Fun House

Hello World, Well, there's certainly no denying that this week looked a whole lot better in our estimation than last week, and that's saying a mouthful, believe me. I won't go so far as to say that I've established a new standard for what constitutes a satisfactory week around here ("Okay, any 7-day period without a hurricane in it is a good one from now on") but the idea wasn't far from my thoughts, I can tell you that. It seems that I've seen enough bad weather to last me a good long time, and getting back to normal has an undeniable appeal that was under-appreciated until the recent untoward events. The pastor at our church quipped that he's already lived through three of what the media described as "The Storm of the Century," so he figures that he's set for the next 300 years. I admit that math is not my strong suit, but frankly, it's hard to argue with logic like that. In the aftermath of Sandy, millions of people lost their electricity in the tri-state area, most of them for days at a stretch, and for many thousands of unfortunate customers, even longer. It goes without saying that home generators flew off the shelves at stores everywhere, but in an ironic twist, the ensuing gas shortages made it difficult for people to get fuel for their cars or generators, which is the foul weather equivalent of adding insult to injury, and then some. We lost our power at home on Monday afternoon, even before the super-storm really hit its full stride, and it was a long cold and dark week, that was not only uncomfortable and depressing, but so monumentally boring that it's a wonder our brains didn't just explode from lack of stimulation. Friday night after work, we came home and saw the lights on at our house for the first time all week, and an innocent bystander anywhere near us would have been forgiven for thinking that we just won the lottery. And in many ways, I don't mind saying, it certainly felt like we had. I would also like to go on the record as stating that electricity is definitely NOT over-rated, and God bless Thomas Alva Edison! Of course, I stayed at my post last Wednesday night, hoping against hope that anyone would be out trick-or-treating in the storm-ravaged wilderness that was once the Queen City of the Sound, but no such luck. Other municipalities had officially canceled the holiday, either imposing a curfew on trick-or-treating, or banning it altogether, and then designating a make-up day for the festivities later, such as over the weekend. All things considered, I was disappointed that New Rochelle didn't follow that same plan, and they never officially canceled Halloween, so there were no provisions to reschedule it for another time, as I was hoping they might, giving us a second chance to enjoy the holiday fun under better circumstances. So I never got the opportunity to see any costumes, as I always enjoy, and I was still stuck with all 100 goodie bags that I started out with, and just had to disassemble all of them later, and it was with a heavy heart that I did so, alas. All of the fun-size sweets didn't seem very fun at all in the end, except perhaps at the employer of last resort, where the staff swooped down on them like a pack of vultures when I brought them in to work. We may forget a lot about what happened last week, but if nothing else, I'll remember this as The Year That Sandy Stole Halloween. It's true that this week was better, but for thousands of people whose lives had been turned upside-down - with flooding, fires, downed trees, no lights, no heat, no transit, no gas, and spoiled food - we weren't all out of the woods yet, not by any means. So the last thing that anybody wanted to hear was a nor'easter bearing down on the area on Wednesday, which is really kicking someone when they're down, and should be prohibited under the terms of the Geneva Convention, or whatever meteorological conventions these weather systems subscribe to. People who had just gotten their electricity back on Saturday or Sunday were plunged into darkness once more, as high winds snapped even more power lines, some of which had just been repaired from the week before. On top of all that, it was cold enough that the storm brought us actual snow, thanks not, and heavy-laden branches caused even more trees to topple, and even more thanks so very much not. This time we were luckier, and it wasn't as bad around us as many other places, particularly in that we kept our electricity through it all, which as we all know, is like winning the lottery, and I ought to know. Or to paraphrase our friends at Coca-Cola: "Everything goes better with electricity," and they're not just whistling Dixie, by golly. In the midst of all this destruction and catastrophe, what should come skulking along in its odious way, but the bothersome switch-over from Daylight Saving Time back to Standard Time - or as we refer to it at our house, Temporary Winter Time. After all, it only lasts about 4 months of the year now, which is hardly what I would consider "standard" by any definition of the term. Many of us who just reset all of our clocks, timers, appliances and electronic devices on Friday when the power came back, then found ourselves scrambling around again on Saturday, changing them all over again in the "fall back" to Winter Time from the long months of DST previously - and I don't mind saying that we did not think much of this idea, and you can believe me when I tell you that I am unanimous in that. At least now we can enjoy a short winter where the time stays where it is, that is, unless we have more storms, and once again, thanks ever so much not. One good thing that we did during "hurricane week" when we had no electricity, was deciding to go to the movies for a change. After 4 long days in the cold and dark, it was nice to be somewhere warm and bright instead, and a welcome relief from the boredom at home. Since we got to the cinema way ahead of time, we were able to relax and savor a leisurely dinner of Freschetta personal pan pizza, which is a concession stand highlight that we never pass up on a movie date night. Because it was the day after Halloween, the usual vast array of options at our nearby multi-plex were limited to mostly horror movies (and why anyone needs to see horror movies in IMAX 3-D is certainly a mystery to me, I'm sure) so we didn't have much to choose from. What we ended up seeing was "Fun Size," a Halloween-themed teenage comedy that we found charmingly cute in many ways, with some genuinely funny moments that managed to cheer us up in spite of it all. The young cast was engaging and perky, with a handful of film veterans to make us old-timers feel right at home. The story was somewhat madcap, but surprisingly clever, compared to the ordinary juvenile films with their sophomoric and low-brow humor that is designed to be embarrassing and offensive, and succeeds on all counts. I can't deny that the movie got some terrible reviews, from people who ought to know, but we thought it was pleasant and entertaining, and an amusing diversion during an otherwise dismal week. We also did some shopping while we were at it, and it was refreshing to be out and about where things were just like normal, during a time that was less than ideal in so many ways. I won't say that we made the President's economic advisers leap for joy at our paltry purchases, but for us, it was a nice break from the grim reality that had us in its steely grip since Monday, and not a moment too soon. As the inimitable Gracie Allen once famously observed, "It's lots of fun to have fun, even if you don't enjoy it!" Elle