Loud Noises in the Cover of Darkness

Last night, there was a loud boom or thud or something that we hear on occasion that indicates an explosion in this war torn country.  I didn’t think anything of it because sirens weren’t sounding and I have grown accustomed to loud noises and earth shaking effects.  The lights flickered on and off for a minute as though the generators could not decide if they wanted to continue working or take the night off.  The final decision was to take the night off, as so many of us would like to do the same; the generators are the only ones with the guts to take action.  The lights went out right as I decided to grab a book to pass the time prior to falling asleep. 

I cheered a bit in my head because it meant my roommate would have nothing to do but go to bed.  It also meant the fan would be off and I could warm up for once.  But on the down side, it meant the water heater would not continuously warm water for my 430 shower.  My roommate returned from doing laundry.  Luckily, she was in the process of pulling her items out of the dryer when the power shut off.  The First Sergeant had handed out head lamps to the females, so we were walking around our blacked out building looking like coal miners the rest of the evening.  My roommate had a fake candle that she turned on, so as I entered the room after a trip to the bathroom, the flickering “candle light “ made it appear as though she was having some sort of prayer ritual in her area.  One of the females called the billeting office to let them know our power was out and began to spread the rumor it would be out until 0600.  I began to prepare myself mentally for a cold shower in the morning.  My roommate, while folding laundry, became flustered because the internet was out as well. 

Neither of us thought about flipping the light switches off, so when the power came back on at 0200, our room was as bright as daylight.  I arose from my bed to turn the lights off; my roommate was sitting up in bed on her phone, checking the internet most likely.  I went to the bathroom to discover the lights were still off even though the switches were in the on position.  I continued to prep myself mentally for a cold shower. 

Two and a half hours later, as I shut my alarm off, I grabbed my towel, my shower caddy, and a bottle of dry shampoo just in case the water was too cold for a shower, at least I would have clean hair.  The power was still out in the bathroom.  I said a little prayer and continued to the shower stall.  I flipped the nozzle up.  Cold water spewed out.  I told myself to give it a minute; nothing was for sure just yet.  I noticed the shower curtain start to move towards the flowing water, a good sign the water was getting hot.  I tested the temperature of the water with my hand and it was hot!  Thank Jesus! 

When I got to work, I was informed the power outage was post wide.  I’ll bet we have some pretty tired electricians here this morning that deserve a day off!