9/19/00

Well, I would be online right now, however, since someone chose to frag with my phone lines and all, no one on the peninsula is allowed to go online at all. So there, damn it. *chuckles*

Okay, so maybe that's a little presumptuous of me. So what. I like being presumptuous in this singular world. See, here, on my diary, I can say anything I want to. I can talk about anyone I want to. And I have full and complete deniability. (IE: I can lie my ass off, saying I never meant anything stated within these electronic pages)

I was trying to log on earlier tonight, round 8p my time. However, there was some trouble with the line. I'm sure all of you who don't have cable modems and what not have experienced this at one time or another... You dial up your ISP and they have that damned recorded message that states that all the lines are busy at the moment, and please try again later.

*chuckles*

Well, out here, that happens between about 8p and 10p. Or around 9a. Those are the most common times for folks to be logging on, whether they're using the Pacifier service like I am,,, the PUD accounts, or the other two ISPs in this general area... Seems, most folks are logging on for personal use at about 8pm. And most businesses which use the 'Net, are logging on around 9am. So, if you want to log on then too, you have to wait your turn... *chuckles* Sometimes it takes about two minutes, sometimes thirty seconds.

However, tonight, I was trying to log on for a fricken hour. it was wild. In over three years of 'Net crawling, I've never had trouble like this unless the lines were down. Regardless... I was trying to log on for an hour. Once in a while I'd actually get tone and log in, but it was just that sort of... Hmmmm.... well, the screen was vascilating from actually working to not... so It wouldn't cooperate much at all.

So, I logged off, shut down my comp, and as I was actually turnning it off (I'd already logged out of windows) the screen flickered, as did the lights, then it went black. And I don't mean just the comp. The stereo cut out too.

This is at about 9:10p.

I'd lit a candle, so I wasn't too shocked at the sudden darkness.... until I looked out my window. *chuckles* The entire town was black. I mean, NUTHIN. No street lights, no business lights, no hotel/motel lights. Long Beach was plunged into an inky blackness that was so complete I was astonished.

We've got a low cloud cover *smirks* tonight. Okay, a little more description... If you have ever flown on a plane, there's that point while you're rising up through the clouds. At that point, you look out the windows and all you can see is this thick, white/gray cotten-esque stuff. There's no real depth. No real shape. All you can see is white.

Well, for those of you who have never seen mist, or low clouds... I'm sure there's at least one of you..... This is real and true fog. That slightly gray, slightly white thick stuff that makes it appear as if someone is holding up a picture taken with a heavily filtered camera lense. *chuckles* I really love this stuff. And, if I had someone to talk with, I'd be walking around in this stuff.

Regardless... Imagine that grey/white stuff with all the lights out. I mean, all the lights. So, no only do you have the typical fog/cloud cover, the darkness and no stars or anything even remotely like that... You've also got no lights. *chuckles* It gets REAL dark, REAL quick.

If I didn't have the candle burning, I'd have flipped out. Major. I like the dark, don't get me wrong, but I don't like sudden darkness, and I am *holds up her hand in admittance* affraid of pitch black. I really do flip out. *chuckles* The racing pulse, slight difficulty breathing... the whole thing. I don't really get that close to panic with anything else.

Suffice it to say, it was REAL DAMN DARK. *chuckles* So, I'd cut off my comp just before the power went out. Which was cool in my opinion. And, I had a candle burning, so i didn't flip out when the power went down. I turned off my stereo, the comp, monitor and lit another candle, making my way downstairs. I wasn't sure if Mom had a candle or not. So, I wanted her to be safe.

Awwwwww, aren't I just the sweetest child you've ever met? *grins*

So, I come back upstairs after the power comes back on, round 11:30 or so and find that there's absolutely no way to get online. I figure that there's been some idiot-drunk-ass-hole-sonuvabitch who chose to pile-drive his car into a phone pole or something. There was also some secret hope that maybe someone had finally given the PUD out here a piece of their mind. Wrapped around some C-4. *chuckles*

The PUD is a topic for another entry. Suffice it to say, Monopoly.... small towns.... greedy PUD people. You do the math.

So, There's somethin goin on round here. I figure I'll hear about it tomorrow. My Sis will probably call and tell me all about it. She's one of those people who gets the reports, and she likes to tell what she knows.

Don't get me wrong, she's not a snitch and she doesn't tell your secrets. But she does enjoy telling people what's going on. *chuckles softly* She works for the cable company out here. Lots of folks cross her door. And, since she has to deal with the techs, there's probably going to be a lot of talk about this.

*chuckles* Hey, life in a small town. Instead of the buzz being about mary-jo-sue's latest unwed pregnancy, the town will be buzzing about the power outtage, making up horrific stories about what's happened, who did what, and how many people were hurt. *chuckles quietly*

Hell, I remember the night my ex's company "base shop" was torched. *shakes her head* It was wild. I think half the town turned out for that fiasco. *chuckles* However, I only have another five months or so to soak up this small town life. I'm going to be moving. *grins* And I'm so very excited.

I'm not going to give any details yet, but I'm gonna be moving away from here. *smiles softly* I'm gonna miss my ocean. A lot. But the adventure is more than worth it. Whatever happens.... it's gonna be more than worth it.

Anyway... so I'm sitting here, with a couple candles burning, writing this entry. And I'm listening to some songs that I DLed from Napster. Damn, Charles just rocks. Literally. He suggested all but two of the songs I'm listening to right now. *grins*

let's see... the playlist is as follows....

From BOC (Blue Oyster Cult).... In Thee, Perfect Water. From Queen... Who Wants to Live Forever. From Big Head Todd and the Monsters.... Circle. From Social Distortion.... Ball and Chain.

Charles suggested the BOC and BHTatM. I love Queen's Forever and Flatline is responsible for Social Distortion. In more ways than one. *grins*

Anyway, I'm listening to these via Winamp. I highly suggest all of you folks who aren't using anything other than Napster to listen to your MP3 DL's, DL Winamp. This fraggin rocks. You can mix the sound quality. *grins* Which means, I can alter the treble and midrange to my liking.

Heavier bass, folks. Rock just doesn't sound good when it's too tinny.

Regardless... If any of you folks are curious as to what to DL... from our beloved Napster.... DL the playlist I told ya up there. It's so fraggin cool. And play them on Winamp.

"I'll wrap myself in solitude, but I wish I could wrap myself in thee...."

Hot damn... Awesome song. Not as good as Perfect Water, but good none-the-less.

Okay, I've pushed the rambling about as far as I can tonight. It's now 1:30a and I'm starting to get tired. I hope all of you are having a wonderful time of it, folks. I love this night, the way the blackout made everything so damned invisible.

I'm tired and rambling more incoherantly than usual.

*scampers off, yelling.... "SPELLING BE DAMNED!!!!!"*