Brownouts in Buenos Aires
Installing the air conditioner
Originally uploaded by blmurch. Mon at 2:20 in the morning (almost an hour ago), just as I was getting ready to go to bed, the power cut out. It's hasn't broken any heat records in the past week here in Buenos Aires and this week is actually supposed to be very nice - in the high 70s/low 80s (~25/28 Centigrade). Hopefully the humidity will stay down. I have a hard time with that. Argentina is having energy problems - two barrios in the west of the city (Caballito & Flores) had their power and their water cut for 36-48 hours a couple of weeks ago. Now our barrio (Coghlan) just lost power. I wonder if this is going to become more of a common occurrence as we move into peak summer?
We just had an itty bitty air conditioner (the smallest they sell) installed in our bedroom - just after the brutal heat waves earlier this month. We originally contacted the guys who installed the AC unit in the apartment below ours (Walter and his buddy). We got Walter's phone number and a quote after they finished the job. He said to call and make an appointment two days before we wanted installation. Two Sundays ago, we bought an Electrolux AC/Heat unit (2250 Frigorias (unit of cold output)). We only want to make the bedroom livable so that we can sleep comfortably. We called on the following Monday and Walter said that he could install on Wednesday, but to call and confirm on Tuesday. I texted him on Tuesday night and didn't hear back. On Wednesday, I called several times and he finally picked up late in the afternoon. He said he could be there mañana after 4 pm. On Thursday at 7 pm I called him and he said, oh no - I meant Friday after 4 pm. Friday afternoon came and went and he never showed or never answered any of my calls or texts. Big time flake and made me quite mad. I really don't like having my time wasted like that. I talked with one of our neighbors and she recommended a friend of hers. She called and he said he could install on Wednesday (after the hottest day of the week on Tuesday). I resigned myself. He came to visit our neighbor on Sunday and checked out the unit. He said he could come by on Tuesday after 12:30. He showed up around 1 and was done by about 4. It was great. We've had it on - set to about 27 degrees (It turns on if the temp goes above 27 and shuts off if it goes below). Overall I'm happy with this situation, but I worry that now I'm adding to the stress on the power grid.
Hah - I just finished writing this as the power came back on - 15 minutes later, now I can blog what I just wrote in the dark. :D