Load shedding silver linings

Load shedding sucks, it has huge economic consequences, is inconvenient and frustrating. It makes me feel a little embarrassed about South Africa especially when I have to cancel a Skype date with friends in UK and Canada because of it (and if you know me well, I'm obnoxiously proud of south Africa so it's incredibly frustrating to be embarrassed by load shedding and SONA2015.)

I know that load shedding can be terribly frustrating. When we had it in 2008 it wasn't that well scheduled, and I had put a 96 well PCR in. You can imagine how frustrating it is to lose that especially when I actually got bands on that gel - and had no way to recreate the conditions - I am sure they weren't real bands, but as you can see, I still remember that plate (I had SUCH troubles with my PCRs in my PhD - optimisation heartbreaks). Now, I think, the scheduling is a little better, usually where it deviates, we get less load shedding than planned, which isn't something to moan about.  

So, it's Sunday night and we're sitting outside drinking chilled white wine until the sun goes down. It is a beautiful still evening. And, this is the first time we have actually had load shedding in a couple of weeks. Load shedding sucks but wow the stars and moon are brighter. Candle light is beautiful and the world seems quieter (unless there's a generator near by).

I think there might even be some good that comes out of load shedding. It makes people appreciate electricity and think about it as precious and worth saving. It starts serious conversations about alternative energy and some people are even starting to invest in solar panels which is definitely a good thing. It forces people to stop their electronic and TV addictions (although I'm emailing myself during load shedding on my phone - just in case I forget these thoughts - so that does rather contradict what I am saying).

When we had to pay for plastic bags, people started to bring re-usable bags. When petrol got expensive, people (for a while) drove slower and were a little more petrol conscious.  Granted, people get used to things quickly and eventually just handed over the extra cash for the plastic bag or petrol, but people thought about things for a while, and some people stuck with the reusable bags, the slower driving. So maybe in a small way, load shedding will make, at least some people, slightly more energy conscious.

There's always a silver lining.  So instead of ranting about load shedding on Facebook try enjoy the moment. Go outside and look at the beautiful stars, light a fire and have a braai, practice low-light photography, make a phone call to someone you haven't spoken to in a while - try doing something that doesn't require electricity for the 2 hours you will be in the dark. For me, it is now time to actually enjoy the candle light, wine and quality time playing trivial pursuit (and the wine!)