Everyday Brownout??? Are kidding me?

Philippines
April 20, 2012 7:30pm CST
This brown out thing in our town makes me sick. I am so pissed of it. I scheduled conference meeting via skype for several times it was postponed and it appears that I don't care about people's time. They call me on my phone, and I just have to explain about the brown out. The electric cooperative here in our island decided to have a lights off every day, about two hours every night. And sometimes, during the day. What a very wise decision. At night, it's about dinner time that brown out occurs and during the day, when I am so hyped up to work and the electric just went off. I am so pissed yesterday, and when the electric was on again I didn't have the energy to work again as productive as I've worked prior to the brown out... tsk tsk tsk... And when I asked around how long would this "brown out" thing be, they all said in unison, "a month or longer" what the... hmmmmf! I love living in this island, my family's here. Mom and my siblings, I enjoy it here, save the electricity. It pisses me off.. But I can't stay pissed the whole day and every day, I have to get over the idea and be at work when there's power and try to rest during power offs. So how do you guys go about something that pisses you off? Do you shout? Complain? Or just sleep it off?
9 responses
@toniganzon (72277)
• Philippines
22 Apr 12
When i'm pissed off i complain a lot and i couldn't do the right thing anymore. So i learned that i shouldn't just be complaining, i should do something about it. It's summer time in the Philippines and this power interruption happens all the time during this season. I'm at my parents' house now and the worst thing about power interruption here is that they do it four times in a day in just a few seconds. They trip it off, then turn it on and trip it off and turn it on. Now that damages the appliances at home. I would rather have them cut off the power so we could turn on the generator for hours than do what they do.
1 person likes this
@yanzalong (18988)
• Indonesia
22 Apr 12
At the beginning I thought the brownout only happened in my country. When that happened it really pissed me off. If it happened at the day time, it would not be so serious. The brown out at night made me furious because I had to find candles to light the dark rooms. What's your take on this toni?
1 person likes this
• Philippines
22 Apr 12
@Toni - yeah, that's just so irritating. Well, as for me, I came to realize I'm the only one who's sooo much pissed off with it. Coz my family and our neighbors here seems to be prepared every time. And they would just say "Oh, brown out again" as if it's not a big deal (well, it's really no big deal for them, but that's not the case for me!). Anyway, for about 4 days, of being here, and it's a constant phenomenon, I guess I'd be able to live with it then. Besides, I won't be here for life, and won't stay long here. I would soon be back in the city. So I might as well enjoy being here and make the most out of my stay. @Yanzalong - if that's the case, I suggest you have candles in your home where you can easily locate when the power went off. Or get a rechargeable flash lights it really help, that's what they got here.
• United States
22 Apr 12
That would be annoying. That's one of the reasons why I hope to be off-grid once we have our own place--so that I'm not dependent on the power company. I tend to complain a bit about things that irritate me. Then, I start looking for solutions as to how to remedy the particular problem. Depending on the problem, the remedy may take a while to manage, but things eventually get solved. You may want to take a look at a backup generator or, perhaps, installing some solar panels with a battery backup. You could still remain grid-tied, but you wouldn't be without power when your company decides to have brownouts; plus, it would help you save some money on your power bill each month.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
22 Apr 12
I was actually looking at that possibility but for now, I guess I have to learn with it and maximize my time with the power on. And give myself a break when it went off again. Thanks!
• United States
21 Apr 12
That would be a difficult thing to deal with for sure! I don't know exactly waht I would do if I were in that situation. I guess I would try to start as early as possible and try to get as much done as possible before the electricity went off. Then make some sort of different plans to do while it is off. Take a nap - go for a run or something like that .. coffee break time! lol
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
Great suggestions you have there my friend! yeah, that would be good. hmmm, I might just do that go for a walk... Thanks!
@watergirl (567)
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
Brownouts or blackouts are bad for business, work, and bonding time with family. The technology we use in communication and leisure is usually powered by electricity. I heard from the news that the Philippines will experience more blackouts this month due to maintenance. Whenever there's blackout, I go to the park if it's daytime and just stay at home with a candle light in the evening. I heard from the news that in some provinces, blackouts lasts for 8 hours a day! My parents in Leyte installed their own diesel generator to have uninterrupted power supply for their business.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
Very frustrating!Just a while back, I am in a meeting through skype, and the power just went off. Aghh... I had to make a call to South Africa, c'mon, what a waste, just to inform that my power went off. If I plan to stay longer here, I would surely have my own power generator. I don't experience this in Makati. hmmmm, so this is really making me decide to stay in the city...
@Cherish14 (2693)
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
that happens here too, like 3-5 times a day and it is so annoying and it can break our appliances here. we have or own computer lounge and so it is a big hassle to everyone. i am afraid my laptop is broken before i know it. what i usually do is just go to bed, rest, or play with my niece and sometimes i wuld fall asleep because it is just too boring hehehe
1 person likes this
@Cherish14 (2693)
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
i know, i should be more active because i haven't been moving a lot lately and just stuck here on the computer. i should know better. i think everything will be okay and i wont be bored once i start working.. i still have yet to look for a job.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
That's a really difficult situation for you, since your work relies so much on electricity. As for me, if I get pissed off, I try to let it out but not through shouting. It's either I scribble it, doodle it down, or write it out on my diary. I try not to be destructive or else it'll cause more trouble.
1 person likes this
• Philippines
21 Apr 12
Sometimes I wanna scream, but hey, I need to stay sane and civil. So I just sleep it off. And maybe later, I'll go for a walk or jog.
@lampar (7584)
• United States
22 Apr 12
Everyday Brownout.., no kidding, bro. What is the dam* problem with this electric power provider in the island anyway, how is that possible the company can have brownout every day, don't they have a realible generator or even a generating facility to guarantee constant flow of electric into the grid for you?? haha.... It sure sound like you are really PISS OFF, i can understand that, it is inexcusable to have it happen every day if not every month, it is just too bad for everyone. But getting too piss off is not really the solution to your frustration, may be shouting out loud at the top of your lung is not good either, i will say just sleep it off and try to do some other things that have nothing to do with the use of electricity, so that you won't get affected by it, example like go for a walk, go swimming, or just lay by the beach and watch the wave rolling in and coming toward you is alot better than PISSING OFF
• Philippines
22 Apr 12
You're right lampar. That's what I am thinking. To just enjoy my stay here instead of getting pissed off every time. So this 4th day of my stay here with an every day brown out, I was able to live with it. haha I take a walk, or go talk to my siblings if the power went off. Thanks!
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
23 Apr 12
Chuyin, so far i never experienced such a problem in my area here. Seems like, living in an island is not a wonderful experience. Have the government in your area, tried another alternative way, to make the brownout less occur? Indeed it is very annoying especially when you are busy with your online activities. I think you can spend some time into doing other useful offline matters, the next time it goes brownout again.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
23 Apr 12
I tend to be the person that just lets those things that make me really mad build up and build up in me until I do end up blowing up. I know that this is not the right way to be, but as much as I've tried to change this about myself, it is something that I've been having a lot of difficulty changing. With that said, I've been lucky that we've never experienced brown-outs in our area, so I really don't know what I would do if that was something that I had to experience in my life.