Peaceful, mostly
Nothing out of the ordinary last night except the coffeemaker. It was left on, at "brew" temperature. I turned it off before anything got out of hand.
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The (mainly nocturnal) adventures of Dr. Paul, church Sexton.
The typical night's church "run"
I start by leaving my apartment, and entering Fellowship Hall, turning off any excess back hall lights on the way. I turn off all lights in Fellowship Hall, except for the "ramp" and "by kitchen" ones, which will stay on until I return at the end of the night's trip.
I proceed to the kitchen entrance, verifying that the kitchen entrance doors are locked, including the one from the storage area at the back of the refrigerators. Then, I verify that all lights are out in the kitchen, all stove and oven controls are "off," and that both coffemaker rotary switches are in the "off" position. Exiting the kitchen into Fellowship Hall, I turn up to the Seneca Street entrance, lower level area.
I check the women's bathroom, all three chambers, for lights left on. Then, I examine all the windows to Seneca around the door, and confirm locking on all doors. I make sure that all lights are off except the (ample) security lighting, which stays on. Moving back through Fellowship Hall, I proceed to the lower level Harvard entrance area. There, I make sure that the Heritage Room and other nearby doors are locked, and check all locks and windows to the Harvard entrances. At both entrances, I check for campers. Confirming that only security lighting is on, with all other lights off, including in the multigender accessible bathroom, I proceed to the Church Office area, checking the men's room light switch as I pass it. Arriving at the hallway door that leads to the Office, and it's associated glass exit doors to Harvard, I open the door, confirm it is locked, and block it open.
Having blocked open the Fellowship Hall door from the hallway just outside of the main entrance to the Church Office, I proceed to the exit (on Harvard). After confirming a lock on all four glass doors, I exit to the sidewalk, turn right, and go along the Church Office outside wall, pushing on each of the twelve windows from the outside, to confirm that each is latched. I re-enter the building at the Kang Wen Clinic entrance.
Inside the Kang Wen Clinic door (aka the "Harvard Room"), I confirm that the door is double locked. Then, I proceed through the Harvard Room, confirming that all doors except the massage room and lounge are locked, and all lights are off. I leave the clinic area via the double door building-to-building passage, into the hallway outside of the Church Offices. There, I confirm that all office doors are locked, that the Peacemakers Room door is closed, and head down the hallway toward Fridell Lounge, locking office doors as I go, except where they are labelled "do not lock." At Fridell Lounge, I confirm that the lights are all the way off, and not just dimmed. Continuing down the hall from Fridell toward the alley exits, I check for door locks. As I exit the double doors, I check that they are locked, and that they close behind me. I check the side entrance to Fridell for locking, and head up the stairs, selecting the outside door key for the gym, two floors up, and checking that the double doors, one floor up on the way to the gym level, are locked.
As I reach the top of the stairs, I check that the doors to the bowling alley pin room and the nearby closet are locked. Then, I enter the gym, and lock the door behind me, pulling it all the way shut (it makes a loud "slam" sound, that echoes through the gym). I pad across the gym floor, to the security lighted entrance alcove for the women's restroom and bowling alley. There, I confirm lights are off in the restroom, and that the bowling alley door is locked. I move across the gym floor again, to the men's restroom, and confirm that its lights are off. At the circuit breaker panel by the main gym entrance, I turn off any gym lights that may have been left on, and then leave the gym by the main (Harvard side) entrance. I confirm that the gym door is locked, and head down the stairs, one level, to the second floor choir/classrooms area, which I enter through the locked doors.
Arriving on the second level, I check restroom lights in the women's room, then check the elevator lounge, the choir room, and the hallways for excess lights, and verify that the choir room is locked. I then run down the hall toward the alley doors, checking classroom lights and locks (plus music library and Community Room) along the way. After verifying that the double doors are locked (unless I remember that I checked them from the other side on my way up to the Gym), I head back toward Harvard Street, and turn right, checking the Choir Robe Room and nearby storage room doors, the men's room light, and the choir room back door. I then cross into the Minor Hospital building, and the child care complex.
Arriving in the child care center, I breeze down the hallway toward the alley, verifying that the hall lighting is correct. I don't check doors here, or anything (that's up to the child care center people), just make sure there aren't any monsters, or broken down doors. I verify that the child care area utility room light is off, and that the room is locked, with its key hanging on its special hook. Then I open the stairway gate, and bound up the stairs to the E-30 level. Here, I check the youth lounge, women's room, and offices for lights and locks as appropriate, making my way down the hall to the men's room and Buddhist center. At this point, I retrace my path to the child care center, replacing the child gate across the stairs, re–enter the church building, and pass through to the Sanctuary entrance.
Arriving at the Sanctuary, I have two areas left to cover. The Sanctuary and the Church Office interior. It would have been strictly more efficient to do the Office earlier, but I save it to allow for a particular kind of camper encounter. Approaching the narthex from the choir room area, I look down the hallway alongside the Sanctuary, for lights (all should be off). As I enter the Sanctuary area, I first glance out the Harvard upper entrance door, to see if anyone's camping there. Then, I walk through the Sanctuary itself, stopping to listen carefully in the darkness. By the way, the oscillating fans, when left on, sound like someone sleeping. After checking the alley entrance into the Sanctuary, I come up on the Seneca upper entrance, and check it for campers, and correct lighting. Most nights, nobody is there (when I come around).
When there is a camper, he's usually asleep, or trying to sleep. It's almost always "he," though, sometimes it may be "she." I open the door from the inside, poke my head out, and awaken the camper, usually with something like "sir. sir. SIR. good evening. I'm sorry to disturb you, but, you can't sleep here." Usually, the camper wakes up, and says something like "oh. ok. i'll go." If the camper is a bit more confrontational, curious, or maybe just articulate, he'll ask something like "why?" or "by what authority?" I'll explain that it's my job to tell them that they can't sleep here, and that if they don't leave, my job is to call 9-1-1, and put us through "that whole process." I apologize for not having good camping facilities, and offer to fetch a copy of the R.O.A.R. guide to resources for the homeless for them. If they take me up on the offer, or if they have lots of stuff to pack up, I tell them that I'll be back in about 10 minutes, to give them some time to wake up and collect themselves. Then, I walk down to the Church Office, do an interior check of locked doors, lights, fans, fountain, and radio, and latch shut any windows I found open on my outdoor window walk. If I need a copy of the R.O.A.R. guide, I pick it up at the Office. Then, I lock the Office, turn off the elevator power, verify that the Thrift Shop door is locked, and prepare to go back to my own apartment via Fellowship Hall, unless there was a camper. If there was one, it's now been long enough for me to go and give them their R.O.A.R. guide, and verify that they are either leaving or already gone. Returning to my apartment via Fellowship Hall, I turn out the last lights in the hall.
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About Me
- Paul V Roby, MD
- I live in Seattle, where I am a member of Seattle First Baptist Church.
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