there. Seeing an extremely large line, I walked over to Starbucks. The joint looked like a high-tech homeless shelter. In place of a warm cup of soup was the soft glow of an Apple logo. If you want to realize how dependent we’ve become on modern technology, just try taking it away. The hottest commodity in Storm Alfred is an open socket. I traded one large line for an equally large line, so I headed back to Lox, Stock, and Bagel. This is all before my first coffee. Serenity now, serenity now….

We’re modern day people living with old-fashioned inconveniences. We’re iVagabonds, living our life out of a [computer] bag.