So this morning we were talking about the fact that we got electricity last night. We're not sure how much - less than an hour. It came on at 10:30 and then I went to sleep before it went off. But it was definitely off by 11:15, when another member of the household woke up and checked. We always talk about the power company giving us power, as though we didn't pay for it and as though we hadn't, in fact, bought our own transformer, along with our neighbors. (I blogged about our terminology here, after I read a blog post about the lack of power in Nigeria.) I mean, it's good to be grateful, but why are we so happy that they gave us half an hour of electricity? Yep, you guessed it - because Monday night we didn't get any power at all. We're happy, though, because the generator is working, and also our city power connection is working, so if they do, in fact, give electricity (out of the goodness of their hearts), we will partake of the bounty.
Will we get electricity tonight? Tune in tomorrow to find out...
1 hour ago
2 comments:
Just a question out my my conservative mindset, no doubt, but: do you pay for electricity they don't "give" you? Or do you take a credit for the hours it's not working? Just curious whether money talks in Tecwil.
Well, every once in a while they come and read the meter, and those months, we pay based on what we got. Other months, they just estimate. Money definitely talks, but the city's infrastructure is just inadequate, and that's all there is to it. So in this case, money won't buy an improvement.
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