Monday, October 15, 2007

It’s Baa-aa-aack!!

Last Monday (a week ago) we had a moderate rain shower. No big deal. During the rain our electricity blinked off and back on once or twice, and went off to stay at about 4:30 pm.

This has become an all-too-common event the last few months. We called in the outage and waited. After 5:00 we called back to check on the status. There was no answer.

Okay, it was after office hours. But the same number is supposed to be picked up by an answering service after hours, so that outages can be reported 24-7.

Long story short — the office folks had forgotten to switch the phones over. We finally called a power generation plant, explained our problem, and their personnel transferred our call back to the repair group. After nearly two hours, the power was restored and we were assured by the repair crew that they had found the source of ALL of our summer-long problems, and fixed it! No more outages! WOO-HOO!

Meanwhile, the bread Carol was baking fell, the computer didn’t run, the laptop worked on battery but the cable modem lost power so we had no internet, no TV, etc. We ate dinner and read by flashlight.

That was last Monday. Yesterday (Sunday), we had another shower, and GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?

Good guess.

At 6:10 pm the power went out! Yes, we reported it. Yes, we were disgusted.

At 7:20 I drove around the block and found the repair crew working on the same transformer they had “fixed” 6 days earlier. “It’ll just be a little while,” they assured me. At 9:00 pm the lights came back on.

End of story? Oh, no!

The one “corded” phone in our house rang while we were sitting in the dark. My daughter Christina was calling to tell me that half a continent away in Tampa, her toilet had “exploded” spraying water all over their bathroom floor and beyond. She was able to get the water turned off, and wanted advice on how to proceed. (This was a Sunday evening, remember.)

Without boring you with outcomes, I’d just like to ask a question:

Do you think it was coincidence that at the same time on a Sunday evening over a thousand miles apart I experienced a total electrical failure and she had a catastrophic plumbing failure?

ME NEITHER! WE ALL KNOW WHAT IT WAS!!

Right?

In fact, it won’t surprise me at all to learn that some of you, my dedicated readers, ALSO experienced some electrical, plumbing, appliance, auto, or other breakage or outages this past weekend. You can let me know by comment.

Just when we were lulled into a false sense of security, the “C” is back! And I don’t think it’s over yet, not by a long shot!

So if you haven’t been affected yet, get ready. Put your defenses in place (whatever those might be). Steel your nerves. Gird your loins. Strengthen your resolve. (Pick your favorite metaphor.)

Maybe, somehow, we can all get through it with our lives intact and our bank accounts not completely emptied.

We’ll see.

6 comments:

Candace said...

Thanks for the heads up, um, as it were...
(Remember, paranoids have ALL the facts)

Anonymous said...

Noooooooooooooooo!!!

Christina said...

Unfortunately, I believe you are right. I wrote about the incident myself but hesitate to mention the "C" word. I just got a brand new plasma TV and I don't want to call any further attention to myself, lest it should attack that next.

kenju said...

NO WAY will I answer that question, lest it hit me.

Designer Girl said...

Oh yes - it affected us here. We (I was staying at a friends house) had a power outage which affected the TV channels and her entire satellite system. Shower sprung a leak after the geyser packed up a week ago. IT is on the move.

Anonymous said...

Duke,

Since I took a month off blogging I haven't had any incidences of the "C", well actually come to think of it thats not actually true.

My 9 year old epson printer decided to jam up yet again and I took it into the garage and gave it a god readjusting against a brick wall.
It really made me feel a lot better getting my own back for a change, although it did cost me $100 for a new printer.

So I'm thinking I might smash my computer to bits with a mallet next, that way maybe all the rest of the equipment will realise not to play up.

Rob.