Day Three in the Power Outage House
For the unitiated, my part of SE London is suffering from a severe powercut, due to vandalism of a sub main. This is day three of the powercut and the charms of candlelight and acoustic tunes are starting to pall.
We've been out for dinner both the previous nights and driving back was like something out of Torchwood - very quiet, very dark - I've never seen the place like this, not even after the Hurricane of '87.
Still, the power outage is not the most annoying thing - the most annoying thing is the lack of info from the power company. They've got a link to a press release on the first page, but no details of the power rota (supposed to be three hours on, six hours off - but when? Our power went off at 6 yesterday and sure as hell didn't come on at midnight) or the estimated time for restored service. They recommend visiting their website for further info, but it's very well hidden if it's there.
They also have an 0800 telephone number, but since I've got no power, I have to use some of the precious charge on my mobile to call it, not to mention the fact that it's not free on a mobile. And I get into a queue. And the estimated time to answer goes up during my time in the queue. So I opt for a call back for when someone's free. And get put back in the queue - gaaah! In the end, I get more information from the BBC website than EDF.
I have a laptop and dongle, so I have a limited amount of power to get online, but it's not too helpful for the whole working from home scenario.
So, I guess I'll go and boil the pan, have a cup of tea (if the milk's stayed cool enough) and think about leaving the house...
We've been out for dinner both the previous nights and driving back was like something out of Torchwood - very quiet, very dark - I've never seen the place like this, not even after the Hurricane of '87.
Still, the power outage is not the most annoying thing - the most annoying thing is the lack of info from the power company. They've got a link to a press release on the first page, but no details of the power rota (supposed to be three hours on, six hours off - but when? Our power went off at 6 yesterday and sure as hell didn't come on at midnight) or the estimated time for restored service. They recommend visiting their website for further info, but it's very well hidden if it's there.
They also have an 0800 telephone number, but since I've got no power, I have to use some of the precious charge on my mobile to call it, not to mention the fact that it's not free on a mobile. And I get into a queue. And the estimated time to answer goes up during my time in the queue. So I opt for a call back for when someone's free. And get put back in the queue - gaaah! In the end, I get more information from the BBC website than EDF.
I have a laptop and dongle, so I have a limited amount of power to get online, but it's not too helpful for the whole working from home scenario.
So, I guess I'll go and boil the pan, have a cup of tea (if the milk's stayed cool enough) and think about leaving the house...