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Blogs by Vena McGrath
Wednesday 7 January 2009, 1.50 pm 1/6/2009 6:42:01 PM
Heat Wave in Sydney Today it's 40c in the Penrith area of Sydney where I live. We are appromately 14ks from Penrith and 53ks from Broadway in the city. I believe it's supposed to be about 36c in the city today. Yesterday was 36c here from early morning on through the day and at around 5.00 pm we had a blackout. First thought was a blown fuse from having too much running, 2 airconditioners, pool filter, a fan, 2 computers, TV etc etc. However it soon became apparent that it was a blackout as our home has isolated sections so if a fuse does blow only part of the house is affected. I rang Integral, our power supplier, and found out there was a problem in our area and a team had been sent out to rectify with hope of being back online at 6.30.
Fortunately when the power went off we had the living area cooled down to 25c. By 6.30 it had climbed to 28c and no power. Another call to Integral gave us the bad news - possibility of restoration of power by 8.30. We decided to move outdoors and cook meat on the barbecue. It was cooler outside under cover than indoors by this time. At 6.50 the power came back on, only to drop back out at 6.55, everything going off with a bang. We gave up hope then and just decided that there was no option but to wait and keep inactive and drink plenty of water. By 7.30 the power was back and by 8.00 we came inside because the mozzies were after us.
The house cooled down again (living area) but the rear section where the bedrooms, bathrooms and laundry are was unbearably hot. We settled in the theatre room with the air conditioner on to watch TV and then ... bang ... everything went off again but just for a second or so. This time the TV had decided enough was enough and the screen was like in 3D. My heart sank, even though the TV is insured it seems so unfair that it could be killed off by something beyond our control. However with a few minor keystrokes my son managed to right things and all was well.
I went to bed at around 11.30 and it was still so hot in the back section of the house. Luckily we installed ceiling fans years ago in the bedrooms so at least there is a chance of getting off to sleep with the constant breeze billowing even if it's not that cool. Because all the power went off my clock radio was flashing when I went to bed and I just turned it around so I couldn't see the flashing lights and went to bed. This morning I didn't have a clue what time it was so stayed in bed until I felt like getting up. Hard to believe it was almost 10.00 am! I've had a headache ever since my feet hit the floor so at 2.03pm I've just taken a couple of pills to hopefully ward off the headache. Too much bed? Probably.
Tomorrow we are promised a huge drop in temperature to 25c with the possibility of showers. One can only hope. And so it goes - summer in Australia. I wonder sometimes how I could have been so unlucky to have been born in Sydney. You would think my parents could have been more considerate and maybe moved to Tasmania where now I would probably be sitting by the fire :)
Have a nice day and if you are sitting by the fire, lucky you!
