Last night, as most of you know, NWA was hit by some severe weather, including tennis ball sized hail and an F3 tornado. Thankfully, there wasn't too much damage done by the tornado itself, but the storm in its entirety scuffed up Rogers & Vendorville pretty good.
I went to bed around midnight, after shooting some pictures of the lightning. I didn't sleep too much for the first hour, as lots of tiny hail and strong winds battered the house. Allison has been sleeping in the spare bedroom over by Emma's room for the past week while our master bathroom shower is being redone. There's a ton of odor from the caulk and dry wall powder all over the bedroom, which she doesn't think fun to sleep in nor is it good for the baby. So, I'm laying there, wondering if a tornado is coming, and trying to figure out how to get to my girls if there is one and where to take them once I get them. Being the great guy that I am, I fell asleep before I answered all the questions. Allison came in once, just after I fell asleep to voice her worries about the storm. At least, that's what she told me happened. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.
About 1:40 AM, my cell phone rang. I had forgotten to turn the ringer down, so it was on the loudest setting, ringing like crazy in the dead still of the night. I jump out of bed and ignore the call, since it didn't have a matching name in my contact list. I assumed it would be the wonderful Nestle Help Desk letting me know that my office was not visible on the network. I went to lay down again (after putting the phone on vibrate, of course). 10 minutes later, the home phone rang with the same number on called ID. I picked up the phone and sure enough, it was the HD. I told them we had had severe weather and that the office was probably experiencing a power outage. They asked me to go in and troubleshoot the problem, just in case it wasn't a power outage. Good times. I reiterated my point, but they insisted. I told them I'd be there around 2:15 AM and would call them when I got there. I jumped in my trusty van, Geri, and headed up to Bentonville. I got to the office and saw no lights on, which isn't all that surprising. I get out and go inside. I tried the first light switch...nothing. I look behind me toward the kitchen and see the light from the Coke machine coming through the doorway. I go into the kitchen and flick on the light...success! Weird, though, that one half of the office has power, and the other doesn't. I meander through the dark office (which is freaking creepy) trying lights, but to no avail. I vaguely remember where I left my flashlight I use when working on the servers. Thankfully, I found it. The server room was smoking hot since the AC went out. Everything was beeping at me. I call Mr. Know-It-All at the Help Desk back. I very sarcastically stated that yes, the office had no power, as I had told him 30 minutes ago from the comfort of my own bed. His response? "Why, I guess there's nothing you can really do, huh?" ARE YOU SERIOUS?? At this point, the emergency lights POP and come on, helpfully showing my exit options. After checking to see if I had wet myself (which I hadn't, but seriously could have), I grabbed my laptop and started heading toward the front of the office. Then the emergency lights POP and go off again. I still hadn't wet myself. I get home around 3:30 AM and boot up the laptop, knowing there would be 20 emails about the fact the office had a power outage. I responded to the emails (only 10) and let them know it was really just an outage and that everything would be fine. I finally turned off the lights and went to bed just after 4:00 AM. What a crappy night.
Don't feel TOO sorry for me though. I did take the liberty of sleeping in until 8:00 and getting into the office at 9:00, which helped a lot. Sometimes it sucks to be the tech guy.
1 Comments
Published by John Nelson
on March 13, 2006 at 8:42 PM.
I went to bed around midnight, after shooting some pictures of the lightning. I didn't sleep too much for the first hour, as lots of tiny hail and strong winds battered the house. Allison has been sleeping in the spare bedroom over by Emma's room for the past week while our master bathroom shower is being redone. There's a ton of odor from the caulk and dry wall powder all over the bedroom, which she doesn't think fun to sleep in nor is it good for the baby. So, I'm laying there, wondering if a tornado is coming, and trying to figure out how to get to my girls if there is one and where to take them once I get them. Being the great guy that I am, I fell asleep before I answered all the questions. Allison came in once, just after I fell asleep to voice her worries about the storm. At least, that's what she told me happened. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.
About 1:40 AM, my cell phone rang. I had forgotten to turn the ringer down, so it was on the loudest setting, ringing like crazy in the dead still of the night. I jump out of bed and ignore the call, since it didn't have a matching name in my contact list. I assumed it would be the wonderful Nestle Help Desk letting me know that my office was not visible on the network. I went to lay down again (after putting the phone on vibrate, of course). 10 minutes later, the home phone rang with the same number on called ID. I picked up the phone and sure enough, it was the HD. I told them we had had severe weather and that the office was probably experiencing a power outage. They asked me to go in and troubleshoot the problem, just in case it wasn't a power outage. Good times. I reiterated my point, but they insisted. I told them I'd be there around 2:15 AM and would call them when I got there. I jumped in my trusty van, Geri, and headed up to Bentonville. I got to the office and saw no lights on, which isn't all that surprising. I get out and go inside. I tried the first light switch...nothing. I look behind me toward the kitchen and see the light from the Coke machine coming through the doorway. I go into the kitchen and flick on the light...success! Weird, though, that one half of the office has power, and the other doesn't. I meander through the dark office (which is freaking creepy) trying lights, but to no avail. I vaguely remember where I left my flashlight I use when working on the servers. Thankfully, I found it. The server room was smoking hot since the AC went out. Everything was beeping at me. I call Mr. Know-It-All at the Help Desk back. I very sarcastically stated that yes, the office had no power, as I had told him 30 minutes ago from the comfort of my own bed. His response? "Why, I guess there's nothing you can really do, huh?" ARE YOU SERIOUS?? At this point, the emergency lights POP and come on, helpfully showing my exit options. After checking to see if I had wet myself (which I hadn't, but seriously could have), I grabbed my laptop and started heading toward the front of the office. Then the emergency lights POP and go off again. I still hadn't wet myself. I get home around 3:30 AM and boot up the laptop, knowing there would be 20 emails about the fact the office had a power outage. I responded to the emails (only 10) and let them know it was really just an outage and that everything would be fine. I finally turned off the lights and went to bed just after 4:00 AM. What a crappy night.
Don't feel TOO sorry for me though. I did take the liberty of sleeping in until 8:00 and getting into the office at 9:00, which helped a lot. Sometimes it sucks to be the tech guy.
WOW!!! what a night!! that totally stinks.