The city had a good dumping of snow on Sunday; so, the commute to work on Monday was hell. The bus was late and packed with people. It took me an hour just to get to work!
Walking to work, I bumped into Charlene. She said she was going home as the building was closed. A pipe burst on the fifth floor and flooded the floors under it, including the elevators. The maintenance people were working on them.
I sent Wendy a text message regarding the situation and told her that I was heading home. I took some pictures of the building on my way to the bus stop.
The next day, I reported for work and was met by the building supervisor. He said that I had to use the fire escape to gain entry to the office because the elevators were still under repair. Unfortunately for him, he had to accompany me to the 16th floor, where our office was, because the fire door was locked. The poor fellow had been up and down the building at least 70 times since he got there. I gave him two bottles of orange juice when we reached the office.
Since I was the first to arrive, I had to keep the fire door open for others. Charlene came in next, then Shelley. Wendy only made it to the sixth floor. She went down again and went home.
It was Charlene's last day and Shelley and I wanted to give her a send-off lunch. Unfortunately, it was impossible because of our situation. Instead, we went home early at 3 p.m. and greeted each one a merry Christmas and happy New Year. (The office was closed for the holiday season and would reopen in 2009.)
The ride home was a mess, too. A malfunctioning railroad guard rail kept traffic at bay for 30 minutes. This screwed up the bus schedules and the driver, whose shift had just ended, had to drop everyone off at some busy intersection 22 blocks away from home. I had to walk in the snow for 12 blocks just to avoid the crowds and catch an empty bus home.
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