Things are weird here in lovely South Florida, which could support the thesis that nothing's really changed since Wilma's arrival.

You know, I wonder if I'll ever be able to think of candlelight as romantic again after all this? That's right, still no power.

Two of my co-workers found interesting solutions to getting their power back up. One hooked it up herself. She noticed that the only problem seemed to be one wire coming from the pole to the back of her house was pulled out of the socket, so she got up on a ladder and plugged it back in. Please note: the management of Hidden City does not at all endorse this solution to a power outage, and in fact thinks this woman is a fucking lunatic in the best of times (but a charming French lunatic).

The other co-worked solved their problem the American way: bribery. The utility worker told someone at the apartment building that they weren't scheduled for repair for another week, so a hat was passed around the complex, and the proceeds given in a plain envelope to the worker. Their power was restored the same night.

I placed an order with Amazon.com the other day, and it was scheduled for delivery today. Apparently everyone is getting a little touchy about hurricane-related troubles, as is shown by the detailed excuse-slinging UPS indulged in for a sixty-second delay in processing. It is a little creepy that UPS has to have a code for "A natural disaster caused this delay."