I broke the gym.

Yesterday, at approximately 2:45 p.m., there was a massive power outage at the Emerson gym. A massive power outage that I may or may not have caused.

Before I explain exactly what happened, let me just say that haplessness seems to be one of my core personality traits. I fall down sometimes for no reason. I once cut myself with a spoon and no, it was not a serrated grapefruit spoon. I have locked myself out of more cars and apartments than I can count. Once I have managed to lock myself out with the added bonus of having left my cell phone and wallet locked inside my apartment as well. That was an adventurous day. I guess I'm just accident-prone. So what happened to me at the gym is par for the course. Quite simply, it couldn't have happened to anyone else.

I worked out and then took a shower. Then I got dressed and decided it would be nice to blow-dry my hair with one of the hairdryers provided (and anchored to the wall). All I did was plug the thing in and all of the sudden, the lights went out in the locker room. Ooops, I thought. Hope no one was showering. Then I discovered that the lights were not just out in the women's locker room, but in the entire gym. The machines had all stopped. I cringe to think about the poor souls who were running on the treadmill when I decided to dry my hair.

I waited a few minutes to see if the power would come back on, but no dice. They evacuated the gym and lots of people were grumbling. I was, too -- I mean, I had to go to class with wet hair!

There's a fun little game involving how to come up with your "Viking name." Basically, you combine the first syllable of your hometown with your favorite drink. Then you follow that with "the" and then your worst quality. My Viking name is Winesaint the Hapless. What's yours?