"Dammit! Why does this always happen?!?" I couldn't see a thing - even the parking garage lights were out. It wasn't a breaker, then. I continued to mutter imprecations as I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open. Piles of textbooks around the couch made for convenient studying during commercials, if I was feeling so inclined on a particular evening, but weren't great for navigating the living room in the dark. I could get the flashlight I kept by the bed, but who knew how long this black out would last? And I didn't think I had any batteries for it left. Candles would work better, I supposed, than wearing out the battery in my currently unchargable cell phone. The only candles I had was a package of vanilla tea lights. At least my apartment would smell pleasant.
With a minimum of fuss I got a couple candles lit. I left one on the kitchen counter, and took the other as a sweet-scented light source to the apartment door and peeked out. Did anyone else know what was going on?