power cut

A few years back, my water supply was cut off, whether maliciously or by accident I never found out. The result was a minor inconvenience, a renewed appreciation of the incredible comfort that running water is, and awe for the water supplier who sent an emergency response unit out in the middle of the night that fixed the problem within minutes.

Tonight, my power was cut, a potentially more severe disruption. I was sitting at my desk preparing an application for a job that sounds rather exciting when three things happened at once (and the fact that only three things happened shows you what a simple life I lead). The lights went out in the living room, the computer switched to battery power, and the internet went blank.

I continued typing mechanically for a few minutes, while my brain was trying to formulate a response. My thoughts went towards potential sources of light to penetrate the darkness around me. I have plenty of candles but had run my supply of matches down to zero around Christmas and never restocked. My stove auto-ignites but relies on electricity for that. I don't have a lighter. Candles, always good in an emergency, were useless for me.

Somewhere among my stuff is a headlamp that helped me get to, and especially back home from, work safely when I was still riding my bike. I had no idea where to locate it. I don't have a flashlight. The little keychain LED I had once got at a careers fair broke a while ago. The only working source of light was the screen of my laptop. I maxed out its brightness, pointed it away from me, and checked out my flat.

The bread maker had cut out. I don't think the bread was quite done, but I took it out anyway. Couldn't have been more than ten minutes left. I guess I'll find out tomorrow for breakfast. The little screen looked blown, as if the machine had suffered a surge and taken out the circuit. It was getting old, but was it the culprit? All my fuses were dead.

Was it a power cut or loss of power in my flat? My neighbors' windows were dark, but through the gap under my door fell light, and the buildings opposite were lit. I got out on the street to investigate.

Two UK Power Networks vans, their hazard lights flashing, were parked outside my house. A bit further down the street, an electricity manhole cover had been lifted. Two people dug around inside it, their work made possible by a noisily roaring generator. Another guy stood nearby. He came over when he saw me.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Someone poked around the network and disrupted a switch", he replied. "We had to cut the power to fix it. It won't be more than an hour."

"Is this an emergency?" I asked, trying to veil my criticism in understanding. "I didn't get a note about the cut."

He wouldn't be drawn into a discussion but his response was as clear as it could be. "We had to wait for the businesses to close. We couldn't start before ten. It's gonna be one hour, literally one hour."

They should have notified residents if they knew there was a problem, but there was no need to get worked up. I went back to my flat not just not angry but actually happy that (1) the problem would (in all likelihood) be fixed without my having to do anything, (2) I live in a city where infrastructure work can't be done before ten because it would be too disruptive, and (3) my landlord apparently takes safety seriously, installing battery-powered lighting in the hallways and on the stairs.

The happy ending to this little post is that the power came back before I was done writing. The light came on, the router clicked into gear and the fridge started humming. I still don't know where my headlamp went but I've now added matches to the top of my shopping list.