This has been a funny day of more problems with the electricity in the house. I was holding forth in the chaplaincy office, updating Bill and Bruno, another chaplain, of the saga of washing machines and televisions that go bang simultaneously, of spare bedrooms with no light and power, finally mentioning that only one out of three lights on the porch was working; and I can't change the bulbs myself because of my terror of having a fall, so I won't get on a step ladder.
Anyway, Bruno offers to come out this afternoon after he's picked up his children from school, and he changes the bulbs on the porch. So far, so good. But I think electricity is his hobby, he then offered to look at the bedroom with no power in it (except amazingly, for the light in the closet which works) then he asked to see the breaker box with all the switches and fuses, and started tinkering with them, and it all went downhill from there. The computer started doing weird things I'd never seen before - but fortunately that has righted itself - however, all the lights and power have gone out in the living room and on the porch. So Mark's lad, Tim, is coming out in the morning at 9 o'clock.
Sadly, I rang Mark and Mary at the worst possible time, Mary answered the phone sounding very strained - their daughter Joanna very recently had a baby, and the baby has just died. I was so sorry, so sad, I told them not to worry about the house, I said I'd call an electrician, but they wouldn't hear of it.
Bruno of course is anxious to know what happens, so I promised to ring him. I asked him if he was an electrician and he said he was, but I'm sceptical. He is from Cameroon and he pastors a church of African Americans, who I think are also mostly from Cameroon. His wife is a professor at St Gregory's.
So that's been my day, and I hope tomorrow to report that all is well with all the lights and power in the house.
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