Or something similar.

I went to the gym this late afternoon and found that, about the time I got there, the power had gone out. I debated for a while what I should do: wait it out? walk on the indoor track? throw in the towel? Then I noticed that there was a guy happily doing his thing on one of the elliptical machines that I use (there are six machines, three each of two types, and one kind is, I think, better than the other; fortunately for me, most people who exercise there seem to have the opposite opinion). I thought maybe he was just trundling along not worried about the fact that there was no power. And I thought that if he could do it, I could, too.

So I went over. The little screen on his machine was glowing its happy blue glow in his face, registering what he was doing, the preprogrammed workout he was following. That’s weird, I thought, and then realized, looking at these three machines, that they don’t plug in! Their power requirements are met by the hamster running on the wheel! If you’re on the machine and moving fast enough, these machines have power! Joy and happiness all around.

So I hopped on, did my workout (up to 28 minutes today, btw, 2.54 miles, 5.44 mph average, and about 320 calories shed), and by the time I left the power had still not come back on. But it didn’t matter. Much.

But it wasn’t just the gym, or the hostpital complex, experiencing the power outage. It was all of Linville. And as I drove home, I learned that it was all of Newland, too, including the two traffic lights in Newland (see, Avery County isn’t that backwards: the county seat has two traffic lights). But there were a number of people who don’t understand that a traffic light without power becomes a four-way stop. “I’m on the bigger road so I have the right of way” or “I’m on the cross street so I’ll wait for ever.” Oh well. I made it through.

But I was unable to get my daily Coke Zero ration in either Linville or Newland. It had to wait until I was back to Elk Park. But that worked out, too. The guy at the place where I stopped told me that the power was out all over the place—apparently a transformer on or near a transmission line had blown. So I wondered if I’d have power when I got home.

I stopped in Elk Park for some food, at that rate, not knowing if I’d be able to cook at home.

Turned out it was fine. I’m home and blogging, so the power’s on here, but if I had assumed it would be, it wouldn’t have been. You know?