I have a Skype conference call booked. It’s taken ages to get onto the schedules of the 3 other participants, but finally a date, and time, was secured. Its an important call.
My calendar alarm pings. I dial in. The three other participants join the call. We begin to drill down on the issues at hand. Suddenly, and very rudely, our power cuts out. The call drops. Silence.
SHIT. No power, no Skype. I frantically push the Skype button. Nothing. I push harder, as though miraculously it will bring back the power. Still nothing.
I pick up the cordless phone, to try to call and explain what’s happened. The phone is dead. Of course. No power, no phone. But suddenly I hear a murmur and the power surges back on. Relief floods through me. I restart the computer. I restart Skype. I reconnect with the call. I catch up from where I left off. No sooner do we begin and the power goes off, again. Now I panic. It makes me appear so unprofessional. How can I really run a business under these circumstances?
I tear down stairs to find my USA cell phone. I am prepared to pay astronomical roaming charges, just so I can get back on the call. I turn it on. The battery is dead. I try to charge it. No power.
I start to sweat.
Suddenly I have an idea, one of the marinas has power generated by another source, not reliant on the main island, I grab the computer and drive to the marina. I sit outside, on the road, waiting, hoping, praying to pick up their signal and YES, like a little life boat, the signal comes on.
For the next forty minutes I am perched on a dusty pavement, talking into my computer, as sunburnt tourists wander by and stare.
If only this little snippet of a story was a unique experience, something to chuckle at “Ho, ho, ho, remember the time we had no power all morning? And the school sent everyone home because the loos couldn’t flush and doctor’s office had no AC and the medicines that needed to be kept cool could not, and the outside temperature crept into the the high 90s and the computer systems were down island wide and it was not even possible to place an off island emergency phone call. Oh wasn’t that an adventure for the morning!”
But noooooooo, this isn’t a unique story. This is an every other week story. Sometimes weekly. Sometimes even daily.
Sometimes I need to remind myself why we remain here….