I really don’t feel the need to go into the town every day, but every two days might be necessary to stay in the loop with this flu epidemic.  Maybe Monday, Wednesday and Friday; or maybe Monday and Thursday.  It will depend on how Darlene is doing.

We stopped at the offices first – John is still my shadow, which is ok with me; I really do feel safer with him nearby.  The main door was unlocked, but I couldn’t find anyone inside.  Since it was warmer in there than outside, I had John come in to keep me company, while I sanitized Darlene’s desk.  With gloves and mask, I cleared all of the papers off, glancing thru them to see if she’d left me any notes.  They all went into a cardboard box I had sprayed down with disinfectant.  I emptied the pen holder into the box, the sticky notes, everything she might have touched, until the desk was empty but for the phone, which I liberally sprayed.  I sprayed the desk and wiped it with paper towels, then sprayed it again; Same with the chair, door knobs and light switches. Next were the drawers and cupboards.  The place stank of cleaner, but I was confident the room was now clean.

I sat down to use the phone.

The first call was to the cable company, and yes, service was suspended because of non-payment.  Geesh, it’s been only six weeks (is that all???) … I had paid all my bills in early November before anything happened.  I explained where I was and that without power I couldn’t pay online.  She took my debit card number and said it would be turned back on by the end of the day.  The rep hesitated, and then told me not all channels were available anymore; that most of the news stations had been shut down by the government.  Swell, now the news is censored even more than it was before.

John came in with a welcomed cup of coffee!

Before making any other calls, I set up my laptop and managed to get online with the township server!  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to.  Only 2789 emails behind….LOL… I skipped over to my online banking to check account balances.  Everything looked to be intact, though since I haven’t spent anything in weeks, I had no idea what the dollar was worth.  Scary.  I got into bill payment and set up automatic transfers to keep things paid.  If we had any power at all, some normalcy would be very welcomed, and that made me think.  I switched sites and looked up my account with our power company.  Damn… even though they aren’t delivering any power, I’m still being charged the $25 per month surcharge!  Likely everyone here is.  Greedy bastards.  If we ever get power back, everyone is going to have a huge bill that has nothing to do with electricity.  I went back into my banking and set up an automatic payment for that $25.

Next was to Verizon, when I explained where I was and that it was their tower that was down, they agreed to suspend but not cancel my internet.  They also saw it reasonable to credit my account for the prior five weeks of cell service, as they could see it hadn’t been used.  The rep was nice, and he was helpful, but did say the first time there was activity on the phone, charges would start again.  I found that more than acceptable, and thanked him.

I had one more personal call to make, but would do it after I called Don White.  He must have been sitting right there as he picked it up on the second ring, and had apparently programmed the phone with caller ID.  Makes me wonder if there are those he doesn’t want to talk to; I also wonder how long it will be before I’m on that list too.

“Deborah, how are things up in Moose Creek?” was he too cheery?

“Cold; snowy; and overall –  Crap. Half of the town is down sick with this flu.  Me and mine are ok so far though.  Darlene is sick, but I haven’t seen her in a few days, so I don’t really know her status.  What is going on, Don? Any relief in sight?” It was only noon and I was already tired.  “And what about food?  That would help us out a LOT. And can we get any kind of meds? That would really help Gary out.”  There was too long of a hesitation.  Was it in part that Don was new to the job?  Or something else?

“Do you have any idea how many you have left in town?”

“Not yet, but would it matter?” this was a strange conversation.

“Not really, because I have only so-much in the way of resources,” he sighed, and sounded more tired that I felt. “I will try to get you a load of food, but I can’t make any promises.  If, and I do mean IF, I can get something together, where do you want it?”

“I understand, Don, really, and we appreciate all you can do.  I think the best place for any delivery would be the Fire/EMS hall; someone is always there.” I was thinking not just for the delivery, but to keep it safe. My turn to pause, “When was the last time you had any sleep, Don?”

“I was taking a nap when you called,” it was a hollow chuckle that followed.  “I’ve been sleeping on the couch; haven’t been home in a week.”  I was starting to feel very lucky.

I dialed my sister.  There was no answer.