Jonzo's worst ever day #2
on 2002-12-16 at 1:26 p.m.
Okay, so the last day was pretty pitiful and in the grand scope of things I guess not as bad as it could have been, but never the less, it was the worst day of my life. I've only had two days that at any point I would have considered to be my "worst day". Here is number 2.
It was about 5 years ago, during the holiday season and I was living and working in Charleston, WV. My parents lived here in Roanoke, VA and I was home visiting them for the holidays. It started to snow the night before I was to go back, and I went ahead and packed the car in hopes of getting an early start. I was then driving a 1993 Honda Prelude, a great car, that went anywhere and everywhere I wanted to go, but was only front wheel drive, and really low to the ground, so while I never had trouble driving it in the snow, it was always in the back of my mind. So over night we got about 6 inches of snow, and I got up around 8am to survey my possibilities. I called Charleston to check on the weather there, and was told they were getting lots of rain, so I figured I would leave town around 10am, leaving me 7 hours to get to work at 5pm, and only a 3 hour drive under normal conditions. So I head out of the drive way, up the hill and out to the interstate, where there is snow but it is not difficult driving and the traffic is cruising along at 45 mph or so. I head south through Christiansburg on I-81 all the way to Ft. Chiswell where I picked up I-77 north towards WV. As I am entering onto 77 north it becomes apparent that the traffic is much slower and that the snow on the road is getting deeper and less passable. I settled in behind a big rig and keep right behind him for 20 miles or so goin about 25 mph. Then, out of nowhere we come to a dead stop. We sit in the same spot on the interstate, in the mountains of VA and WV for about 2 hours. People are walking around, goofing off and there is a rest stop just about 200 yards from where I am stopped. I walked over to the rest area and called my parents and my work from a payphone to tell them I was stuck and didn't know when I would get to work. I considered trying to turn around and go back to my parent's home, but was already half way there and decided just to stick it out. After the 2+ hours at a dead standstill, traffic started moving again, and all of a sudden traffic going in the other direction became much heavier, and I realized they were turning people around a couple of miles up the road. I drove on anyway and into the second long tunnel on the road, and as you came out of the tunnel, you emerged into total white out conditions, and they were turning cars and truck around and sending them back in the other direction, so I turned around and headed back south on 77 to the first exit, where I got off at a gas station and called my parents and my work again to tell them both I wasn't going to get to work on time. By this time it was 4pm, and I was 6 hours into my drive. As I started to get back in the car, I started some small talk with a snowplow driver from the state of WV. He said not to get back on the interstate yet, because they had just been notified of a horrible accident on southbound I-77 just a mile or two from where we were. So I sat with him for awhile making small talk until he got a message on his CB that they were going to try and plow through the white out area all the way to Bluefield where the snow was much lighter. So he told me to get behind his truck and follow him back to where they had turned me around just a couple hours before. So I get back on the road going north and it takes us another hour or so to get through traffic and back to where the tunnel ends and he tells me just to pull of the side of the road and wait until they start plowing and then just to follow the plow to Bluefield, where they will pull off and turn around because the weather there was not as bad. So I waited, while they plowed the road at about 10 mph all the way to Bluefield where there was little snow, and they pulled off, and I continued on my way to Charleston, where there was nothing but rain, arriving at my apartment around 11pm after a 13 hour drive, and having missed work. Just like the other story now, you are thinking, damn, that was a pretty crappy day, but NO it does not end there. I go up to my apartment and open the door, only to find it cold as ice and dark as hell, because my power had been shut off. I figured, no big deal, the power must be out, but then I realized by looking out of my balcony that other apartments had electricity. I also only had a cordless phone, that operates on, you guessed it, electricity. So I got the emergency number for the power company and went to the corner store to use the payphone, and was able to get a hold of them. Apparently, due to a mistake, my power had been turned off. They said they would get it turned back on, first thing the next morning. By this time it is 12:30am, and I'm exhausted so I head back to apartment ready to hit the sack and figure it all out the next day. I lived on the 6th floor af an apartment building that had locks on the exterior doors as well, so as I arrived back at the entrance to my building I found that I had left my keys in my apartment, so now I'm locked out of my building, it is starting to snow, and it is almost 1am. I went to the building where the apartment manager lived and just started typing in 3 digit codes on the phone box until someone answered. I convinced them to buzz me in to see the manager, and I went to his apartment and knocked on the door. I told him I was locked out and he gave me the key and told me to bring it back the next day. So I headed back outside with only one key, and you guessed it, I still can't get in my building. Back to the phone box, and ring the same lady again, who buzzes me in again, and back to the apartment manager, again. I explain that I also need to get into my building, to get to my apartment, so he gives me the key to the building, and back out in the snow I go. This time, I am able to get into the building and into my apartment, only to realize that the power must have been off a long time because there is a horrible stench coming from the refridgerator, so bad that one of my neighbors had left me a note in my mailbox asking me to take care of it. So at 2:30am, I'm cleaning out my refridgerator, in the dark, in the cold. I finish that up and head down the hallway to toss it out since we have one of those trash chutes, and some women acosts me in the hallway for making too much noise. I almost snapped her like a twig, but I remained calm and went back to my apartment, only to find out that each apartment apparently has its own hot water heater, and you guessed it, it's electric. So now, I'm dirty, wet, tired, and cold, and I look at my schedule and realize, oh goody! I'm at work at 7am.
So yeah, that was day #2 on the shittiest days ever in Jonzo existence list.
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Prodigal Jonzo Returns - 2005-09-16
Sober - 2004-02-12
Long time, and Happy Anniversary - 2003-12-08
Getting you up to date... - 2003-11-21
Welcome Home Richard - 2003-11-12
