Friday, August 31, 2007

Things that happen when you try to go to sleep

I went to bed last night. Rivetting information, I realise. But just wait....

15 minutes after I fell asleep, David woke me to tell me the power was off, and nothing he did made it come on again. It kept tripping. So I got up. Got glasses. No. Nothing I did made it come on again either. I had visions of defrosting food and all the rest. Not to mention expensive electricians. If I believed in ghosts, I would believe Geoff was trying to tell me something. Electricity was his department.

So

In a HIGHLY intelligent fashion, I started going through the switchboard and tried to isolate where the problem was. See? I am bright. And finally isolated the kitchen switches. I unplugged everything I could reach. No luck. Then I decided it must be the fridge. Hmmmm. Got dressed. After 1am is not a good time to start moving refrigerators. In a gown. This necessitated moving the table and 8 chairs first, of course. David and I managed eventually to shift the wretched thing out, and I switched off the plug. No. Not that. Repeat the same procedure with the dishwasher.... (do you KNOW how disgusting the floor is under large appliances??) No. Not that either. Desperation was starting to set in, not to mention shortness of temper, and irritation levels were slightly, just slightly, elevated.

And then I remembered the ONLY other plug in the room, which was for the outside cable to the shed and water fountain. In the back of my cupboard. Plastic whatsits were flying everywhere, and voila!!!!!! The power came back on as soon as I switched it off.

I have no idea what caused it to blow. I retreated to bed, and lay there till about 3am thinking I could hear enormous rodents the size of lions eating their way through the power cable. I have always had a good imagination. I hope they were electrocuted in a grisly fashion. Then I heard an owl and it did. not. stop. hooting. My imagination was on a roll. It sounded like mournful wailing. Then there was a crashing sort of noise, so I was out of bed and down the stairs like an Olympic sprinter. All the outside lights went on. Nothing. Back to bed. The moonlight seemed very bright. Then the wind got up, and the door started creaking. You get the picture.

This is all conducive to a good night's sleep of course. I am rested and full of energy this morning. Hah. And I do NOT want to go and empty that shed and see what caused the blackout. Being an ostrich is just fine. I think I am going to go our for tea with a friend instead.

9 comments:

Susan said...

Going out for tea with a friend!!! A wonderful solution. Be sure and have a sweet roll or something with it.
Susan

Linda said...

Tea with a friend sounds like a perfect plan to me Linds. I admire your ability to trace that problem down to its irritating source. I wouldn't have known where to begin. Great job!!
I have had those kinds of nights too. Just last night the shower curtain rod fell down and startled me just as I was falling asleep. It did not, however, startle my sleeping husband. So I decided to wait until morning to tell him about it. Once fully awake though it take me f o r e v e r to fall asleep. I wish I could meet you for tea!!

Crystal said...

What a night! And now you have another project to deal with - you have my sympathies! On the topic of rodents and electrical cords: a mouse chewed through the electrical cord that brings power from the main box to our stov last year. It's a great big cable! We knew something was up because the stove would make these crackling sounds and then one day it died completely. Thank goodness we didn't have a fire inside the wall where this happened and that we could easily access it from the basement. Hope there's nothing like that in your situation! And enjoy your tea - what's your tea of choice? I love English breakfast tea but is that just a Canadian type or do you actually have it where you live? I'm curious.

Anonymous said...

You are bright
I call on my wonderful next door neighbor when the fuse box starts playing games she knows about these things
I dont

Pam said...

I am very impressed at your electrical skills. You must really miss Geoff at such moments of crisis, but how well you coped.

Our electrical appliances now have lots of fridge magnets, bits of paper and string and the odd escaped pea under them - courtesy of the kittens. No dust at all, of course. (Cough.)

someone else said...

My understanding is that a good cup of tea is the solution to all problems and worries. I hope you enjoyed it!

Dawn said...

I dread the day I have to move my appliances, becaused I do plan to get new ones in the next year or so. Oh, yuck!!

Good sleuthing, my dear!

Carole Burant said...

Why is it these things always seem to happen during the night!! Every time I've had such a problem...yup, it's been in the middle of the night! lol Hopefully the tea with your friend helped:-) xox

Dawn said...

I loved your comment on my first job post, about the typewriter letters bunching up. That's what happens when you are too fast!

I think all of us should write about our jobs we've had getting through life. Would be an interesting series. Maybe I should set up a Mr. Linky!