Fellow author Martin was unable to post today due to a power suspension in his flat. I had the liberty to experience such a power suspension myself this Wednesday, as the management decided to shut off the supply of the fourth most important necessity- in order to do some routine maintenance work. I did say the fourth most important necessity: possibly after food, water and shelter. How exactly has electricity become so important?

Power suspension on 28 Oct 2009, 9.00 – 17.00

9.10: Woke up because it was too warm – no air conditioning
9.15: Attempted to switch on the light in the toilet
9.20: Electrical powered water heater = no hot water for shower
9.30: Happy that laptops use battery power
9.30: Forgot the modem and router require electricity… no internet
9.31: Again, attempted to switch on the light in the toilet
9.35: Watched brother as he attempted to switch on the light in the toilet
10.30: All family members awake – all jealous of my laptop
11.00: Gave up on life without electricity – went out.

17.30: Returned home, switched on the computer, switched on the air conditioning, took a shower

Sounds like a day without electricity is rather depressing. But it is probably the modern world we are living in that makes electricity so important. We can live without air conditioning, without hot water, or maybe even without a computer (please… you must understand the importance of computers in my life). Or if we lived in caves and relied on the burning of twigs to keep warm or to illuminate our shelters, electrical outages would be the least of our concerns.