Experiments in Exile

This weekend, there was a significant chance that ice and snow would make the roads dangerous, so I decided to stay out near work. After debating, and flip-flopping repeatedly, I decided to stay at the office on Friday into Saturday.
There was to be some power maintenance happening and I wanted to be on hand in case things wentsideways, and the weather would have left me 2 miles (and across a major highway). I set up camp in a vacant conference room and camouflaged myself from the motion detectors so that I would not trigger the lights every time I rolled over.  Passing out around 0230 local and figured I could get a solid 5-6 hours in prior to the daywalkers coming in. The power maintenance had other ideas. At 0530, a hiccup triggered the fire alarms and strobes to all go off in the office. Woke from a dead sleep after 3 hours to loud honking and flashing, I sat up quick to get my bearings, and promptly beaned myself on the conference table I was sleeping under. Now groggy and with a headache, I stumbled over to check on the maintenance. There were a few other nagging issues that went on through the rest of the day with dhcp/domain related things and the in house wifis, but that all got cleared up early in the afternoon and the rest was mostly cake. As I had been up for 19 hours on just under 3 hours sleep and had had a rough couple of previous days, I didn't trust myself to drive home. I had a co-worked drop me at the hotel near work and he would pick me in time to get to the office.  I ordered a pizza (Imo's) and then passed out. I woke up at 0800 without needing an alarm. My feet were still a little sore, but aside from that I felt great. Leisurely morning hanging around the lobby netted me a conversation with one of the counter workers about Stevie Nicks and 80s music, a decent plate of eggs benedict, and an opportunity to pass along some eating tips in St. Louis.
I then headed outside and realized how appreciative I was of near freezing temperatures coupled with direct sunlight. I think that a few weather patterns have an ability to instantly transport me to a place of peace. This, a cool evening breeze after a hot day, a foggy, snowy night around 0200-0300, all just mellow me for a few minutes and remind me how great random contradictions can be. I was reflecting on this as a woman came out to smoke and was walking around. She said she was trying to avoid covering me in smoke. I explained that I came up in coffee shops and houses of the late 80's and early 90's and really didn't mind. We got to talking and I asked her where she was from. She told me. We discussed family and travel and what it is like being outsiders and I had a good idea (No Names: Impromptu Interviews with the Road).  My ride showed up and we headed to work. Not the longest stint on the road, but definitely worth it.