Days 5 & 6 (of 30)

DAY 5: Monday. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. What, you expect us to do work on this day?

Day 6: Tuesday. A very frustrating day for me. All weekend long I did nothing to further my progress on the home front, and so I had a hefty "to do" list going for Tuesday. Unfortunately, I was scheduled to work that day, and so I felt like I was being forced to spin my wheels even more. I used a skip to try and call the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a chore which I thought was no biggie, but ended up a disaster. First of all, the internet connection I was counting on to tell me LADWP's phone number wasn't working. So I called information, which connected me to the DWP for Huntington City. The person at the other end of the line there connected me back to the secretary, who said I'd have to call Los Angeles City Hall in order to reach the DWP (which I don't think is true). So I had her connect me to City Hall, where -- after enduring a chipper recorded message from Mayor Villaigarosa -- I got another operator, who said she'd connect me. For a minute or so I listened to music on hold, and then suddenly the line went silent. I waited for a human voice. None came. Had my call been dropped? After a minute or two of this dead silence, I ventured: "Hel-loooo..." Which was answered by the peevish operator: "Just a second, sir..." Finally I was connected but immediately put on hold (more music). By now, my skip had ended and lunch was beginning. Finally I got a pleasant woman on the line, and told her all about how I wanted to change the electric at the new apartment to my name starting Jan. 19th, and cancel my existing service at the old address on Feb. 9th. She put me on hold while she verified something, and it was while on hold that my cell phone's battery decided to die. I was awfully frustrated, but it turned out that when I got home and charged my phone and called LADWP back, and waited on the line for a little while, my request had been processed. Good!

And then I packed five boxes full of books.