Power… is addictive!

And, no, not the power you are thinking about.  I am not a despot that gets addicted to power over human lives and shapes them to their own advantage (well, not yet) I’m talking about that more mundane thing that comes out of the wall and keeps the lights on.  This may not be something that most people think about as those that are reading this blog tend to be located in areas where power just IS.  It’s not something that you have to work at or even think about.

However, now that I live in Southern Sudan, I think abou it a LOT.  One doens’t get power at ALL without a generator.  And generators always seem to be breaking down or running out of fuel.  Imagine if you had to think about keeping it gassed up on a daily basis and having to factor in a 30 minute trip a day to go GET the fuel.  Makes the day pretty challenging, doesn’t it?  And, believe me, when you forget the fuel, you really begin to understand the title of this post.

This is what happened to me the other night.  After two hours of running the generator, the fuel was out.  And so were the lights.  No problem, I thought, I’ll just read a book.  Oh right.  No light.  OK then, I’ll just watch a movie on my laptop.  Oh right, the battery is almost out and there is no power.  So, I’ll go make a cup of coffee by candle light.  In my electric kettle.  DAMN.  So, maybe I’ll just have a shower. With the water that gets pushed out by an electric pump.  DOUBLE DAMN.

Fine.  I’ll just sit in the dark until the sun comes up.  At least then, I’ll have light.  But still no power.