Please turn off the Lights

No this is not Earth Hour but the reality of what we live with here in South Africa.

In the past when load shedding has happened, our home was affected between the hours of 2pm to 6pm which was fine as I was normally at work during that period but today when the ANC’s Stage 3 load shedding hit, it was 6pm in the evening and lasted way after we went to bed. I mean we don’t have the budget to install a battery solution to counter these rolling blackouts so it is down to oil lamps and the gas cooker.

Yesterday I had to answer two questions for work and below are the questions with my adapted answers.

Question One: What gets me out of bed in the morning to come to work?

Answer One: I would like to say money is the raw primary reason but my main incentive is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 which instructs “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’” The absolute cherry on the top is that I enjoy my work which makes it easy to get out of bed. I am excited about the possibilities at work, about learning more, about getting it right, and becoming better at my career. I care very much and believe in what I am doing. Should the day comes when I don’t tick all these boxes, I would start looking for a new career stream.

Question Two: What are the elements that are stopping me to get out of bed besides the cold?

Answer Two: Hard one as I am a morning person and cold is a major factor in me sleeping in. Traffic issues might also be a factor but this is negated in my case as I travel against the traffic except yesterday where I had to take 2 cats to the vet and had to drive into the evil heart of rush hour traffic. This didn’t help one iota in getting out of bed yesterday. I love and need my 8 hours of sleep and if disturbed while sleeping, I battle to wake up and get moving the following morning.

I feel that this load shedding is putting a damper on my spirits and if it continues like this, it might make me reconsider moving on to a better place which I could call home. I wonder what the opportunities are like in the States, Europe, Australia, or New Zealand for a Search Engine Specialist. And if I do decide to leave, Africa will always be in my heart and I suppose I should ask the last person to leave South Africa to please turn off the lights but at this rate it won’t be necessary due to load shedding.