#preppinglikeaboss

So on Friday what had happened was … We all were expecting rain, and it did just that. I was gonna Uber home from work , but seventeen dollars for a pool was not my cup of tea- I should have known then-. So I mustered up all of my Midwestern Ohio strength and checked myself, and chumped the rain and wind off. I was able to get on the train with minimal issues.  It was the moment when I hit USC’s Galen stop, and had to walk over to Broadway to catch the 45, that I totally became upset with my decision to own the ratty ass weak umbrella that I was toting around in my work bag. We allllll know what raggedy umbrellas do in windy rain. For those of you who don’t know they do a flimsy flip-flop dance in the air and they break, leaving you exposed to the elements. Now I’m just thuggin’ it out and humping it in this misty and annoying windy rain. I’m lucky enough that there is a tree to shelter me until my bus comes. Once it finally arrives I need to listen to some Clark Sisters ‘cause I am thoroughly irritated at this point.

As I ride by the shops in my neighborhood I see a tree down and yellow tape near the dollar store, and to my left  the nail shop is pitch black on a Friday- we know that’s blasphemy in the beauty world- and I think nothing of it. I then decide to go to the grocery store because the rain is picking up and I am so ready just to Netflix and chill my weekend away with a home cooked meal. While I am shopping the lights are flickering in the store and I mumble to God that I really hope that the power doesn’t go out. I finally check out, and by this time a full monsoon has ensued outside. The poor palm trees are swaying and the skies are grayer than a Cleveland day…lol. I call Uber to take me on in. As soon as I hop in the ride he’s like you’re my last ride for the day – and I can’t say that I blame him-.

I get inside my house happier than ever. I change into dry clothes and then commence to getting my kitchen together so that I can fry me some wangs and be a fat recluse for the weekend.  Whelp, that’s where the story begins. I flipped my light switch and there was nothing. I live alone, and only do the head nod to my neighbors so I had no one else to ask. I called my one friend who was house-sitting near me. He’s all like “did you pay your bill chick ‘cause I’m in Hollywood getting my locs washed and we good over this way”… “Um yes I paid my bill”, I reply and simply hang up with a baby attitude to follow.

I’m left to my own devices, just bought groceries, no internet, no T.V., no power and guess what else? My only outlet to the outside world is dying by the minute. What you ask? My Droid phone wants to decline in a moment like this. So I get on the phone and get to sending out S.O.S’s. I’m kindov panicking, but I’m kindov cool too. I have candles and I packed all of my groceries into the freezer and stack all of my frozen items on top of the new groceries. I crank my candles up, make the best guacamole I’ve ever made in life by candlelight and I chill out and calm myself.

I couldn’t get an Uber or a Lyft at the moment because the 110 was backed up and all of the surface streets were hell because there were no lights. The whole time I was screaming in my head like the city is shut down from rain??? My same friend had left the shop by this time and called me to lament about how Wilshire BLVD. was a parking lot. I couldn’t enjoy the conversation because my phone was dyyyyyiing rapidly (once that Droid gets to 15% it’s downhill from there.)

My friends in the Valley insisted that I come their way because it was drier and they actually had power. I knew I had to make a decision before my phone died. Then a ram in the bush appeared. My work laptop had charged overnight and I didn’t take it to work that day because I didn’t need it. I had enough battery to charge my phone and wait for traffic to die down.  While I waited for a charge and a rescue party I completed my Bug Out Kit list and thought about how timely it is to get an emergency kit in order, especially since I am a loner. I reflected on Octavia Butler’s, Parable of the Sower, and totally realized why the main character in the story is trying to tell her community members to be prepared in case of a disaster. Even though RainPOCALYPSE 2017 was nowhere near a full on disaster, it definitely put being prepared in perspective. You never know when your survival kits will come in handy. Get ONE!!!

Around 8 o’clock my Uber came and whisked me off to the Valley, where I got dressed and commenced to Fridaying at the Sugar Mill –you can catch Bobby Brown in there on a good night-. That my friends is another Midwest Girl in A Cali World story in itself. Needless to say I stayed dry, had fun with my loved ones from Cleveland and was able to come back to my humble abode the next day and pick up where I left off. So much for the fat recluse I thought I would be this past weekend!