When the Power Is Out

Last night, I needed something to do while waiting for the power to return. It had been out since noon and there wasn't much for me to do except listen to my iPod and sit around in the dark. Since I didn't have internet, I handwrote the following blog entry:

The power has already been out for almost seven hours. Something is up because it's out all over town. I ran a teacher training workshop from 2-4pm this afternoon and by the end of the session, we could barely read the handouts because of the lack of light and encroaching evening (it's getting dark around 4:30 these days).

Cooking without power is a bit of a challenge. Luckily I have some instant polenta (just like instant Cream O' Wheat but corn). For dinner I put a little bit of polenta in one bowl; chicken picked from a baked chicken I made on Tuesday in another bowl; and 1/4 packet of gravy mix I brought with me in a cup. I filled a small teapot with water (it holds about 1 1/2 cups) and went upstairs to my balcony where I keep my gas burner.

I lit the burner, put the kettle on, and retreated back inside my bedroom where I could watch for boilage through the window (it was too cold to hang out outside). When the water was ready, I went back downstairs and started adding water to my bowls. I mixed up the polenta, threw on the chicken, and covered it up with a plate with the hope that the steam from the hot water would warm up the chicken. I then mixed up a bit of gravy (helped out with a generous sprinkle of ground pepper), added it to the chicken, and presto! I was able to sit down to a fairly warm meal.

Because the power has been off so long, my fridge is beginning to drip water from my now-defrosted freezer. Such a pain. Luckily, I don't actually have anything in the freezer at the moment. Well, nothing except a few towels to sop up all the water.

I suppose it's just as good that the power is out. The fuse connected to both my oven and my living room heater blew yesterday and needs to be replaced (so I have no heat at the moment). All of the candles I have lit are doing a fair job of keeping the edge off the cold. If I get too cold, though, I'll start doing situps--a good trick to have up one's sleeve when freezing in a tent in the middle of the night to warm up a bit.

The power cuts out so frequently that most businesses have generators. As soon as the lights go out, the generators begin to whine. These things are loud and smelly--although the whir of helicopters overhead can drown the generators out pretty easily depending on how low they are flying.

I don't think the power ever went out while I was living in Japan...not even after a 7-something earthquake. I did see a fair number of helicopters (whether they were Japan Self Defense or US military, I'm not sure) but nothing close to the amount of fly-overs we have here. It seems like there is always a KFOR chopper in the air.

On Sunday, there will be municipal and parliamentary elections. I haven't heard anything from the US Office about taking extra precautions although I'll probably keep a low profile in the coming days. A few of my students are working as poll workers and I am anticipating low attendance in class on Monday.

By now, the power has been out nearly eight hours. I think I am going to put a few more blankets on the bed, crawl in, and do sudoku until the power comes back on or I fall asleep, the latter being the most likely.

The power actually came back on right after I finished writing this. However, for whatever reason, about 1/3 of my lights and outlets aren't working. My hot water tanks in the bathrooms and kitchen have power, but the heaters don't. The lights in my living room work, but the lights in the bedroom do not. My range is completely powerless but the fridge is getting juice. I really hope I can get this sorted out today. Sigh. Even more frustrating than not being able to cook is not having any heat. At least I have a kettle for hot water for tea and coffee.