An Inconvenient Goof

The Nguyen family spent the evening in our 21st floor condo. Paige and Sarah were asleep in the back. My sister and my mom were on the balcony and I was sitting down to compose a blog entry, when suddenly the building fire alarm went off. This immediately inspired an "Oh! S**t!" on my part, mainly because of the sleeping babies we had to wake up and carry down 21 flights of stairs.

This was a very loud, very annoying alarm, but I was the only one in the family that heard it. I opened the balcony doors surprised to find that my sister and my mom were happily continuing their conversation. I went to Paige's room and despite the loud, constant squeal she was sound asleep.

The ensuing walk down the stairwell was expectedly tedious. Luckily, the other two children were already outside. Alexander and Kaitlyn happened to be on a walk with my dad. Coincidentally, during that walk, my father had purchased Alexander a toy fire truck. Of course, that toy didn't compare to seeing the real thing up close. My nephew even got to speak to a fireman.

There wasn't actually a fire. It wasn't a false alarm either. There was a unusual odor on the 18th floor, so we were glad to have evacuated the children. It turned out to be a fun distraction. The kids stayed to wave "bye-bye" to the fire engines as they rode away.

I Finally Finished Another One

I'm a slow reader, alright! This didn't exactly take me four years like the last one, but a year and a half was a pretty long time. I just finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami, suggested to me by Christine. It was quite a varied experience: sometimes a lot of fun, sometimes horrifying. In my defense, I did intermittently read parts of two non-fiction books during this time. Anyway, it's time to start another one, so I'm looking again for new suggestions. Don't worry, I'm still considering your responses from last time.




mp3:"Drivin' Me Wild" by Common featuring Lily Allen

Breeze'N in OC without AC

Would you buy this product? Packaged like that? Well we didn't have a choice this weekend. The air conditioner in the Nguyen family beach condo broke down. It was over 20 years old after all. We had to open all the windows and doors and go with fans. The nearest store was Roses, a place that made K-mart look pretentious, and they only had one brand of fans: the Breeze'N (available for $12.50 or $15 depending on the size.)

The fans worked great, by the way. Despite flimsy construction and poor packaging, they generated a decent amount of breeze. They certainly lived up to their name. It also helped that the Nguyen family condo is located on the 21st floor, which meant we naturally had a nice wind flowing through our open balcony doors. In fact, with the air conditioner not working, we were able to appreciate the condominium more, since we could more freely walk on and off the balconies. The situation turned into a mixed blessing.

Unfortunately, a more serious inconvenience affected us the weekend. The Nguyen family condo was a revolving door throughout the summer, with various family members coming and going. It served as a gathering place for our extended family. Earlier this week, Mary and two of her children contracted a stomach virus (vomiting, malaise, diarrhea.) Three days after they left, Paige began vomiting, Megan became bedridden, and during the writing of this entry, I ran to the bathroom three times. The three of us were joined by the Rowles this weekend, who were still able to go down to the beach today. I just hope they don't get the gastrointestinal distress in three days. As for Megan, Paige and I, we got stuck lounging in the condo with toilet nearby. Luckily we were still able to enjoy the balconies.

mp3: "The Underdog" by Spoon