My first question this morning, with my eyes still closed was what day it was, Friday or Saturday... Before my husband could even answer, my brain snapped into life, like electricity arriving after a power outage.
My mind said it was Saturday; it continued with thoughts like: you don't have to rush to get up... only when you get tired of lazing in bed you will get up, go to the kitchen, make coffee, check out Hive, go to the market for fruit and vegetables, bread, and fresh meat. Somehow this rhythm was just right for me now; I know it may sound a bit provincial, but this Saturday somehow fit into that rhythm.
Plans?
Sure, I had some and they were slightly different than the day turned out, but that doesn't mean it was something bad in the end. Certain moments showed me some of my weaknesses, and that is very good if you want to reevaluate your thoughts and maybe work on yourself.
When we were about to sit down to have lunch, at that moment the small kitchen neon light blinked and stopped glowing; also, the monotonous music the washing machine was making from the laundry stopped.
What is going on?
We checked the electrical switch and everything was fine. All the fuses were in place, nothing was out of control. I thought that the whole building must have lost power; I rang the doorbell of the first neighbour to check if everything was okay, and lo and behold - she had electricity. Since there are only a few apartments in our building, we all know each other by name and they are all friendly. She came over right away and showed us what she does when her power goes out, but that happens to her when she turns on too many household appliances at once, which was not the case with us. Nothing, her technique didn't work, the problem was probably only with us.
She advised us to call customer support from the electricity company and report the issue. Do you know what it's like to talk to customer support? Probably yes. After several calls and instructions on what to do and who to call next, the last lady we spoke to said that then it was not up to them but that we had to find an electrician to come because something must have broken down at our place. Maybe something had burned out in the cables inside the walls. Maybe the whole switch was broken. Maybe... I was already starting to panic from thinking so much; I noticed a slight tremor in my hand. Why would I react like that? Everything can be fixed, but a thought came, some distrust in our decision and this apartment and... Distrust. A very unpleasant feeling. It is frightening.
Before calling a private electrician, we decided to check the electrical panel where all the fuses for the entire building were and see if there was a problem with our one. For that, we needed to go to the house manager. I rang the doorbell of his apartment. Nothing - silence. The bell didn't ring. I tried again, but silence again, although I could hear voices. When I knocked on the door, they opened it and I explained the situation and asked if she could unlock the panel with the main switch for us. Her dad, a 92-year-old man who was the building manager until recently, immediately knew what the problem was. There was a power outage on the next street, but that faulty electrical phase supplies power to some apartments and it looks like our and his one were among the affected ones. Wow, I was surprised that a 92-year-old man knew how to check online that there was an electrical outage and when it would be fixed, and that we didn't even think about that. 🤦♀ We thought about the worst situations and it was not even in our hands to fix the issue. Lessons to learn from this situation!!
As the estimated time for the electricity to come back was a few hours away we went for a walk.
First, we walked in the countryside, and then we returned to the city where these palm trees greeted us. I am sure I miss them a bit, and that is why I pay attention when I see them. We also headed to the bus station because our son had to arrive.
He arrived, hungry (the life of a student 😂), so we headed to a pastry shop where we had coffee and some cakes, and the smile has become the master of our lives again - with our son, this weekend will definitely be full of smiles.
And then one day you realize that everything starts again... and the smile becomes the master of your life again.
