Power Outage

In my old life, a power outage was a once a year occurrence. But out here it’s a weekly (and sometimes daily) happening.

The reason why they are so regular is due to a single suspect; the one power line. There is only one power line between Chiang Mai and Phrao, so if ANYTHING happens between Chiang Mai and here it is lights out.

During the dry season, the only thing that caused an outage was a bushfire hitting the line.

Now that the wet season has come with its falling trees there are regular outages.

I learned how to beat them from my coworkers in the office. They are always ready for one so they never unplug any devices, especially phones.

When we lose power the cell towers batteries kick in. I use that time to either work directly on my phone or use my phone as a hotspot for my laptop.

After three hours the cell towers batteries are toast and I am literally in the dark. I always keep a podcast on hand in case the outage lasts this long.

The heat is not usually an issue during an outage because of the clouds from the storm.

It hasn’t happened yet but the only real interruption would be to the kids’ lessons. If an outage does happen then they’ll get a lesson outside. Don’t tell them this or they may unplug the lines themselves.

What do you do when the power goes out?

Yours Truly, Electrician Yosi