bad weather ...

...barreling through the state. We can usually depend on getting whatever happened in Texas a couple of days ago, and Alabama overnight showing up here today. But this storm was reportedly coming up from the south, with high winds, frog-strangling rains, thunder and lightening. I suspect that someone someplace has been swamped by flooding and possibly tornadoes.

I was at work, but close to leaving. The rain was pounding so hard you could hear it in the building - it has to be really heavy to hear it over all the sounds of an occupied building. Computerized cash registers beeping, people constantly on the intercom making announcements, ringing telephones, customers and employee conversations, plus the background music that is always present. You could hear all that, then suddenly silence: nothing but the rain pounding on the roof. Then the insistent, blaring alarms mounted on poles all over town, announcing imminent bad weather, warning us to take cover.

The lights were out. It was completely totally, blindingly dark for about 45 seconds, then auxillary power came on. With enough lights overhead for customers to find their way out of the store. And, surprisingly, ample power to run the registers. I can remember when the power would go out and nothing worked. So customers would wait, hoping we would be re-energized. Sometimes, yes. Sometimes: no.

The assumption is that they have rewired, and reprogrammed the computers that manage the cash registers. Allowing for payment of goods. You don't want customers to leave without what ever they came in for, and you don't want them to not be able to pay for whatever they came to get. Even if you can't find your way from one side of the store to the other in the pitch black dark, it is imperative that the registers are in good working order.