No Power? No Problem!

 

Last night, the power went out around 9:37 p.m. I was already asleep. But, I woke up since my CPAP wasn’t working. I wasn’t too concerned about it until I read the email that said that the estimated time of power being back on is 11:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Then, I came to my senses. 

I grew up tent camping. I was a Girl Scout for a gazillion years. I lived in a remote area of Africa. I can live 48+ hours without electricity. No problem. The electricity went out all the time in Ghana. The only difference is that in Ghana, it was a lot warmer than 22°F. 

I didn’t sleep well. I tossed and turned a lot during the night. I got up around 3:00 a.m. and read for a while. I went back to bed until it got light outside. It was 47°F in my apartment. Brrr! I wanted to stay under the blankets but I didn’t. I found batteries for my radio and tuned in to the local radio station, WHEO. A good part of the county was affected by the outage. I had a Coke Zero instead of coffee while I waited to find out what was happening with work. Everything was closed today because of no power.  So, I got dressed and went to my desk and basked in the sunshine. It was glorious! Then, I drove to Meadows of Dan for lunch and to mosey around. I even bought a cold coffee for tomorrow, just in case. 

As I sit in my apartment, I am grateful that I have protection from the elements. I have plenty of warm clothes and blankets. I have food and drink that can be consumed cold. I can go into my car to warm up if absolutely necessary. I have books to read and cards to make. (And, there’s always housework to do.) I don’t NEED anything. God has been good to me. He has blessed me in amazing ways. So, during this power challenge, I choose to praise Him and to make the best of it. 

No power? No problem!

Off Aain, On Again

Many of you have asked me to write about everyday life in Lawra. Life in Lawra is great. It is a blessing to have the privilege to live here. But, it does have its challenges. Electricity is not stable. Often the current is low so much that if you are using something that pulls a lot of electricity, don't bother. It won't work. That is one reason why I haven't pushed for my a/c unit to be serviced since I returned. If the electricity is weak, how do I know my a/c is working properly?

 

The other issue is "lights off." (No electricity.) Sometimes it is planned, sometimes it is not. Evidently, Lawra is on a four day schedule. Every four days, lights go off at 6 pm or so and go back on at 2 am, eight hours later. Sometimes it is shorter, sometimes longer. It really helps to know the schedule. And, I am so grateful that we are not on the Accra schedule which is 12 hours on, 24 hours off.

 

It is the unplanned, unscheduled lights off that can be annoying. The weekends seem to be a favorite time for VRA (Volta River Authority, my electric company) to work on transformers. So, lights go off for awhile, come back on for an hour or so and go back off again. Or, they may flicker off and on. That can't be healthy for any kind of electronics! Yesterday was Monday, and lights were off again on again most of the day because of work on a transformer. Then, last night was our scheduled night to have lights off.

 

The moral of the story? Keep everything charged. Unplug favorite electronics before you leave the house. Use a stabilizer (to try to keep the current from jumping too high.) Be grateful for the times you do have electricity!