Friday, 10 April 2009
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A little excitement
As I got home from the store, late last evening, I set down my groceries and sat down to take off my shoes. The computer was on, the lights were on, and then WHAM!!!
It sounded for all the world like a mortar being fired off very close by! There was no electricity in our house. The girl upstairs came trip-trapping down, the landlady's younger son popped out. The transformer in front of our house had blown. There was no fire, but that's what it had to have been. The streetlights were still on, and houses near us had power. We conferred and the son called the electric company on his cellphone. The girl upstairs wondered if I had candles and I assured her that I did.
I'm from Maine, where the power goes out frequently. I've had these candles under the sink, next to the plastic sandwich bags, right where I can lay hands on them in the dark, ever since I moved in here in 2004. This is the first time I ever used one of them!
Well, there wasn't much point in staying up, I figured, so I got ready for bed. By the time I had brushed my teeth and put on my jammys, the crew from Korea Electric was out front. It took them less than 20 minutes to get here! It took them about an hour and a half to take down the old transformer and replace it with a new one. We lost "juice" at 11:33 and got it back at 1:26, less than 2 hours down time.
Amazingly fast, I thought. Especially since it's not that easy to get a truck up this tiny street. Everyone turned out and moved their cars. The service truck was not that big, about the size of a Dodge Ram pickup truck, but it had a cherry-picker and hydraulic "legs" to stabilize the 'picker. Most of the neighbors came and watched. When the repairmen finished, they got lots of congratulations on a good job well done!
Well, that's all the excitement in Korea. In regard to the little chairman and his rocket, my neighbors think he's a fool to waste money on it. My students and I talked about it. The agreed opinion was that the common people in the North are very unfortunate to be stuck there, the crew in power are scared as well as evil, and eventually the government up there will collapse. When that happens, the folks in the South want to be ready to pick up the pieces and introduce their northern cousins to the 21st Century.
My thoughts on the little man with the bad hair is that he is the neurotic product of a dysfunctional family.
Happy Trails!
~ Sil in Corea
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Comments (10)
Maybe that's what's wrong with so many politicians, Sil. Not a good solid family upbringing. Many of them do seem neurotic.
A power outage is exciting in the middle of the night I suppose. We once had oir transformer go out but the power company was very slow to come. I told them my husband was an electrician and that he said all they needed to do was replace it. They assured me that wasn't the problem and they would come as soon as possible. It took so long our freezer started to defrost. I keep calling them and finally they came and fixed it. After apologizing profusely they credited our bill with a good amount, and even gave us free dinners at a local seafood restaurant. I am sure they were afraid of a suit.
That was exciting! The repairmen were very prompt!!
I've sure missed you. You wrote about the stew, and I didn't see you again for ever and ever.
Yes, that was a little more exciting than I would have wanted it to be. Amazingly fast fix too. You are so lucky the surge didn't blow out your computer too. Then we really would have missed you.
Well, I was impressed that you've been there that long without a power outage, and then to have it repaired in less than two hours? Phenomenal. That takes a lot of the sting out of losing power in the first place, I think.
Sounds like quite an adventure! I remember the power going out in a storm once, in the middle of a Glasgow winter. I understood then why even modern homes there have fireplaces!
@avajsouth - So many politicians are in it for the power, which is kind of a neurotic twist, anyway, Ava.
I think you are right about fear of a suit. Whoever was in charge of sending out the repair crew was guilty of mismanagement.
@Karens_Potpourri - I think it did give me a bit of an adrenaline rush.
@Mage Bailey - I don't think there was a surge, because the lights didn't get brighter when it blew. I guess it was a short-circuit inside the transformer. I have my computer on a surge protector power-strip, too.
@buntsign - Yes, they were "Johnny-on-the-spot." If you could see the way the electric poles are festooned with wires, you'd wonder why outages don't happen more frequently. The other odd thing about the electric poles is that they are made of ferro-cement. Old-timers tell me that during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945), they cut all the tall, straight trees and shipped them to Japan. Then, the Korean War (1950-1953) pretty much finished off the forests. That's why the citizens and the government have been planting trees busily ever since. South Korea is now one of the most heavily forested countries in Asia.
@TheLoquaciousLady - After the initial noise, it was great to see how the neighbors rallied round and helped any way they could. My neighbors are really good people.
In Maine, nearly every house has a wood stove in case of power failure. In the great ice storm of '98, they came in handy. People in apartment houses in towns and cities had to go stay in shelters. Out in the rural areas, we fired up our wood stoves and hunkered down to wait it out. I was without power for 2 weeks that time.
Sil I have seen pictures of wiring in other countries. So I understand your comment. lol Me I would be standing around begging for insulators.
It always is good to have some candles at hand in a precise location for those cases when the power is out .. I imagine all of the people at their windows watching the repairing crew . They have been speedy .
You are right we have compassion for those unfortunate Koreans who live in the North . They are hungry and deprived . One day this will come to an end .
Enjoy Easter if you celebrate it .
Love to you , Sil .
Lichel
Morning, Sil - I just now discovered that you had posted again.
What a story! Heck - it would have taken at least a day to get a transformer fixed here. We have one on our pole near the corner of our yard. I know what you mean about the horrific sound they make, when they blow. How nice that all the neighbors rallied round and moved their cars, etc. You'd never see that here.
I feel bad for the people who are subjected to living in the North, Sil. There was a documentary, not too long ago - (I can't recall who the interviewer was) where they showed the schools and interviewed some of the people and it all seemed as if they were little robots. It's such a shame when someone has that much control - I do hope it collapses soon and everyone is safe.
@BLB - I will ask my advanced "moms" conversation class about what happens to old insulators in Korea. Who knows? I might find one for you.
@fauquet - I had a lovely Easter dinner with some friends after the church service, Michel. It was a day just made for celebration, warm and clear, with the cherries in full bloom!
@kate et Jim - Don't I know how unprompt the crews are in the states! I can understand it during a big ice storm, when so many trees and poles go down, but a regular outage...tsk, tsk! Customer service used to be a priority. "Privatizing" the electric companies was a huge dis-service to the American public. There are some kinds of services that should be run for the public good, and electricity is one of them!! As far as the North Korean documentary, everyone is afraid to speak their mind in the North. Informers are everywhere and if you say the wrong thing, your whole family gets swept up and sent to a prison camp for "re-education."