Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Power Cut in Prestwich
71 homes in Prestwich were affected by a power-cut this morning, and mine was one of them. As of 9am there was still no power to the homes in the Warwick Street and Clifton Road areas, supplies having been lost at around 4 o’clock this morning.
I have been in contact with United Utilities on several occasions to find out how long the outage is likely to last. They tell me that the problem is with underground cables, and that engineers arrived on sight at 09.10. So hopefully the problem will be sorted out soon.
The number to ring them on, should anyone need it, is 0800 169 0701.
The lack of electricity really makes me think how much I take it for granted! This morning was a real struggle to get ready, stumbling about in the blackness at 7am, tripping over my shoes and the bed and just about everything else.
First I thought I’d ring the supplier and find out what was going on. So I located the Phone Book, just underneath the Yellow Pages which toppled from the book-case onto my head. Finding UU’s number was challenging, but I achieved it using the light from my mobile phone – a stroke of ingenuity for which I was very proud.
Having ascertained from United Utilities that it really was a power cut, and thus thankfully avoiding the prospect of venturing into the cellar to look at fuses, I had to feel around the kitchen for bowls and breakfast cereal, and then eat the lot in the dark. And of course, it’s day 2 of the “eat very little and be permanently hungry” diet, so I wasn’t looking forward to my half-plate of slop in the first place.
Getting dressed was equally difficult, and I decided to forego shirts requiring cufflinks today, in favour of button cuffs. Struggling with cufflinks in the twilight would have meant me still being there now! In fact, the only way I could find a shirt and tie combination that matched was by opening the curtains and letting the street lights shine in. So I apologise to passers-by who may have glimpse my torso, and thus got off to a shocking start to the day.
My shower is electric of course, so that didn’t work either, necessitating a trip to use the ones at work. I am not used to showering in quite such close proximity to Peter from the HR Department, but it was fairly pleasant, and we are the party of liberals everywhere after all…
Hopefully, by the time I get home later, power and normality will both have been restored.
Rick
I have been in contact with United Utilities on several occasions to find out how long the outage is likely to last. They tell me that the problem is with underground cables, and that engineers arrived on sight at 09.10. So hopefully the problem will be sorted out soon.
The number to ring them on, should anyone need it, is 0800 169 0701.
The lack of electricity really makes me think how much I take it for granted! This morning was a real struggle to get ready, stumbling about in the blackness at 7am, tripping over my shoes and the bed and just about everything else.
First I thought I’d ring the supplier and find out what was going on. So I located the Phone Book, just underneath the Yellow Pages which toppled from the book-case onto my head. Finding UU’s number was challenging, but I achieved it using the light from my mobile phone – a stroke of ingenuity for which I was very proud.
Having ascertained from United Utilities that it really was a power cut, and thus thankfully avoiding the prospect of venturing into the cellar to look at fuses, I had to feel around the kitchen for bowls and breakfast cereal, and then eat the lot in the dark. And of course, it’s day 2 of the “eat very little and be permanently hungry” diet, so I wasn’t looking forward to my half-plate of slop in the first place.
Getting dressed was equally difficult, and I decided to forego shirts requiring cufflinks today, in favour of button cuffs. Struggling with cufflinks in the twilight would have meant me still being there now! In fact, the only way I could find a shirt and tie combination that matched was by opening the curtains and letting the street lights shine in. So I apologise to passers-by who may have glimpse my torso, and thus got off to a shocking start to the day.
My shower is electric of course, so that didn’t work either, necessitating a trip to use the ones at work. I am not used to showering in quite such close proximity to Peter from the HR Department, but it was fairly pleasant, and we are the party of liberals everywhere after all…
Hopefully, by the time I get home later, power and normality will both have been restored.
Rick
# posted by Richard Baum @ 09:28 
