I will dream of Genie

That is the correct spelling - Genie. I had a garage door encounter today.

The story goes back farther than that, though. We had some major winds here on Sunday. They were strong, with gusts up to 60 mph. When I left the mall after walking, I immediately had a new hairdo. Then a leaf smacked me in the face, and it hurt. A leaf. Hurt. Yes.

After I got home, the power went off. And on. And off. And on. And off. And on. Over and over, all day long. It was never off very long, but then it never stayed on very long, either. It went off once after dark, so I grabbed two flashlights, some matches, a lighter, and lit a candle. I can't read in the dark, right? It went back on, and stayed on the rest of the night.

Monday it went on and off a few more times. I was lucky, since many areas around me have been completely without power. Mine was really never much more than a flicker. It was enough to be annoying when I was trying to do laundry, but not a real issue.

Today I had plans to meet a friend for lunch, then rush to class to help teach a PhotoShop class. I took a shower in my master bath, which has a window, so I didn't have any lights on. I noticed the water got cool a bit too soon, and I made a mental note to check out the hot water heater. I got dressed, then tried to dry my hair.

The power had been out since I went in the shower. It didn't flicker. My car, of course, was in the garage. Leaving the garage requires electrical power to open the garage door opener. I decided for once not to wait until the last second and went to the garage to learn how to open the door manually. Without the manual, since I didn't have time to dig it up.

This is a 2.5 car garage. Until four years ago, I had the original door and opener that were installed in 1977. There was never a problem with them until one very icy cold, snowy January morning when I had to leave at 7:30 am for work. I had them replaced. The newer door is lighter, and I hoped I could lift it.

I grabbed the little handle hanging down from a rope and pulled. I heard a "click," reached for the bottom of the door, and pulled upa bit. It was off the Genie power tract and working manually. I went back in the house to finish getting ready.

As I was on my way out the door, I heard the refrigerator go back on. Oh boy, I didn't need to open the garage door manually.

So, I went to the button to open the door and pushed. The Genie made a nice noise, but of course the door didn't go any place because I had disengaged it. I growled a bit, said some magic words, and grabbed the bottom of the door. I heaved it upwards.

It came back down.

I heaved a few more times, and it came back down. I could not get it to lock open and stay up. I piled up two garbage cans, and then realized my SUV was too high for that. I looked at the tall ladder, and decided to try to re-engage the lock.

Right. I had no idea how to do that. I was already late. I had bits of dirt and grass in my hair, on my clothes, and down my neck. My hair, of course, was still wet and pulled into a ponytail. I tried grabbing the handle on the rope and getting it to "click" again. No joy.

I got the 2-step ladder and got closer to the parts. I don't know what they are called, but that is where I heard something "click" in disengagement, so surely it must click back in somehow. I felt all around for a lever or button. None, of course. I finally grabbed the *thing* and pushed it upwards. "CLICK."

Smiling and proud of myself, I opened the garage door as it should be opened - via button. I left, and called my friend to let her know I would be late.

On the way, a pickup truck went over the center line and was heading right for me on a two-lane highway. While I was trying to read the name of the utility company that would make my daughter rich, the driver woke up and corrected his path. Whew.

Lunch was good. My friend and I had a good laugh over the door issue. I ate less than half of my chicken scallopini and took the rest with me. She told me of a friend who has a beagle puppy she doesn't want and asked if I want it - yes, I want it, and no, I can't have it now.

By now my hair was mostly dry, but I left it in the ponytail due to rubber band patterns.

I rushed to class. I agreed to coach this class so I could brush up on my PhotoShop skills. I remember almost nothing from the PhotoShop 2.0 class I did before, and this is 3.0, so I was glad to know there would be three coaches.

It's easy to guess, right? I was the only coach who showed up. Luckily, we covered just basic stuff and I had no problem with it. I definitely looked like I knew what I was doing.

When I went to Toronto at the end of September (I have ADD with topics, so I don't even bother to try to segue, OK? Just try to keep up.) I came home with a urinary tract infection. I don't get pain from them, so I ignored it. Finally last week I decided to get treated. For some reason, once I was on the antibiotic, I started to hurt. A lot. I was miserable all during class. I have been miserable since Friday.

I was so glad to get home. The garage door opened as expected, so the power was still on. I breezed into the house with my carry out box in one hand, PhotoShop Elements manual in the other, newspaper and mail under my arm. My dogs were so happy to see me, that Baby jumped up, used all 28 pounds in a forward motion, and hit my abdomen with her front feet.

Baby is still alive. She runs fast, and I was bent over, which slowed me down.