“Well, THAT clearly didn’t work,” she grumbled, tapping her keyboard repeatedly and wincing at the answering repeated dings that only made her midday headache worse.
She’d been charged with getting data analyzed, summarized, and sent out to the legislative aide by 2 pm that afternoon; luckily, these were updated numbers to a report she’d previously written two years ago.
Checking her watch, she considered that even if it was 1:30 pm, she could probably pour herself another cup of coffee from the press pot in their office kitchen while she waited to shut down and reboot to clear the cache.
It was then that the lights went out, and the white noise and forced air grew silent, followed by frantic tapping of other keyboards; a chorus of groans preceded slick heads peering over the tops of rows of cubicles, like meerkats scanning for predators.
Grabbing her mug, she strolled off to console herself with that cup of caffeine; she would be yelled at by the boss for the power outage and missed deadline, either way.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2023)

The meerkats were a great touch!
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Thanks, Ann, Memories!
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Some bosses are just like that, aren’t they.
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Yep. Why we retire or quit.
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Great six! And a cup of coffee makes everything better.
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Thanks! It does…skol!
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Great imagery, Liz! Trying not to mention the meerkats but what the hell … they were fun! Nice 6!
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Thanks! An everyday sight in cubicle-word!
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What else could she do. A cup of coffee is good for consoling
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‘Zackly!!
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👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
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Power outages are a daily occurrence in South Africa! 🙄
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Who gets blamed? Or is it an accepted signal for coffee break? Yah, US productivity sucks!
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Nothing like a power outage just before a deadline. As Clark mentioned, nice descriptive use of those meerkats.
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Thanks, Frank!
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Love the meerkat image!
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Me too…blast from the past!
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