I was downtown! Not as a long-term arrangement, obviously, just a few days where I had to personally go into the office. But I was determined to make the most of my time. It was before work, and, as usual, I had allowed myself time to take a long walk. It was snowing and everything was softly gray and white and it was beautiful.
I decided to swing by the plaza. To get there, you can't walk there directly (I've tried, there's no path); you have to walk along the street to the south, then go north. But the southern street was blocked by a solid wooden gate. There was a comic hanging from a string explaining the situation: The village/community/subdivision inside the blockade had been required to report its energy usage statistics, but half the engineers had submitted their numbers late. As punishment, the village leaders had erected a temporary blockade. Sort of like a whole-village time-out.
Understandable, given the circumstances, but I was bummed. These were my only days downtown and I wasn't going to be able to visit the plaza. I miss that place.
Just as importantly, the blockade cut off my route to the train. To get there after work, I would have to take the pedway, a dark subterranean maze through the sewers—and I didn't actually know the route. I wasn't looking forward to that.