OK, I’m one of those people for whom bad luck travels in packs. It’s gotten so, when my luck turns, I stop being surprised by anything horrid. Yesterday was a case in point.
You can start with setting– it rained and poured all day yesterday.
We were going to San Francisco for dinner with my friend Ken and his new wife, followed by the symphony– Handel’s Messiah. Since I wanted to stop at Gator Games in San Mateo for a holiday gift for one of my gamers.
So, on the way up, we were taking Hwy 17. Less than a mile from Scotts Valley, traffic came to a sudden and screeching halt. We were stuck going less than a mile per hour, all the way until we stopped entirely.
Two massive accidents– including one that blocked both lanes in both directions and caused an oil spill across the four lanes of traffic. The highway traffic report on the CHP website said, at one point “Too dangerous to keep closed.” Go figure.
Anyway, to heighten the tension a little, my car was running low on gas– I had enough to get to San Jose, if we hadn’t been sitting, stopped, for an hour. We finally pulled off and put the last half-gallon that I had in my trunk into the car– but it also wasn’t going to be enough. It was pretty clear that there was one-way traffic control ahead, and there was no way to turn around.
We waited about 20 minutes, pissing off Ken (And getting pissed off a bit) because I told him flat-out that we might miss dinner on account of the traffic, and finally the lane was moving a bit. So we scooched up until we got to Glenwood Cutoff, where we could safely turn around (there was one point just a little earlier where there was no concrete divider, but there wasn’t enough visibility for oncoming traffic to safely turn around.
Finally got turned around, went back to Scotts Valley for gas, and decided to take Highway 9 over the hill (Highway 9 is a very windy mountain road– most people feel Highway 17 is too windy to drive in inclement weather– Hwy 9 is far, far worse, and a longer drive to go the same distance over the hill).
On the way up, a rock hit my windshield and left a pock-mark in it.
Anyway, we skipped the San Mateo stop and went straight up to Ken’s house. We amazingly got there just before 5, only half an hour after our original intended arrival time. Whew. We decompressed, had a couple of drinks, and I tried to get into a better mood.
We had reservations at a restaurant at 6ish (of course– Ken never leaves anything to chance), and the cab picked us up at 6. On the way there, we noticed many of the restaurants were rather dark– darkened windows, perhaps?
No, no. Of course not. A city-wide selective blackout that was affecting– of course– the block where the restaurant where we were eating was located. It had started about 10 minutes before we got there. FYI: when we left San Francisco this morning, there were several blocks that still had no power.
Yeah. And did I mention– we didn’t eat lunch yesterday. The restaurant could make salads, serve soup (which was cooling), and could make desserts– that was it.
We had salads and desserts and drinks. And then went over to the Symphony to see if they were still holding the Messiah.
They were. We had beyond-nosebleed seats– the last row. Generally, I didn’t mind all that much, but… well, the “size” of the sound was kind of weakened because we were above the sound baffling.
Anyway, it was a long performance, especially since I’d driven for 4 hours yesterday. Afterwards, we went home, exchanged presents, and went to bed (John and I stayed over in their spare bedroom).
This morning, today, has been much better– breakfast was yummy, and we stopped at my brother’s house to drop off XMas gifts and say hi. We stopped at the store at San Mateo, where they did not have a record of my online purchase. What they did have were two copies of the book I wanted to buy for my gamer. So, I bought the copy with plans to get a refund when they (eventually) get it all straightened out.