Such is life that when the other half happens to be away on a retreat, the house suffers a blackout of which the wife somehow never learnt how to resolve during her 101 training on household SOPs.
So there I was staring at the switchbox in dismay as I attempted to figure out which was the correct switch to flip with the help of the minuscle light emitting from my mobile phone.
Finally gave up and decided to call for help. This decision sparked off a chain of events which left me feeling quite incredulous post blackout. Bear with me as it gets quite lengthy, but the LIVE action as follows:
- Call my dad to ask for advice and he attempts to help me resolve problem. Nothing happens after fiddling around with my house switchbox and I get re-directed outside my home to look for the main switchbox.
- As I can't find the main switchbox, dad re-directs me to brother who had a similar experience managing this. H/w, my brother doesn't pick up.
- Call mom [who might be able to locate brother] but mom doesn't pick up.
- Pause to contemplate options and decide to call my uncle [who I hardly have conversations with] to ask for inputs. He leads me through a process of checking the switches but nothing happens.
- Call dad back to lament and gets suggestion to ask neighbours for advice. *horrified gasps*
- Meanwhile, I stumble upon the elusive main switchbox outside my house and realise that THIS was the problem. Hops back inside to fiddle with the switches but STILL NOTHING!!! *aargh*
- Finally succumbs and goes over to ask neighbours for help. The young boy who opens the door calls his parents as he doesn't know too. Not successful in communicating on what to do so.....
- Tells young neighbour it's OK and I head back home to contemplate next moves as well as glare at switchbox.
- Miraculously, I hear a click and power is back after 45 minutes. *HOOORAH*
Looking back, this really seems so silly.
While I acknowledge that it was a very unfortunate incident and it was funny in a sadistic way, I found myself struggling to contain my freewheeling emotions and not feel:
- Upset with myself for not knowing better - Why was I never inquisitive enough to peer over Ed's shoulder when he was fixing this problem? *aargh*
- Irked with people not picking up at critical moments like this - What if I was kidnapped and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom!!?? *mutters*
- Embarrassed for having to trouble other people - My dad sent over a friend living 2 blocks away to come over and help me troubleshoot...They appeared 5 min after the lights miraculously came back on. *resigned sigh*
- Irritated with having to introduce myself to a neighbour purely due to functional reasons - "Hi, I'm ee-lin from next door and
although I never bothered to come over to say hi before....I was wondering if you would know how to get the lights back on?" *beams brightly as I wither inside*
Looking on the bright side, at least I now know what to do in the event of another blackout. Feel free to check with me for ideas. =)
Post note: 3 days later, my thoughtful parents brought over a torchlight and lightstick in anticipation of future incidents like this. *beams*
No comments:
Post a Comment