Power Out, Internet Out, Patience Out
Howdy folks, finally getting back on top of this whole blogging thing. To the first general stuff; Have been having allot of fun. Classes are going well, some are a little tougher than others. Many of my fourth year students have begun to disappear, attracted to jobs and so forth, which is kinda interesting. I've been really enjoying 'life' for the last little bit, getting some exercises in when I can, decorated my apartment with Christmas decorations, finished my Christmas shopping and did a little bit more 'post-return' gift shopping for people. So many people an ever expanding list(you never realize how many friends you have until you start listing them all for a shopping list :D)
My room is now somewhat Christmasy, but is nothing compared to the winter wonderland that is Stacey and Desmonds room. Stacey and Desmond are the couple who live next door to me, and they have decked the halls with boughs of holly, literally, as well as adding a whole lot of Christmas cheer to the area. The Australian teacher Ingrid has said Stacy has become insufferably cheery about the whole Christmas gig, which I think is great, it's nice to be suffused with that Christmas spirit, though I could use some snow. It's finally gotten 'cold' around here, reaching into the negatives for the first time this past week, so if there is precipitation in the next little bit, there should be snow. I don't think they use road-salt here and there are many sharp concrete inclines I have to climb I believe will be sheets of ice in about three weeks, I'll keep you posted.
To the title of my blog. The Power has been going out all across campus, habitually. For the last 3 Saturdays in a row, in the evening, the power has gone down. It has become something of a Joke for the Foreign teachers "Oh... Saturday is coming up, better get some Booze and some Candles on the next shopping trip". This weekend has been worse than the previous two, as both Sunday and Monday have seen power outages(the later just ended about 30 minutes ago, and I am writing this rapidly in-case it occurs again). My suspicion, given the timing of these, is that the University is some-how seeking to 'save money' because I cannot believe the regularity of the whole thing related to blown out transformers or something similar. It could be the government, but even in China they seem to inform you of that sort of thing, the university, not so much.
On the second piece, the Internet at the complex has become sporadic. They have limited the ports(for those of you who are Internet savvy) and this has caused havoc with downloading software, MSN, anything that involves streaming. After having talked to Tommy, the Foreign Affairs Office Liaison, we have drafted a letter to explain how important Internet functions are, he seems to believe our Internet can be reverted back to normal soon. It better be, my patience has run out on this particular issue, and I am amoung the most patient of the foreign teachers. The Internet, and downloading especially, is one of my few daily modes of entertainment. If this problem isn't corrected soon, their might be a riot here.
So that's what going on in my life, some of you can look forward to presents within the next month, the rest of you(assuming I either remember you or you've talked to me and thus guaranteed' yourself a place on my list) can look forward to presents later in the year. That's all for now.
P.S. I now have Skype, a program that allows me to make long-distance phone-calls at very-low prices. So if any of you ever want to chat or what-have-you, let me know. I'll see ya all later. Best of the Season and all that.
My room is now somewhat Christmasy, but is nothing compared to the winter wonderland that is Stacey and Desmonds room. Stacey and Desmond are the couple who live next door to me, and they have decked the halls with boughs of holly, literally, as well as adding a whole lot of Christmas cheer to the area. The Australian teacher Ingrid has said Stacy has become insufferably cheery about the whole Christmas gig, which I think is great, it's nice to be suffused with that Christmas spirit, though I could use some snow. It's finally gotten 'cold' around here, reaching into the negatives for the first time this past week, so if there is precipitation in the next little bit, there should be snow. I don't think they use road-salt here and there are many sharp concrete inclines I have to climb I believe will be sheets of ice in about three weeks, I'll keep you posted.
To the title of my blog. The Power has been going out all across campus, habitually. For the last 3 Saturdays in a row, in the evening, the power has gone down. It has become something of a Joke for the Foreign teachers "Oh... Saturday is coming up, better get some Booze and some Candles on the next shopping trip". This weekend has been worse than the previous two, as both Sunday and Monday have seen power outages(the later just ended about 30 minutes ago, and I am writing this rapidly in-case it occurs again). My suspicion, given the timing of these, is that the University is some-how seeking to 'save money' because I cannot believe the regularity of the whole thing related to blown out transformers or something similar. It could be the government, but even in China they seem to inform you of that sort of thing, the university, not so much.
On the second piece, the Internet at the complex has become sporadic. They have limited the ports(for those of you who are Internet savvy) and this has caused havoc with downloading software, MSN, anything that involves streaming. After having talked to Tommy, the Foreign Affairs Office Liaison, we have drafted a letter to explain how important Internet functions are, he seems to believe our Internet can be reverted back to normal soon. It better be, my patience has run out on this particular issue, and I am amoung the most patient of the foreign teachers. The Internet, and downloading especially, is one of my few daily modes of entertainment. If this problem isn't corrected soon, their might be a riot here.
So that's what going on in my life, some of you can look forward to presents within the next month, the rest of you(assuming I either remember you or you've talked to me and thus guaranteed' yourself a place on my list) can look forward to presents later in the year. That's all for now.
P.S. I now have Skype, a program that allows me to make long-distance phone-calls at very-low prices. So if any of you ever want to chat or what-have-you, let me know. I'll see ya all later. Best of the Season and all that.
posted by Wise Owl | 6:11 AM
2 Comments:
Rotating Brownouts are common in big cities with power supply problems. Generally its the city or a regional effect, but the university my control is on power. Not much you can do beyond buying a backup power supply, they can keep your computer running for a few hours and will avoid power surges.
Yeah, at first I thought it might be a city-thing, but it's not systemic throughout the university and the 'sequence' in which power comes back on at the university is somewhat suspect(i.e. Streetlights first, than the Lunch Facilities, than the Academic and Admin. Buildings, and than the residences... usually over a period of several hours.) I suspect the university is trying to save money.
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