It’s been a wee-bit crazy in Ohio has it not? I’m in a south suburb of Dayton. Had power, but no phone or internet all week. There are still like 43,000 people w/o power and I think the phone company is powering my signal off a battery at the box. We don’t really expect that kind of weather up here and it has been insane, but my heart really goes out to those people in Texas with no homes to return to.

Here’s hoping this week starts off better than last….

I live in Cincinnati, and it’s been crazy, of course. Sunday night, I was at a Kroger cashier station using an outlet to charge my laptop and work on a major essay due Monday. (I had planned to finish the essay Sunday, and then finish the other parts of a huge fellowship application package Monday, and send it out on deadline). Then I spent all day Monday at Panera, something like ten hours staring at my computer screen. When I walked in, though, it was a complete zoo… line all the way to the door, giant multi-plug systems in their limited outlets, some people using ceiling outlets (if you ask me, you should seriously add more outlets when you offer WiFi!), and it was loud and full of people. I joined a guy in a booth where an empty outlet was nearby and spent the day there. Sometimes making friends and conversation, most times working and focusing really hard.

BUT GET THIS. Just when I was ready to send everything out, their WiFi signal died. I left and used the one at my mother’s place of business, and it all worked out. But I was panicking initially on Sunday… I spent a half hour trying to figure out how to use a special car charger to charge my laptop, but that wouldn’t work. Eventually it came to the point where I had to say “I’ll sit on the floor in the middle of a grocery store if need be, I just have to get work done.” Luckily I had a stool from the photo development area, and a surface in that cashier station – and a snack/bottle of water, of course.

I did actually meet my deadline – despite all the difficulty – leaving me feeling very capable, powerful, and proud!

But you know what? Sunday’s break from working probably gave me that little time away from my essay that I needed. I did work a little bit, but not much (writing notes by hand when you become so used to doing fast work on your computer feels so much slower than you are capable of sometimes – although it can be nice, of course, to have that time to think, when you’re NOT on deadline.).

Hope you enjoyed the story of my little fiasco. Now, I’m off to catch up further.

Peace.

What I’m finding is that printing this stuff out and then leaving early to do the high school carpool pick up works out perfectly. I bring the papers with me, sit in my illegal parking spot (no parking at this high school and the police–so far anyway–have been good about letting people park in the lot of a vacant business. I show up about half an hour early and then get to work.

I live in the northeast and in the winter, power can go out for days if there is a blizzard or ice storm. There’s nothing you can do about it. And, trust me, if the power goes out in the winter, you have more important things to be thinking about than the Internet. Keeping warm enough and your pipes from freezing is the bigger concern.

Dionne – Yes, my hubby is a great editor, that definitely comes in handy.

Cherrye – It’s looking like Sunday around midnight for the majority of of central Ohio, Oct 6 is ghastly!

Kathryn – Do we have the same power company? Hmmm…I love a good conspiracy!

BTW folks, I’m back w/o Internet! It came on to tease me. Now I’m working outside the library in the car because they don’t open until 10. Sigh. It could always be worse though!

My blog posts are essays, so typically, I think about a topic I want to write about, and it’ll come together in my head for a few days. I try to think of an anecdote/real-world experience that I can tie in to my topic, and it’s always fun when I can. Then I write the article usually in one sitting. If I think about it too much, my article comes out stilted.

Ideally, I let the essay sit overnight. In the morning, I usually catch my typos, then post.

Witty titles are best marinated.

And then again, there are a few times I just whip something up, just for fun, and post it.

GREAT article! I really enjoy your voice.

As for the pressure thing – since there is a conspiracy between the utility company and the cable company to turn my computer off when I get in those tight situation, I try to stay ahead of the game. That way I can laugh when they flip the switch!

But, I will confess that I still find myself lingering around doing nothing while deadlines close in. I was always a last minute project person – started in junior high and continued through college. That is one habit I NEVER want to pass on to my kids.

I let my articles sit. I never send it off immediately after I’m done. Even if the most I can give myself is an hour or so in between, I’ve found they need that.