Post-meeting regrets

Apologies for my absence today. It was like the scenario for a short film.

A bright sunny spring afternoon, sun streaming in, prepping for the call, 
the screen goes blank. My first thought "Has the KVM autonomously switched 
channel?" I look at the KVM. No lights on at all "Oh, it's died!" I toggle 
its switch, no response. I look down at the plug and see it has no power. 
Then I notice that the one light that was on in the room is now also off. 
"Damn, blown fuse". So I walk to the fuse box. Everything looks OK. I look 
in the stairwell: no light there either. Blackout? On my phone I check the 
power company's website. Amazingly they are already reporting the fault. 
Will last at least two hours.

So, nothing else to do but have a cup of tea. I go to the kitchen, and 
start filling the kettle with the miserable trickle of water now emerging 
from the tap because the water pump isn't running. Switch the kettle on. 
Doh, no electricity. I pour the water from the kettle into a pan and put it 
on the gas stove. Which has electrical ignition. So I rummage through a 
drawer for a gas lighter, thankful that books at least are an always-on 
technology.

Steven

Received on Tuesday, 4 March 2025 19:30:56 UTC