There once was a man from Nantucket. How many stories have begun that way and ended well? I’m guessing not many. There just aren’t many ways to take that verse from beginning to end with any sense of decorum. But for Odd’s sake, I’m going to try.
How many days or weeks have you started wherein a series of events begin to unfold, and you think, “This day is my ‘there once was a man from Nantucket,’ and I know how this will end: not well”? This past week was my Nantucket week.
It began with Hurricane Hermine blowing into Tallahassee, where I live, bringing with it wind gusts of up to 64 miles per hour. While it was considered a category one hurricane (not that big), in this town full of canopy-covered roads, the power went out almost immediately. It took four and a half days for the power to be restored at my house, and some people are still waiting.
But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. My Nantucket week really started before the hurricane. It began with our college football team kicking off the season by playing against a very strong opponent. (In case you forgot, I work as a video guy for FSU.) Most college football teams—not all, but most—will schedule the first game against a weak opponent. This gives teams a chance to gel, gain confidence, and coast into the season. Our administration signed us up to play Ole Miss, ranked eleventh in the preseason. You can imagine how happy our coaches were to hear that we gave away a home game to play a high ranked team on the first week. Adding more spice to the gumbo, our football team is being covered by Showtime this season, so the network has cameras at practices, meeting rooms, locker rooms, and just about any other place you can think of. Yes, there too.
Meanwhile, our first-ranked soccer team, unaware of the conflict, scheduled its first game on Monday at the exact same time the football team was playing. No big deal for most departments, but in video, we support both sports. Unless we get that grant for a cloning machine, these kinds of conflicts are a nightmare.
The situation was a pressure cooker. The temperature was in the high 90s, and humidity was at 100%. There was no air conditioning, and because our video system runs off electricity, our whole computer network was down. I was worried about how the video office staff would support the coaches and players without power. To top it all off, we were all overtired, and it was impossible to rest much without air conditioning. Overall, we were feeling pretty powerless.
But the game must go on.
We found a volunteer to video record the soccer game and support the team. The team lost the game to an unranked South Alabamian squad, but in the next game, it crushed the seventeenth-ranked UConn Huskies 3-0.
We arranged for the football coaches to meet via laptops charged by a small generator that I purchased over the summer and portable, battery-powered projectors. The football team played so poorly for the first half of the game that die-hard fans were put on life support. However, it then played well during the second half. Some fans were relieved, other fans were angry with the team for making them worry.
The hurricane did not take us down. We are not quitters.
However, back to Nantucket. In short, my week went like this:
There once was a man from Nantucket
who got his foot stuck in a bucket.
He kicked, and he flailed,
and off it did sail.
He did, yes he did, finally chuck it.
See! I didn’t even say “Fuck it”!
#
Wow. Cousin Craig really did have a horrible, no good, awful week. Dam Mercury in Retrograde! And, I feel awful! I didn’t even know that Tallahassee was stormed by a hurricane. Which means nobody talked about it on Facebook. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE! MY COUSIN COULD HAVE BEEN BLOWN OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH AND I WOULD NEVER HAVE KNOWN!! Oh, the weather? the news? I don’t follow either, but not because I don’t care about my cousin. However, Craig was not lost and as bloggers always say—-at least you have a story to blog about! Always go for the story!
Odd has a no cussing (our grandfather always said, “people who curse have a limited vocabulary.”) policy. I appreciate CC effort at adhering to it.
My week… Dear friends, I am still on my way to Nantucket in a loaner van….more soon.
How was your week?
Odd Loves Company,
Regarding the profanity, I felt that the story really needed it. The story is the not the same, and the “Nantucket” reference is completely lost without it. Besides that, my sister is a Picasso of profanity, an absolute artist. Consider this my Homage to the master. I have to give credit where credit is due, and she taught me every curse word I know.
I agree. It wasn’t frivolous profanity. Or profanity just for the sake of profanity it added accurate meaning to your post. Impressively. And given the limerick it could have been a whole hell of a lot worse. Can you write a post or poem about profanity that can be published—On Odd???
Oh my goodness I am so glad Cousin Craig is ok. Even a little hurricane is a big deal.
Sounds like an awful week but one you made the best of. Yay you! Hope the rest of the year is less eventful.
My week was about getting kids back into the rhythm and routine of school. The first few weeks is always an adjustment but soon everyone will settle in and then Halloween and the holidays will be here. Always something.
Always something! Truer words were never spoken.
Yes, we are all okay down here in Tally land. I may have exaggerated my suffering slightly for dramatic effect. I mean, there are people who suffered a lot more . . . I guess.
I guess any week that you walk away from is a good week. More than anything I was just stressed on how we would make everything work for everyone. Luckily I work with some really smart people, and I’ve learned enough to stay out of their way.
I’m glad to read that you’re getting into a rhythm with school starting, but I think you’re right – a change is just around every corner!
I’ll be hoping to see you on the other side of our next surprising change. Thanks for reading!
Yep. I have travelled to Nantucket more than once over the years. And you summed up the trip perfectly.
Glad you stayed safe during the storm and everything worked out.
Queen El Morno, I hope you have someone to call you in the event of an emergency. Have any snack advice for Monday??
Milk Shakes! El Morno over coffee tomorrow! 😀
So far we are doing well. The key is preparation, and keeping your head down~!
I have a brother in Tally and while it may have been a Class 1 hurricane it wrecked havoc for his family. A tree took out there just completed addition to their home. They have a new baby and trying to manage has been been a challenge to say the least. Fortunately a lot of good people stepped up to help and his wife and baby were able to stay with friends in Orlando while he sorts things out.
I’m glad things worked out for you and power was finally restored. Too hot to be without for more than 5 minutes much less 4 days. Go Seminoles!
Oh Steve! I am so sorry that happened to your brother and his family. What an awful ordeal for anyone but especially a family with a new baby. I am glad noone was hurt. Hope everyone is able to regroup soon!
Good Lord – I can’t imagine going through that with a child. I struggle with just my coaches . . . wait a minute . . . maybe a child wouldn’t be so tough . . .
I’m glad things worked out for your brother. Have him give me a ring if there is something I can do. 850-644-9127. Go Noles~!
I would have chucked it for sure. My week was tame in comparison. The worst thing that happened was dropping my only egg on the floor. It made a mess, tho.
Glad it all worked out and the hurricane didn’t blow you away!
When your last egg hits the floor that is pretty traumatic! Which is why they tell you not to put all your eggs in one basket, I guess. It is messy! Hope the rest of your week was much better! 😀
I hunkered down in Doak Campbell stadium and weathered the storm. Luckily we left after two days to play a game in Orlando, so when I got there I felt like a beverly hillbilly – Jethro was using air conditionin’ and indoor plumbing’!
When I came back to Tally and the power was still out I cried a little, but took the cats and slept in my car with the AC on.
Ah, hurricanes. Since I used to live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, those beasts aren’t strangers to me. Sigh. And I remember being without power for TEN DAYS, my friend. Can you imagine what your hair looks like when you have to wash it in cold water and air it dry??
As for the game, well, I’m one of those Ole Miss Rebels. And I watched the first half avidly, relishing the spanking we were administering to the ‘Noles. We won’t even discuss the second half, when we kind of gave up and let y’all win!! 😉
I knew you’d git your rile up with this one! 😀 And guys have no idea how much harder it is for us without power! Sigh.
This is weird, because I don’t even remember playing a first half, and the second half is ALL I want to talk about. The Ole Miss team is very solid and should have a good year if they just believe in themselves. In the end, we can all hate the gators, right?
As for being without power for ten days, I think I would have had to leave. I mean just pack and go. I am that big of a coward. I marvel at the folks like soldiers oversees sleeping in tents for 6 months at a time – I guess the soldiers worry more about being in harms way than the heat. I felt like Tom Hanks in “castaway” – and I had no Wilson!