It’s hard to know how many people living along the path around the Falls overslept on Monday morning, but there had to be a fair number, given at least three factors.
First, Packer fans were up late watching the team play in New Orleans on Sunday night. It’s possible that quite a few fans went to bed early before the end of the second half as a form of protest for the poor showing. When No. 12 started to limp, it was all downhill.
A second factor had to do with the fact that it was the darkest Monday morning of the year, since we return to standard time early Sunday morning. Next Monday there will be more daylight to start the work day, but it will hit like a load of bricks at the end of the day when night time creeps in an hour earlier.
But perhaps the biggest factor in why some people might have overslept on Monday morning had to do with electronics. A lot of people, including this morning guy, wake up to a clock radio alarm. Those who do set their alarm to a favorite radio station. The one by the bed at home is tuned to Wisconsin Public Radio. Last night was a restless night for some unknown reason. About 4 in the morning the thunder and lightning started.
The question was whether or not to wait for the alarm and the first round of the morning news. After a bit, the restlessness took over. The alarm was shut off, and the morning routine was begun.
Moving to another part of the house, a computer was fired up, the Listen to WPR tab was clicked, and the familiar voices were heard. A few minutes later, there was no sound. Had the mute button been pushed by accident? No. A few more clicks on the tab and the buttons on the page did not resolve the problem.
Then a thought popped into my mind. Perhaps there was a spark of genius at WPR, and this was a new tactic in the monthly pledge drive. Perhaps someone figured out how to stop the signal going to listeners who have not contributed recently. They always threaten how valuable the service is to listeners and ask what life would be like without the programming. Perhaps they wanted you to know? After some contemplation, that possibility was ruled out.
After a while it became obvious that the computer was no longer able to access the Internet. There had been a fair amount of lightning to the north. Perhaps a power surge tripped the router. Rebooting fixes lots of things, and in this case, Internet access was restored. But still there was no access to WPR online.
A check with the car radio confirmed that there was no access. The station was off the air. There was no static, just dead silence. Because I had gotten up early I knew the station was off the air. Had I, like many others, stayed in bed waiting for that digital wake-up call, which never came, I would have overslept. It’s funny how sometimes a night of restlessness can get a person off to a better start to the day. At least it did on Monday.
There was no service the entire morning commute to work. Later in the morning it was restored but exactly when, we cannot tell.
Arriving in Oconto Falls on a dark morning can be a bit tricky, given all the sewer line reconstruction in the streets. There are Road Closed signs all over, but are they really closed? Monday morning one squad car was parked with no lights across from Peterson Ford next to one of those barricades. The smart move in that situation was not to go past the barricade to determine whether the road really was closed.
With all the construction, drivers who think they know their way around town aren’t so sure because of the day-to-day, changing situation. The digital readout on the Shell station gas pumps have a friendly greeting, “Thanks for finding your way here.” There may be other people who are saying the same thing.
There may be lots of reasons to be late to work, but people better use “I overslept because of all the street closures.”
Stay awake when you are behind the wheel, especially in downtown Oconto Falls.
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