be careful what you wish for . . .

So there the five of us are . . . all sprawled out on the bed, the 9TS in charge of the remote. Lest I remind you, it is Thursday night during summer reruns . . . NOTHING is on. click . . . click . . . click. Ninja opens one eye at the interruption and promptly goes back to wherever little beasties go when they lay on the bed without a bone in their body . . . you know what I am saying if you've ever been owed by a cat . . . click . . . click . . . I must be grumpy, the sound is sitting on my last nerve . . . click. And so I am thinking to myself . . . peace and quiet would be nice.

And the Gods were listening. BOOM! major power surge. Three cats instantly head for the hinterlands. The screen goes temporarily black, then 1950 fuzz appears . . . for a moment I think we are merely waiting for Ed Sullivan to walk across the stage. More fuzz. The 9TS thinks calling Brighthouse might be a good idea. I stare at him and he stares at me. I get stared down and stumble out of bed to find the phone book. I explain our plight. The kind lady asks, "Do you have the box on a surge protector?" Now I know the answer is supposed to be yes but of course if I had everything in this house on a surge protector, I would be sucking half the juice destined for NYC. No! I do not have it on a surge protector!

Sweetly, she announces that I have blown the box the smithereens and someone will be out between 10 and 12 tomorrow to sweep up the mess. The 9TS is sad. I, on the other hand, am left simply wondering exactly how much pull I have with the Gods of Silence and Peace and could I now forever conjure them up at will??