Adventures of an Urban Nomad - Powerless

Laurence Harrould - Wednesday, November 23, 2011

I'm writing this using pen and paper. (Well, clearly not this specifically because it's now on the web. The original was done with ancient technology.) The reason is that there is a power blackout. Apparently, they occur fairly regularly in this part of the world. A tree brought down the powerline. I can just hear the proponents of development saying "you wouldn't have that problem if you cleared all those useless trees".

It's now been hours without electricity and the impact has been quite significant. Firstly, no computers. Not only could I not check email (with the consequent raising of anxiety levels) but all those "important" things I had planned to do today required a computer.

The second impact has been no water. Being in the country, the water supply is pump driven and, of course, the pump is electrically powered. I was able to get one glass of water from the kettle for drinking but that was it. No water for washing and with the toilet you only get one flush (what's held in the cistern). Thankfully, this house has three toilets but still required very judicial use. It's been raining solidly for a few days now so I've resorted to using puddles for handwashing.

On the bright side the telephone works (but only if you use one of those old non-powered handsets - the joy of old technology). Also, being in the country, we have a couple of fireplaces so it's possible to warm the house (and lunch).

For me, this is a good example of why you should have your house set up to use batteries and solar power. 

The worst thing about this is the beer getting warm - and that's life threatening!!

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