I have missed a scheduled episode for the lowercase sports podcast for the first time (ignoring that whole lack of effort I put into the podcast episode that happened during the weekend of the Columbus Major since I was watching the biggest choke in esports happen before my eyes). This failure wasn’t due to the fact that I was so involved with being an esports spectator that I simply forgot about recording an episode, but because Mother Nature decided Richmond needed a proper shitting on. I haven’t had power since Thursday evening when this storm rolled through, thanks to a lightning strike that almost certainly blew some fuses on the power lines that service my house.

Thankfully, aside from damage to the utility’s property, my house and other property made it through the storm just fine. A lot of other folks weren’t so lucky. The one thing I get to complain about doesn’t compare to the folks who had trees ripped out of the ground by straight line winds only to be thrown on their roofs.

Obviously, it’s not a major humanitarian disaster on the magnitude of a city-leveling earthquake or a state-wide flood, but there are more than a handful middle-class families that have had their major source of wealth damaged from what could conceivably be called net benefits for that source of wealth’s property value. It’s a huge deal that will change some lives for the worse. It’s one of the more chaotic roots of where mortgages start dictating lives beyond allocating a portion of your salary. I’ve been blessed to have always lived under a roof that didn’t break, but that won’t be the case for everyone. I can’t say I know what going through that particular sort of stress feels like, but I imagine the shoulders tend to spontaneously become weighed down for weeks on end. I imagine your shoulders start to feel similar to how this piano makes me feel like my chest was caved in.

If there’s anything you should consider when a biggun storm threatens your area, maybe it’s just a simple I’m-okay-you’re-okay check-in with a neighbor. Whatever you do, do something. Be a fucking neighbor.

TL;DR: If I have power back this evening, expect that fiftieth podcast tomorrow; if I don’t have power, perhaps I’ll handwrite some more notes in my notebook to help make the next one better.

Update: Yeah, Tuesday’s podcast won’t work out. I went ham restocking my fridge. Thursday.