Power to the people...

I was reminded of that old saying ‘power to the people,’ when a power cut this week robbed me of the use of any of the many electrical items I use so often.

Of course I realise that the people who use the saying ‘power to the people,’ really want the power handed over to the people who say ‘power to the people,’ if you catch my drift.

And hey, that would have suited me fine.

I get on well with my neighbours and all that, but if the ESB had been able to find some way to magically zap some electricity into my house alone, I wouldn’t have been complaining.

But that wasn’t to be, leaving me no option but to start right away into operation survivor.

Frantically, I began searching for the candles.

I knew I’d seen them just the other day as well, all sitting together in a wee box for that just in case time.

Now was their time to shine (okay bad pun, but sure isn’t that to be expected!), but search as I did I couldn’t find the candles. It was just as well it was 4pm in the afternoon and fully bright outside.

Still, while I’ve kinda come to accept that having no electricity means I can’t boil the kettle, I have always been shocked at how much it affects your memory.

Well, okay so maybe that should be just ‘my’ memory, but I’m pretty certain that it isn’t.

After all, how many of you have been in that situation where the power has been cut off, yet when you walked into a room you still automatically flicked the light switch before realising?

Yep, I’ve done it hundreds of times and perhaps ten minutes later have done it again - which all in a roundabout kinda way suggests that power cuts affect your memory.

But it’s not all bad apparently.

According to some people, things like power cuts can help restore the art of conversation.

They point to the fact that people have to talk because there is no TV or radio or stuff like that to distract them.

I’m sure that it is a good thing in some cases, but what happens if like me, you are on your own in the house at the time and you still find yourself having a conversation?

“I’m sure the candles were in that press there.”

“Right, well let’s see Liam, where else could they be? Think now.”

I’m certain there have been people taken away by men in white coats for less over the years.

It also goes to disprove the old saying about people going mad when they get a wee bit of power - I reckon it’s the exact opposite.

In fact once the electricity goes I’m pretty sure there are people like me who all of a sudden find themselves at a loose end.

Even if you were doing something that didn’t require electricity, you all of a sudden think you are missing out on something because you can’t turn on the tv, the radio, the computer and most importantly of all, the kettle.

Indeed during the black-out (I’m not sure you are supposed to call them that when they happen in the middle of the day and it’s, well, not black out) I began to start entertaining thoughts of alternative energy sources.

And because the wind was blowing about 100 mph outside, it was hardly surprising that the first thing that sprung to mind was the possibility of a windmill.

But just then the electricity came back on and I thought, yippee, all’s back to normal.

But you know that alternative energy thing hasn’t gone away.

Yep those windmills are still going round inside my head. 

I'm hoping now they at least generate enough power to improve my memory...

Something that might pop up from time to time...

I'm starting to get annoyed with toasters. I know that probably sounds silly and getting annoyed with pieces of kitchen equipment probably serves no useful purpose.

But I don’t care - I’m getting annoyed with toasters because, well, they never seem to work properly.

Okay I’m certain that there are brand new toasters that come out of the box and toast brilliantly and never give a day’s trouble and make brilliant toast.

But I’m beginning to wonder if the toaster I have has a mind of its own.

Making toast in that toaster is a bit like doing the lottery. Every now and then you might hit the jackpot, but more often that not you get toast that is too light (is that still just called bread) or you get a burnt offering of biblical proportions.

Both extremes have a level of annoyance attached to them that I’m sure lots of people can identify with.

Or maybe it’s just me?

Maybe I’m just a stoopid person who can’t really work a toaster properly, because ever since we first got our electric toaster many years ago, I can recall problems like this.

It wasn’t always like that. For a while when I was way younger than I am now I remember we used to make our toast on a grill. This was not without its share of problems as far as I can recall either.

You see whatever about the electric toaster’s decision (too light or too dark) most of the time it does at least pop the toast out.

I say most of the time because I have been known to have toasters that didn’t pop - or to have toasters that did pop but not just the thickly sliced bread that I was putting into them.

But under the grill, now that was a whole different ball game. Under the grill means that somebody has to watch the toast.

They need to keep a constant eye on the bread under the hot grill to make sure it has reached its appropriate level of readiness.

When I was younger and we were all getting ready for school in the morning, one of us would usually be assigned that task.

Problems however arose when that person calculated that it would take, say a minute and fifty five seconds for one side of the bread to toast - just enough time to run up the stairs and get their shoes.

But you know that school shoes are never to be found in pairs and once upstairs the search for the lost shoe would run way over the one minute and 55 seconds. The toast watcher would usually be alerted to this by either the waft of burning toast spiraling up the stairs, or the roar of angry brothers or sisters who had stumbled on the inferno, battled bravely to extinguish the flames and then let the shoe searcher have it both barrels for neglecting their post. (or their toast for that matter!)

The arrival in the house of a new electric toaster might not have been as big an event as say the arrival of colour television, but it was going to give everybody time to search for their shoes, finish their homework or queue for the bathroom without fear that the toast would be burned.

Well in theory it would, but the reality came very quickly and soon we discovered that the toaster often spat the bread out as, well bread, or as black as the shoe you’d just spent a minute and 65 seconds searching for.

Which brings me back to the plight of my current toaster. While I am now pretty certain that the buttons for deciding on what level of toasting you required are being moved by persons unknown in the house – I nevertheless searched for a manual to see if there might be some other reason.

Instead the manual just told me things like - never stick a fork into the toaster when it is plugged in! And never operate a toaster submerged in liquids.

Really folks, come on now, surely everybody knows that would just make the toast all soggy!

In the end I’ve decided that I’m just going to have to live with the way toasters work – or don’t as the case may be.

And I guess the fact that they annoy me is something that will just pop up every now and again…