Keeping (too) cool for a fire drill

July 5, 2019 is the 42nd anniversary of a memorable day/night for me. I was attending summer school in Virginia in 1977, and the temperature was a scalding 102 on July 4.

I took at least five showers and burned out a fan that day. But that night was a different story.

In the middle of the night, a terrible noise arose, and I finally realized it was a fire alarm. Without thinking, I ran outside in shorts, no shirt and no shoes. There were dozens of other guys undressed the same way, and I think we all realized at once that the temp had dropped to around 50!

We were freezing and hoping the fire drill would end soon. Unfortunately, it took a half hour to get all of the girls out of the tower. By the time it was over, my feet were numb.

But I learned my lesson. For the next fire drill, I was wearing long pants, shoes and socks, and a light jacket, and I had a pair of gloves and hat in my pockets, just in case.

I was happy they never had a fire drill in the winter when I was there; the snow and/or ice would have been a killer, even with the preparations.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing