It was about ten minutes after I finished filing my tax return (phew!) when the lights flickered. Suddenly the indicators on my cable modem, which usually blink happily, went off and the VOIP phone shut down, leaving only a single trouble light throbbing slowly and I sadly.  Mother Nature, in the form of a wind storm with 60 mph winds, had trashed technology.

It was like it used to be when I was a kid and a snowstorm cancelled school for the day.  The normal rules didn't apply.  The normal pressures were lifted for a time.

I took the quiet time to do a little extra writing.  I took time off.  With the quiet afternoon stretching before me, I read a novel and did some chores and errands that had needed doing for some time.

Cable service wasn't restored by bedtime, so we really didn't learn much about the Virginia Tech shootings until this morning.  Not to worry, though, TV news and Internet sources will help us catch up quickly.

Today, the cable and phones are back. My email box is full, as usual.  My techno-snow-day is only a memory.  But it is a sweet memory. Sometimes the best time off is surprise time off.

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

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