So… there I was sitting at mu desk at work, creating a blog for my Pioneers of Aviation—one of the other sites I created to fill the void that inside me—when the power went out.
I guess too many people in Toronto wanted to feel the chilly blast of an air-conditioner… and considering I'm one of them, I don't really blame any one. I blame all of you.
The power outage was righted after about 15 minutes, which afforded me and my workwive's much time to discuss important matters of the state, such as whatever happened to that actor who was the more evolved primate on BJ and the Bear, a television show the belies the age of everyone around me.
Anyhow… let's look at life in Japan. While I surely never have had to put up with brownouts such as those that existed in the eastern section of Japan after the nuclear power generating reactors were taken off-line, but between 1990 and 1993 I had to perform quite the balancing act to avoid blowing a fuse.
I will admit that the first time it happened - a blown fuse - I had no clue what to do, or even where the fuse box was, or even what a fuse was, which was making me angry - apparently I had a short fuse. And I don't even know what that means!
Luckily Matthew was there that first time, and quickly spotted the location of my fuse box, stood on a chair, and reached into the box located about 7-feet up on the wall separating my kitchen from my hall. Not Matthew Hall, but the hall.
Matthew casually flicked the breaker - and presto! - power.
Anyhow… the problems for me and the disruption of power in my apartment only began after my OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education) office purchased a deluxe air-conditioner/heater for my apartment that was so huge and powerful that it could manipulate the weather conditions throughout my huge three-bedroom, livingroom-diningroom-kitchen.
The problem with that, however, is that should I be watching television, doing laundry and start popping popcorn in the microwave, the breaker would be tripped and I would fall into darkened malaise.
I would then feel around the room and curse until I found a chair… move to the refrigerator, thank god I was smart enough to use the light from the fridge to light the fusebox above and to the right of it… curse my stupidity when I realized that the fridge isn't running thanks to the power outage… place the chair approximately under the fusebox, get up on the chair, open the box and thrust my hand into this electrical contraption and feel about for a nub of some kind that I could manipulate - and presto! Instantly the power came back on… though usually that meant only the TV and AC.
The washing machine and the microwave would shut themselves off.
Back in 1990, microwavable popcorn in Japan was worth its weight in golden butter.
Anyhow… left with the moral dilemma of staying cool (or heated), watching television, nuking popcorn or having clean clothes, the choice was always clear.
I only needed the microwave for three minutes, so d'uh, I would shut off the washing cycle for a few minutes so as to not overtax my electrical.
I should state, for the record, that other powered things plugged in were my alarm clock, fridge, and various sundry items required for my aquarium. The power pull was only an issue when the big four were involved.
Hopefully you won't have such an issue. There's nothing worse than having the heating cycle of open's popcorn stopped midstream. It's worse than coitus interrupts. So I hear.
Man... where is that electric pocket monster Pikachu when you really need him? Her?
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
I guess too many people in Toronto wanted to feel the chilly blast of an air-conditioner… and considering I'm one of them, I don't really blame any one. I blame all of you.
The power outage was righted after about 15 minutes, which afforded me and my workwive's much time to discuss important matters of the state, such as whatever happened to that actor who was the more evolved primate on BJ and the Bear, a television show the belies the age of everyone around me.
Anyhow… let's look at life in Japan. While I surely never have had to put up with brownouts such as those that existed in the eastern section of Japan after the nuclear power generating reactors were taken off-line, but between 1990 and 1993 I had to perform quite the balancing act to avoid blowing a fuse.
I will admit that the first time it happened - a blown fuse - I had no clue what to do, or even where the fuse box was, or even what a fuse was, which was making me angry - apparently I had a short fuse. And I don't even know what that means!
Luckily Matthew was there that first time, and quickly spotted the location of my fuse box, stood on a chair, and reached into the box located about 7-feet up on the wall separating my kitchen from my hall. Not Matthew Hall, but the hall.
Matthew casually flicked the breaker - and presto! - power.
Anyhow… the problems for me and the disruption of power in my apartment only began after my OBOE (Ohtawara Board of Education) office purchased a deluxe air-conditioner/heater for my apartment that was so huge and powerful that it could manipulate the weather conditions throughout my huge three-bedroom, livingroom-diningroom-kitchen.
The problem with that, however, is that should I be watching television, doing laundry and start popping popcorn in the microwave, the breaker would be tripped and I would fall into darkened malaise.
I would then feel around the room and curse until I found a chair… move to the refrigerator, thank god I was smart enough to use the light from the fridge to light the fusebox above and to the right of it… curse my stupidity when I realized that the fridge isn't running thanks to the power outage… place the chair approximately under the fusebox, get up on the chair, open the box and thrust my hand into this electrical contraption and feel about for a nub of some kind that I could manipulate - and presto! Instantly the power came back on… though usually that meant only the TV and AC.
The washing machine and the microwave would shut themselves off.
Back in 1990, microwavable popcorn in Japan was worth its weight in golden butter.
Anyhow… left with the moral dilemma of staying cool (or heated), watching television, nuking popcorn or having clean clothes, the choice was always clear.
I only needed the microwave for three minutes, so d'uh, I would shut off the washing cycle for a few minutes so as to not overtax my electrical.
I should state, for the record, that other powered things plugged in were my alarm clock, fridge, and various sundry items required for my aquarium. The power pull was only an issue when the big four were involved.
Hopefully you won't have such an issue. There's nothing worse than having the heating cycle of open's popcorn stopped midstream. It's worse than coitus interrupts. So I hear.
Man... where is that electric pocket monster Pikachu when you really need him? Her?
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
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