Saturday, March 18, 2017

Last Night's Brown-out

Early yesterday evening, not long after sunset - maybe around 6:00 or 6:30, while I was engaged in a quixotesque search to find an entertaining television program, the electrical power went out. Another brown-out.

Immediately, all the Americans living in this small apartment complex were outdoors, complaining about the unreliable status of the Philippine power grid. We were particularly frustrated because our island's electrical power comes from a nearby geo-thermal plant, and considering the size of the island, we shouldn't be experiencing the number of power outages that we do.

Rather than sit in the dark apartment, without AC or electric fans, my son and I hopped in the car and drove toward the Poblacion Barangay. Doing this, we discovered that the brown-out wasn't a large scale one. Not only did the brown-out not affect much of Sibulan, the electricity was out in only one very small area along the road - spanning maybe, 300 yards. Unfortunately for us, our apartment complex fell within that minuscule area.

The problem was coming from the same location that had brought on the brown-out ten days ago. As we drove toward Poblacion, we could see a repair truck parked beside the pole and two workers at the top end of a ladder. We weren't out very long, and when we returned to the area, the truck had gone, giving us hope that the electricity had been restored. No such luck.

We could only hope that the workers had left to fetch an electrical part - a fuse or transformer - that could be easily connected.

It was still relatively early, but with no electricity, there was nothing to do but head on to bed and sleep through the brown-out. Even when one is sleepy, it is difficult to fall asleep when the temperature is high and no fans to help cool off. I was still awake when the power returned - actually it was only 9:30. I turned on the bedroom fans and had no further trouble going to sleep.

The photo used here is of the guilty power pole as it looked this morning when I went for my daily walk. There's not much to see, but blog posts must have an accompanying photo - no matter how innocuous the photo.

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