Power cut

Looking at the battery meter on my laptop, it shows 31% full. I am at home and the power has just cut out. It seems to be our building only.
The desktop computer that was uploading photos to flickr has gone quiet.
The connection to the internet itself has been severed. The wireless router depends on electricity although the connection itself probably doesn't. There are no wireless networks in the neighbourhood I can piggyback on temporarily.
The phone doesn't work. Again, the connection probably does, but we have surrendered the phone's independence from power supply by having a cordless phone with a base station that needs to be connected to the mains. Of course, if I need to call somebody I could use the mobile.
What to do when the laptop battery runs out? TV or music are not viable options. Cooking is not possible. I can't shower or do the dishes: Although we have a warm water tank, the pressure in the water system is generated by an electrical pump. So cold water is not available either.
The washing machine has stopped in the middle of its cycle, lacking two of its main inputs.
It is bright outside for another hour or so, the sky is covered by smoke from a burning fuel depot north-west of London. I could read a book or the latest issue of The Economist until it turns dark, then continue by candlelight.
The heating is electrical but the flat is so well insulated that it could take hours before it gets chilly.
Every 30 seconds or so there is a beeping noise from the burglar alarm, apparently one of the few things in the flat to have a backup power source.

In the developed world, we take many things for granted and only really notice when they are absent.

[Later...]

I decided to drive to the grocery store. In the hallway and the staircase, emergency lights were on. The underground car park was pitch black but the car has an "approach light" that I activated from the remote. Luckily, the security shutter had stuck in the open position and I could get the car out.
When I returned, the power supply had been restored. Now I have to go adjust most of the useless clocks in the flat.

Comments

[Simon Barratt]

Time for the pub?

[Lars Plougmann]

Simon , you are right. The pub should be a natural first choice.
We suffered some eight hours further power cuts that day. It went from being interesting to annoying.