The previous day, marked by the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., presented itself as a gentle parenthesis in the hustle of everyday life. A blanket of snow covered the neighborhood as if to hush the usual clamor, allowing for a moment of serene reflection and joy. The freedom from work commitments meant hours unfurled at a leisurely pace, with no urgency to be anywhere, no schedule to adhere to.
Today started off with an alarm clock blaring at 5 am. It was quickly followed up by hitting the snooze button. I usually get up early to help Topeka get the kids fed and out the door to school. No school today as road conditions just wouldn’t allow for it. While waiting for the next alarm to go off, Topeka tells me that it appears one of our smart thermostats was reading offline. Not really wanting to be bothered with it during my snooze, I told her that I’d check it out once I got up.
Once I did get up, that’s when the fun began. Not only was that the smart thermostat offline, the entire house was. What in the world did we do before we had connected homes? First world problems, right? Knowing that I had to work this morning, I ended up using a hotspot for service. I was able to fix that problem. Telework is somewhat amazing I might add.
That wasn’t the end of my problems though. Although I thought I was doing the very best job of keeping the water from freezing last night, I failed. Well, at least partly. The tankless water heater managed to freeze although I was trickling hot water last night. The bill from the plumber should be interesting. I had intentions of sending Topeka to the hardware store, because why not her, to get something to keep it warm tonight. However, she barely made it out of the garage before the car started sliding.
I took my drone up after work to scout the neighborhood to see how or if I could possibly get out myself. I quickly discovered that it probably just wasn’t going to be worth the effort. All the streets were glazed over. I’m over the winter wonderland now. When you don’t have to go anywhere, it’s perfect. I’m ready for us to thaw out now!
