the people have the power... or not.

i -heart- electricity. i HATE inconsiderate people. right now my wrath is directed at the guys behind my building who are trimming trees. it's long overdue, and i'm grateful that they're doing it, etc etc. however. when i heard the trucks out there, i went out and asked if it would help them if i moved my car, which is parked fairly close to where they're working. they were very nice and said yes, in fact it would make their jobs a lot easier. so i backed it up so that it was not directly underneath what they were doing, which made things easier on the one guy who was basically standing directly under where the limbs were falling to make sure they didn't land on my car. i also walked right by them to the basement with my laundry. okay, fine. next thing i know, i have no electricity. i think maybe they've accidentally knocked it out, and i go out to ask, or at least let them know they've done such. my neighbor beats me to them, and finds out that they turned it off on purpose. i also see, at that point, that they have moved to a new area of cutting-- directly above my car's new parking spot. (i would've moved it farther, to the front of the building, but one of their trucks was in the way.) so not only did they not tell me that i was putting my car in a spot that would soon be just as dangerous as the first, but they didn't tell me that in mere moments, they would be cutting off my oxygen. because yes, they did it on purpose, and they obviously had a little notice, because they had to call out the power company to do it. now, i realize that there are people everywhere who live without a steady stream of electricity, and that there are also people in florida, including my friend brainy blonde, who are currently without power. in the latter case, they had a little warning, in the form of miss katrina, who pretty boldly announced herself. is it so hard to at least exhibit as much common courtesy as a deadly force of nature?? lest you think that i'm just cranky that i can't watch the cubs game, well, no, i have that little grundig radio that i bought myself for my birthday, so no worries there. and the weather's not too bad, so there's no unbearable heat involved. my laundry not getting done isn't the end of the world, though that part annoys me because it's pretty common knowledge that washing machines run on electricity, and they WATCHED me starting it and didn't say anything. what's really getting me is the pages and pages of work i'm supposed to be doing, tied in to the fact that all the business calls are being forwarded to the DIGITAL phone line here, which is useless without power. i was really looking forward to the lighter-than-usual friday workload i have today, followed hopefully by a leisurely night lounging/reading on the balcony. i know those guys didn't know that i work from home, that everything important to that work requires electricity... i do realize that. but in this society, electricity is required to do pretty much anything, for better or worse, and dammit, if you're going to cut it off, fucking tell someone. ahem. obviously it's back on now.