As loyal readers know, TANESCO, the company that holds a monopoly on electricity in this country, and I are not exactly the best of friends. Well they managed yet again to find a way to foil me. No, my electricity isn't exactly out. In fact it's been on pretty much all week. However, there seems to be a problem with a transformer around my school and for a couple of days the current was so low it hardly lit the light bulbs and wouldn't start the fluorescent lights. Then for a short time things went normal, then the current spiked incredibly high. This blew out all my fluorescent lights, most of my light bulbs, and my phone charger. They said they have to get another transformer from God knows where and install it, so I'm sure it'll be here by year's end. In the meantime, there's no use replacing bulbs that will just blow out in the periodic spikes, so we're waiting until the transformer is fixed. The school will replace my lights which is a good thing because one fluorescent tube is a good four days' pay for me, and I lost three of them. So despite having electricity, I still am again stuck with candles. I did replace my phone charger, which cost $10. Even that's pricey as I make $6 a day.
Ok, sorry about that rant. On the other hand it's been a pretty quiet week. I'm catching up on my laundry and grading tests. I kind of wish I could have travelled but I don't want to leave my house until the security improvements are done. Unfortunately, still nothing but promises there.
So a lot of whining this entry, but I guess I have too much time on my hands. Next week it'll be back to the old routine, which will be ok. There will only be about six weeks of classes before the long break when I will have a lot more going on. Hopefully things will be relatively calm until then.
5 comments:
Pole!
Baba
i enjoy reading your blog, i miss tanzania lots.....
heya Andrew!
That sucks about the security. Maybe you should booby trap your house when you leave it? You could hook up the back door to the spiking transformer, and then maybe the next time someone tries to break in there will be a spike and ZAP!
Seriously though, maybe you should get a really mean dog like a Rott Weiler or a Doberman Pincer. How many days pay would that be?
Good Luck over there, and I feel ya on the test grading!
Eric
Hello all. Not enough time for a new entry today, internet is too slow. Yeah, I actually have been thinking about getting a dog, but since there will be times when I'm travelling I'd rather just get the gates and bars installed. Also, I'd probably get attached to the dog which would suck when I leave. Anyway, this week things have been alright, though, big surprise, the school is being slow on replacing the lights so it's still dark at home. But hey, this time I'm definately not the only one.
And thanks zee. When were you in Tanzania?
last was in 1992..long time ago...i still remember mwanza with the large rounded stones that stand out
Post a Comment