When Southern California Got Too Much Rain

On not being able to make it to work.

We've been getting a lot of rain lately. Not just drizzles, but pours, as if some one kicked a bucket full of water.

Monday, 6:30am I got up and start getting ready

7:05am, as I was cooking my oatmeal on my gas stove, the kitchen light suddenly went out

7:10am, the light came back briefly and went out again

7:15am, the light came back again, but in a weird way: a 100W light bulb is only illuminating the brightness of a 25W one

I decided to eat breakfast in the dark, as my flash light decided to the battery is too weak to make it working

7:25am, I tried to study my water heater in the dark, using my cell phone as a flash light. I decided to take a chance and take a shower, hoping the warm water stored in the heater before power went out was sufficient.

7:30am, after a quick shower, I quickly got ready and was ready to leave the house. Everywhere was dark.

7:35am, I stood in front of the garage door, clicking on the remote, but there was no response.

7:40am, I went upstairs and knocked on the door of the apartment manager.

7:50am, the apartment manager couldn't open the garage door as well. It just so happened, it was a public holiday too (and my company happen to not observe this one), so he has to call the emergency line of the landlord to get some help.

I texted my manager, and said I couldn't come to work because I couldn't get my car out of the garage.

My manager's reply, 'Sorry to laugh, but LOL. Just get in when you can'

8:10am, the apartment manager returned, and said the emergency person would come in about an hour to unlock the garage door for us

I went back to my dark apartment, and decided to go to bed. There's nothing else to do anyways: I had limited cell phone battery left, there was no internet, no heater, no nothing.

10:xx am, I woke up, and the garage door was open. So I finally left for work.

10:xx am, as I drove out of the garage, I found one side of the street with lights still on, and the other side completely dark. Then I drove a bit further, and found a lot of service vans and trucks lined up. A tree had apparently fell down and knocked down a power line.

I got to work, and realized I forgot to bring my cell phone.

6:05pm, I got home. The power was still out.

To cope with the situation, and avoid smell like a pig the next day going to work. I decided to go to the gym, and use the gym shower instead.