Something Is Missing :-(

I woke this morning at 4:30am. It is difficult to get switched around 14 hours, but I am getting there. I came in and IM'd with Liz for a bit, and then decided to try to rest. Ha! That did not work out at all. I snuggled in on the sofa so I wouldn't wake Steve who seems to be sleeping soundly. Finally, still wide eyed and bushy tailed (where did that saying come from anyway?) I got up and walked onto our balcony. Our view always seems to relax me when I am agitated.

Looking out into the distance, I realized it was not our view at all. Though it is still pretty - something was missing. Not only was the flyer not flying, but many buildings seem to be mourning its loss of beauty to the landscape by not shining. I decided to take a picture of the quiet early morning skies and compare them. This is what I saw in the wee hours of this morning:

This was taken at night before we left:

Definitely some spark to the city is missing - the 'ricey' top to the high rise on the right is not lit, nor the arches of the high-rise on the left. A few lights from other buildings are gone as well. And of course, the amazing view of the colorful flyer doing its job is not there either.

I wonder if it is coincidence that all the surrounding buildings lights are off, or if there is significance?

Just before Christmas, we heard the flyer had stopped turning with people on it due to a cable being cut. We later found out it was actually a fire in the control room. It took over 6 hours to get 173 people off the flyer. Since then, it has been in the process of being repaired before it can open again to the public. They are supposed to open it with backups, and backups to the backups. It will only take 2 hours in the future to get people off - but it is never supposed to happen again, so it won't matter....

The flyer is supposed to be up and running again for the Chinese New Year at the end of January. Until then, I miss the beauty it adds to the landscape. Tonight I will make a point to check out the rest of the buildings. It is possible they turn the lights off in the week dawn hours and I have just never noticed.

I will wait a bit before finally braving it up to ride it once it returns to work. 6 hours on the flyer might be a bit much for me – but I definitely want to ride it.

Whew, am I glad we didn't go before now :-)