The Day The Lights Went Out
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Okay, everyone has been talking about the power failure. In fact, I was so damn excited that I told myself I'd blog about it. But that didn't happen on the same day. For one, my desktop runs on Tenaga Nasional-supplied power. When the power came back on, I was already out. That left little time for me to sit down and compose my text.
Firstly, the fans. While I was preparing to leave my house, the power went out and I was almost drenched in sweat. Okay, a little exaggerated there. But hey, it was really hot. What more, with my hair gelled and all nicely-dressed up, I sure didn't want patches of sweat to be visible on my shirt. So I had to get out as soon as possible, and enjoy the aircond in my car.
I was supposed to drive to Cyberjaya from home. And as I was about to grab the car keys, I realised that both cars were parked in the car porch! Mom managed to open one side of the gate, and was having difficulty maneuvering one of the cars through the gap. It was a tight opening, but possible - as the width of the gap was just slightly larger than the width of both cars. So I offered to do it and carefully, I got both cars out of the porch - safely. *Grinning*
Outside, the traffic light junction was chaotic! Cars from all 4 directions (some even making U-turns) were caught in an entanglement. It was bad... At one point I thought I was going to be stucked for 10 minutes at least. Luckily I was "trained" to drive "aggresively", or to be exact: I occasionally pick up Sis from her school, where you really have to get used to the ridiculous traffic conditions. You gotta be aggresive to just keep moving - So there I was, closely tucked behind the car in front of me, to avoid "breaking" the "chain".
Got past the first hurdle in less than 5 minutes, and proceeded to the Puchong Toll Plaza. On my way there, the radio DJ announced that the "Top News of The Hour" couldn't be aired due to a massive power failure in the Klang Valley. I thought it was cool. I mean, classes could be cancelled/postponed because of this! (hehe). Nevertheless, I headed towards my campus to check out if there were lectures.
Along the way, all traffic lights were out. Fortunately, none of them was as jammed up as the first one I encountered. After parking my car in the parking bay behind the library, my roommate called to inform that classes had been cancelled due to power failure. I thought, "Damn! I knew it!". So we all headed back to our condo, and cracked our heads thinking what could be done. When I walked into my room, I (subconsciously) turned on the switch (for the fan), which made me looked kinda silly. Hello, there's no electricity right?
When I wanted to bathe, again the same thing happened. Now how many times must my "subconscious mind" stupify me? When the lights (bathroom lights) didn't turn on, I tried bathing in the dark. FYI, the bathroom was inside - and not anywhere near the windows or glass doors (where light could come in). So it was really dark. I actually tried to close the door and turned on the tap. Then...
"Where the hell is my Shokubutsu?!!"
I couldn't possible bathe like that - couldn't see nuts! As my roommate was also facing the same problem (btw, the girls were out, then. So it was only me and my roommate in the house), we came up with a brilliant solution. He bathed in the bathroom in the master bedroom, with the bathroom door open (so that light could come in). To avoid me peeping him (not that I wanted to, just a sense of security - for him, y'know what I mean), he locked the master bedroom's door. With him bathing in the master bedroom, I could bathe with the door open now (without worrying about embarrassment). So there we were, each bathed with our bathroom doors opened.
It was kinda fun, too. I mean, I don't even remember the last time I bathed with doors wide open! Yesterday's "stunt" was a first in many, many years for me. Soft winds gushed into the bathroom to remind me that the door was open, as I lathered my hair and body with shampoo and soap. Being nude never felt so "exposed".
By the way...
Mammals Ate Dinosaurs
"Scientists have discovered a 130-million-year-old fossil that indicates early mammals fed on young dinosaurs." (Story on Aljazeera.Net)
MID-DAY BLACKOUT: 'It has happened. Should not have happened. Cannot happen.'
Pak Lah was midway through a meeting when the lights went out. He and the rest of the participants adjourned for a candle-lit lunch. Making light of eating in semi-darkness, he said: "Fortunately, the fish I ate had no bones." (Story on NST Online.)
Indonesia seeks permanent peace with rebels in tsunami-hit Aceh
Continuing my coverage on sending our 18-year old NS trainees to Aceh, I found a related article. An excerpt reads: "Indonesia said Friday it was seeking a lasting peace with separatists in Aceh province, where security concerns over a long-running civil war are affecting efforts to aid tsunami survivors." (More on ChannelNewsAsia.)
Scattered corpses and civil war. To our NS trainees, you sure you wanna do this??
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