I don't trust my roommates anymore. Last night, some trees fell down on some power lines in the east bay leaving our neighborhood in a blackout. As I drive up to the house, I see both their cars outside, so I know they are home. As I am unlocking the front door, I hear some footsteps in the kitchen area. Perhaps one of them is coming over to open the door and tell me how glad they are to see me return home after a long day. No such luck. I walk in and I expect to see a candle or a flashlight around, but it is just pitch black. I take a half step into the living room and my leg bumps into one of our little stools. My Spidey-sense tells me something is going on here, so I had better be careful. I stand in the doorway for a few minutes because I can hear someone breathing, but I can't see who it is. I thought they were going to ambush me and rob me of the $450.00 I had in my pocket (actually it was $4.50). Finally, Jason and Danny can't keep it in and bust out laughing. A flashlight turns on and I see a whole maze of chairs, our golf bags, stools, tables, and a drying rack all set up before me. Their plan to make me stumble had been foiled. Jason was trying not to laugh because Danny had actually tripped over part of their own trap while running to his hiding place when I got to the door. I can't wait until the next blackout. I already have my duct tape and barbed wire ready.

Actually the blackout made things really boring at our house. It's amazing how much our televisions, video games, computers, and other electronics influence our lives. We had a long-distance-candle-blowing-out competition. It is not something I look forward to again. It's a good thing I am not Amish. Many thanks to Peony and her sisters for their candle.

My quest for the One ring was hindered yesterday by the power outage and postponed today because of '24.' On another random note, my ebay page of "items I'm bidding on" has dwindled to one item. At one point last week, I had 56 items with bids totaling close to $3000. Unfortunately for me (lucky for my checkbook), I did not win many of those items.