American in Davao

About 2 weeks ago I saw workers from Davao Power and Light, the local power company installing concrete power poles along our street. We live on a main road here.
Then about a week ago we received a notice that they will be moving the power from the old wooden poles to the new concrete ones and that the power will be off on Sunday April 27th from 6am to 5pm and they hope to have it completed by the projected time.

Well on Saturday the 26th we were having lunch and I hear a “boom”. I looked out the window and our power and phone lines were lying down across our driveway. A Power company truck which was getting things ready for the next day drove down the street with the Cherry Picker basket raised and pulled down the lines and pulled the mounting bracket off the wall.

Well they quickly got on our roof, reattached the bracket and reinstalled the power cables. Then they called the phone company to come reinstall our phone lines.

We called the phone company too and were told we were on the emergency repair list. Emergency is not so since they did not show up until 10am Sunday morning.

Sunday at 6am I woke to the sound of my cell phone beep from the charger going off and that was not all, all the power was off.

What a morning, no lights, no fans, no TV, nothing. The day before I filled some zip lock bags with water and put in the freezer. I then moved all the foods together and put the ice around and over them.

Since I am working and Elena is still recovering from her operation, I was in a dilemma. We usually do our marketing on Sunday and with no power I did not want to buy food to watch it spoil. Saturday evening I was texting a friend and mentioned my problem. Also my car is in the dealership for some body work, but that is another story. My friend offered to come pick us up, take us to the markets and then we could put our perishables in his refrigerator and freezer.

At 10am, just as the phone company repairman showed up my friend arrived too. After the phone was fixed, off to the mall we went. We first had lunch and then did our shopping. After shopping we went to his house to wait out the day.

At 5pm we sent a text to a friend on our street to ask if the power was back on. The answer was no. The we sent a text at 6pm and same answer. By 6:45 Elena said we needed to come home since the girls needed to get their uniforms washed and ready for school the next day. (typical here, wait to the last minute)

My friend offered for us to leave our food in his refrigerator and he will deliver it to use the next morning.

Driving home was very eerie driving down our street. The only lights was headlights from vehicles and the lights to workmen were using to work. We got in the gate and one of the girls used the lighted cell phone to find the keyhole.

About 15 minutes later the power was restored. I lifted the phone handset to see if the phone still worked and only heard static. You could call it but then both ends heard static.

When I sent a text to my friend that the power was on he told me he would be at the house about 10:15 the next morning. To indulge more on his kindness I mentioned Elena had a doctors appointment about that time so could he give her a ride to the doctors. Again he said no problem.
Even with all the trouble and trials of the day my friend showed there are still some nice and helpful people in the world. My friend is one of the best.