Modern day's dependency on power.

I came home today hot and parched. I put on the jug to make myself a cup of tea. Then I sat down at the desk top computer. I clicked on the email, and just managed to see that I got mail. The screen went blank, and the machine stopped whirling. Blow! I thought it was the computer again, always playing a joke on me. I went to my bedroom where the lap top is. It too refused to budge. My radio that I always keep on is quiet as a mouse.

Puzzled, I turned on the light. Nothing! We have a power cut. I sat down, looking at the blank screen of the television. No cup of tea, nothing works. Even the cordless phone went dead. This means I can't cook, I can't use the micro wave oven.

I was thinking, how dependent we have become on power. Back in the 50s and 60s, in the villages of both sets of my grand parents, they didn't have any electricity or running water. They didn't have a radio, needless to say, a television. They cook with tree branches that had fallen from the tree. If they did iron, they had an iron which they put cinder. If it was too hot, they used hand held fans or they went under the stilt raised house.

Do I want to live in that era? Probably now. But neither to I want to live in a period where the whole society is crippled by a power cut. This evening, when the power came back on, I cooked one fish gravy dish and we had salad. We were told to conserve power to avoid another failure.

My girlfriend L was in the middle of a surgery. She had to stop until the nurses went to look for torches before she could continue.

The water engineer said they hung around doing nothing and was just about to come home when the power came back on. G's office was good, they had a back up generator.

Auckland power failure massive blow for local business

New Zealand Herald
Updated 7:34PM Tuesday Feb 03, 2009


A power blackout today across Auckland's eastern suburbs could not have come at a worse time for trade, a local business group says.

About 74,000 homes and businesses were hit by the major power outage, stretching from Mt Wellington to Newmarket.

"When you consider everything from wasted restaurant meals, employees unable to work, wiped computer documents, and missed electronic sales, the cost would have to be several million," Mr Brewer said.

"Having a secure electricity supply is absolutely critical for business. Given the cost of power, business now deserves a full explanation."