Electricity cut

Regular torch and 2 'headlamps'

At about 11.30 pm last night we were suddenly plunged into darkness.

I was a bit confused to notice that the tower was a blaze of light until Clive reminded me about the emergency lights. They are small fluorescent strips with a rechargeable battery behind them, triggered to come on if the power goes off, and there are 3 of them up there.

We were in the single storey extension which is without them, hence the blackness. But the main part of the house has them so we hurried to take advantage as they only last about half an hour.

First thing, I phoned the emergency number of the Electricity Board (Enel). After much tapping in of codes and confirming of same, I finally got a real person.

“Oh yes,” he drawled pleasantly. “They’re working on your line. It’ll be back on at 7.00 am.”

Without warning. Typical. Unless they put a notice on a tree somewhere on the road leading to the house, which they seem to have stopped doing.

“Ah well,” I said. “We’ll just go to bed.”

He laughed.

And that’s exactly what we did, making sure our battery of independent illumination devices was to hand.