October 21

Another roasting hot day but we need the heat to build up for rain.  I hope it is not winter again on Wednesday.

We go for an early morning swim.

The power is on, but then goes off as we have run out of electricity.  John has just pressed the button that will give us an emergency allocation of electricity - it usually lasts a few hours - when there is a power cut.

Somebody phones me about accommodation.  They sound as though they have just woken up, or perhaps they are just talking in their sleep.  At one point, I stop talking and ask if they are still there.  I get a yawn/grunt in response and feel sorry to have troubled them. 

John tries to get electricity at a number of places, but everyone is offline.  At one place, there are fifteen people waiting to buy their tokens and it's taking at least ten minutes to process each one.  John comes back empty-handed. The power comes on at 10pm, but only in the cottages as they are on a different circuit to the main house. I try to buy electricity online through a website called Magetsi, but the page cannot be reached.  I try to buy through their Facebook page which proclaims that it is a fast and easy way to buy electricity.  It doesn't work.  I send them a message which consists entirely of twenty seven rows of question marks.

We take all the things out the freezer and some of the things from the fridge down to the cottage and put them in the fridge there.  The fridge does not appear to be working.  This is not good news as we have just had it repaired.  Finally, after much fiddling around, we get it to work.

I know in my heart of hearts that I should be grateful that we have not just one fridge, but two, even if we do not have the electricity to run them.  I know I must be grateful for the fact that we have not run out of electricity because we do not have the money.  I know there are people with nothing; people who would gladly swap their lives with mine. I know.  I know all the benefits of staying positive and not letting the situation get to me and all that. I know. But sometimes, just sometimes, I'd like to SCREAM!