Trying to make the most of a day with no power, I got a lot of reading done today. And a lot of sleeping, too. I slept hardly at all during the night, but I took three or four naps of about half an hour during the day. I mean, really, what else was there to do? With no running water, no heat, no television or computer, all I could do was read a chapter or two on the Kindle app on my iPad, then let myself doze off when my eyes started getting heavy.

Somehow, in the midst of all this, it felt like one of my more productive days.

There was still work to be done, natch. I got the payroll started early this morning and was well into it by the time the lights went out at 10:35 am. In fact, by 10:34 I was beginning to think they might have postponed the utility work, although it was hard to see why, since the sun was out. When everything came back on at 4:25 pm, I finished the payroll, and a few other tasks that absolutely had to be completed today.

But the first thing I did was flush the toilet. The place was starting to smell like a bus station, and not in a good way. It was a long day without running water, and once again: thank goodness for hand sanitizer. I just cringe a big when I think of what's growing on the outside of the sanitizer bottle. It might not be a great idea to share hand sanitizer, you know?

The second thing I did was reset all the electronic clocks. I checked our bank web site to see if the big check that was supposed to be direct-deposited had come in (it hadn't). I quickly went through the email that had been accumulating while I was off line. It was, in fact, about half an hour before I could get back to the payroll. I had worked until 7:30 pm Saturday, and again a bit Sunday morning before heading to Suzanne's for her birthday dinner, so I wasn't as far behind as I might have been if I'd been as lazy as I normally am.

The best thing about the power being out? No phones ringing. I did have my cell phone fully charged, and the Boss had my number, but the only time he called me was an accidental redial. It was unbelievably peaceful. Maybe that's why it was so easy to fall asleep. I had to stay bundled up because there was no heat, but it wasn't as cold as it had been for the last few days. In fact, it didn't feel cold at all until the heat came back on and I remembered how it feels to be warm.

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There was at least one more benefit of the electricity being off for six hours. When it came back on, my satellite radio was working again. I guess the tech guy forgot to tell me that I should leave it unplugged for six hours to get it going. I don't know if it's back for good, but it's back for now. It's an old unit that probably needed to be replaced a few years ago. It's been sputtering for a while now, if you want to know the truth. I'm going to wait for the January sales before I think any more about this.