Our level of dependence on modern day conveniences, things we take for granted without a second thought, but that millions of people throughout the world don't have the privilege of, is really quite concerning and our ability to function efficiently without them is even more worrying.
What am I talking about? Well in this case power, the items littered around our lives that rely on it and the fact that at an early hour yesterday we had a complete power outage.....before I had even managed to get the first coffee of the day organised, this was not a good start to the day!
So, coffee-less and grumpy I decided that as I had a doctors appointment anyway I would wander into town early and have breakfast and the much needed coffee at Costa. Things were to go further downhill. As I approached the town I was aware of umpteen alarm sirens ringing, a sure sign that the power outage wasn't confined only to our building, and sure enough as I turned the corner into the main street it was very apparent that no-one had power anywhere. Ugh.... still no coffee!
From there on in it began to dawn on me just how much we take for granted. Next I thought I would make use of the time and go check my poorly bank balance....nope, ATMs don't function without electricity. Ok, I'll go buy something to eat and drink from the supermarket...nope, point of sale equipment doesn't work without electricity. Right then, I'll get to the doctors early....and sit in the window-less waiting room in the dark, unable to even read a magazine,
Next problem, the doctor can't access my notes, they are on the computer of course, computers don't work without power, ok, I refresh his memory, I need a prescription.....nope, prescription requires computer, computer requires electricity....you know the rest!
Finally an 'old fashioned' handwritten prescription pad is located. I go back into town to get the prescription filled....nope, the pharmacy can't dispense, dispensing is via a computer, the computer of course needs power, there is no damn power, they can't do it manually, they don't have the 'systems' in place.
I decided I might as well go home, still without coffee. The entire town was littered with the staff of shops and banks standing aimlessly outside their premises looking completely lost, unable to do anything without power and completely at a loss as what to do other than apologise over and over again to disgruntled customers for the inconvenience....that wasn't their fault in the first place.
At home I was stuck still. I decided to tidy up, our bathroom and kitchen have no windows, pitch black in there, too dark to do anything, right, I could catch up on the ironing....no I couldn't, irons need power, ok, get showered....nope, showers need power....and on it went, no power, no router, no computer and still no bloody coffee!
We know of course how much we rely on modern conveniences but we don't truly realise just how much until they all fall off at once but strangely, once I had gotten over the being frustrated aspect and accepted there was damn all I could do about it, it was actually quite liberating. I played with Hammy and I read a book and all without the guilt of thinking I should be doing something else more constructive, because there was nothing else I could be doing.....because it all needs power!
I got my first cup of coffee around late lunch time when the boffins at the sub-station got their act together, and you know what, I survived! ;o)
Funny old world.
8 Comments:
OMG Jane, all the time I was reading yer post and thinking goodness - what's coming next OMlord - Jane's world is coming apart here and there's 'still' no coffee in sight - wot's she gonna do?? I had missed the bit about you 'thinking of all the things that are dependant on the lecky'. So here was I hundreds of miles away thinking - how can I can a coffee to her? when I suddenly realized you were just pondering the terrifying thought of 'not' being able to get that cuppa !if the world suddenly ran out of pound coins for the meter fr'instance arrrgghhhh... hehehe you suckered me in there ! well at least I'm awake now... Cheers, think I will light the gas and heat up me wee Italian coffee pot and enjoy my first 'real' coffee of the day.
Kate x.
Wow, your power was out a long time!! Must have been a major problem.
Yes, I agree. We are far too dependent on power and you'd think essential services like doctors' surgeries would make sure that they could function without it.
We live in a house with temperamental electricity supply, a combination of local supply which surges often and a trigger-happy fusebox. So we learned early to arrange things where possible so that when we lost power we didn't lose everything. We had an old open fireplace made good so we could use it, and when we renovated the bathrooms, we installed one electric shower, and one gravity fed which needs no electricity to run. Of course, that only works as long as the hot water lasts, but it can get you out in the morning. We thought we'd been clever in sticking to oil central heating (we don't have gas here) but forgot one simple fact: the pump is electric! LOL!
I remember one hot, summer evening when the power went out. Candles provided some light, but it was too hard to read for long with so little light. Soon, I heard people all over the neighborhood practicing musical instruments. It was like the old days before electricity.
Your shower takes electricity? Most in the US don't - unless the power's off so long that the elevated water tanks run dry.
I guess primitive technology in the Colonies is an advantage sometimes.
With the threat of hurricanes, we have an emergency power generator in the garage. It won't run the A/C, but it will handle the refrigerator, lights and such.
In the aftermath of Isabel - before we had the generator - we spent about three days reading books and such by the light of hurricane lamps. It was OK for a while . . . but only for a while.
I remember being stranded inside for 3 days during a snow storm with no electricity and no way to get the car out of the garage.
When you go shopping online, you should grab some instant coffee for emergencies... but you'll need some hot water. Hmmm... :)
Two words . . . camp stove.
Living in a third world country means we lose power regularly. Gas stoves baby!!!! The only way!
And lately wage negotiations between the workers at the power stations and the gov't aren't going to well so we lose power weekly. Sometimes twice in a week. Funny that!
Tash/Bulldog: I have an MSR multi-fuel stove....but like all good plans it went wrong. The fuel canister was empty, I had no syphon tube for my car's petrol tank and the container of petrol we normally use was in Fletch's car, at work! Hopeless!
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