When the network is down...

It’s 2.31pm now. I’m falling asleep big time. Network in the office has been down since morning. This is the longest breakdown I have ever experienced since I started work 2.5 years ago.

I spent the entire afternoon sorting out and filing documents that I have accumulated over the year. Close to 9 months of papers. I finished them off in a few hours.

I went for a slow lunch and even a short shopping trip to La Chappelle. A sale was going on at the forum of Raffles City. 50% to 70%. How can any woman resist a discount this high? Now, don’t be mistaken, I’m not some cheapos who hanker for any cheap buffet. Of course, the quality of it has to be of a certain standard. In essence, it has to be cheap and good. Typical Singaporean’s motto for life! Ha!

When I return to the office, I was hoping that the network would already be up and running. To my disappointment, no.

I virtually can’t do ANYTHING. I need to check emails to know if there is work to do. I need to access some systems that reside on our network. I need LAN connection to get onto messaging applications to talk to my folks, friends, and colleagues. I can’t even make an internal call to my dearly colleagues in Singapore. They must be wondering why I’m not online.

How dependent are we on high technology! The entire business operations virtually come to a standstill. Everyone else in the departments is either reading some stuff or doing filing, just like me. But we all have one thing in common – we either find something to do or we are going to fall asleep. Zzzzzzz…

Now that I’m done with filing, for fear that I might really fall asleep, hence I started writing this post.

Now that I’m done with writing, I think I am really going to fall asleep…

Blackout. Torchlight. Flu.

Imagine returning to your little apartment, elated and happy to be home from a tiring day, announced your arrival with a chirpy Tadayima! (That is I'm home in Japanese. Now, dont ever ask me why I bother to say that when there is not even a single soul at home to welcome me home. To me, its kinda therapeutic.), flicked the switch on the wall for some lights.

No lights. Panic index 1/10. I flicked again. No lights. I flicked yet again. Flicked! Flicked! Flicked! In that short time span of barely 10 seconds, I think I have flicked the switch for at least 20 times. Panic index now rose to 10/10.

No lights! This meant something bigger than just no lights. No TV. No hot shower. In essence, no electricity! No electricity, my friends! What does this means to a 26 yr-old modern city dweller who has probably experienced blackout for less than 10 times in her life thus far? Plus she is now staying alone.

What am I supposed to do? I've got to stay calm.

Torchlight!

I can't iterate how thankful I am to my father when I was holding onto the torchlight. Before I left for Shanghai, he kept telling me to keep a torchlight at a convenient place. He even bought 2 for me! Then I thought, Oh dad, dont worry unduly. The possibility of blackout in a modern city like Shanghai is quite remote.

So gal, here you go! Blackout! Blackout!

I called up my landlady and asked her if she had paid last months utilities. She sounded like I just told her a joke. Blackout? How could it be?

I spent a couple of minutes convincing her that there is indeed no electricity in the house. Finally she instructed me to check on the main power switch box that is outside the apartment. And so I did.

Voila! The main switch was down! Apparently, someone tripped the switch! Who, I'll worry about that later.

I flicked the switch up. I heard my doorbell sounded. Great! Power came back on.

I put down the phone. Its 11.35pm already. Yawn I'm dead beat. What an ordeal.

I took a hot shower and turned on the heater in the living room. I gulped down a cuppa water. But I dont feel right. My throat felt a little bit sore. I sense flu coming.

Oh dear. I quickly tucked myself into bed, hoping that the flu will go away when I wake up the next morning.

It's the next day. Now, as I am writing this post, I have a tissue sticking in my nostril.

Calamity has befallen upon little Sam. Yes, I am down with flu.