Power Outages

I've posted before about the daily power outages in Bangalore. I stopped complaining about it somewhere along the way b/c i figured out it doesn't fix the problem to complain:) So as I write this I'm not grumbling:) I just like to paint a realistic picture of life in developing countries for my friends and family living in the U.S. Knowing what you have that many others don't makes your blessings (like continuous power) that much sweeter.

I'm not up on the details of energy consumption in India but from our daily experience, I gather there's not enough to go around for 1 billion people, which is understandable. So each day there are multiple outages and even scheduled outages to conserve energy.

For instance, last week we had a hair appt for the boys at 12pm at a salon down our street. When we arrived the power was out...which we're all used to...so we just took a seat. They informed us that without the power they couldn't use the electric clippers for the boys hair. Most businesses and buildings (like ours) have back-up generators that bring low-voltage power back on until the main power is restored. Amazingly this popular chain salon didn't have one. So they told us to go home and they'd call us when it came back on. In about 30 minutes they called to tell us it was on so we loaded up and drove back. We got through 2 haircuts and just as they were beginning Haddon's the power went out again:( His hair requires full clippers so I should have had him go first but wasn't thinking strategically:) So we sat there and waited, about 45 minutes, and it never came back on. Finally, we went back home for naps. What usually would be about a 20 minute process took almost 2 hours. Last night we went back to finish the hair cutting project but not before I called to make sure their power was on:)

The city schedules 1 hour outages for each part of Bangalore. At our complex last week, our outages were at 6am and 6pm everyday. This week is 7am/7pm. I have to say it's better than when they were being scheduled at 2 am and 2 pm for about 2 weeks! What this means is getting out of bed to turn off the refrigerator b/c the current can't handle high voltage appliances. And unless someone switches off the fridge, the power surges on and off (meaning our ceiling fans when we are sleeping). Thankfully it doesn't wake the boys up, but for me the silence/power/silence/power is a little too much to sleep thru:) Sometimes they even throw in an extra outage at noon. Although these are not peak appliance usage times for most Indians...it translates into meal prep times for Americans 12 pm:lunch, 6pm:dinner:) Also, when the generator is on, the high voltage appliances like microwaves, washer/dryer, and water heaters don't work. So many of our laundry loads get spoiled from sitting either wet in the washer or wet in the dryer for an hour at a time:) My friend who owns a home without a generator says her daughter does her homework by candlelight in the evenings b/c of their outage schedule:) She says her daughter thinks it's fun:)

But like I said, now it's like second nature...it doesn't usually bother me. But after the salon incident it did remind me of the beauty of continuous power:) And had to share. BTW as I'm typing this right now our power went out:) 7:15-8:15pm schedule. Everyone who owns a computer also owns a UPS back-up battery to make sure the computer doesn't shut down when the lights do:D Thank goodness for those!