Power lines

That....is awe inspiring....

Sawing the wires

High above the street, these guys are repairing wires.
Just look at the safety precautions.
Just look at the harnesses keeping them from falling off their precarious perch.
Just look at what tools they are using near high voltage wires.

Yeah, that's a metal saw.
They are sawing the wire.
With a saw.

I do not know how they have lived so long.

The Palace of Mysore

The Mysore Palace will be a hundred years old next year--2012.

With the bright painted colors and the thousands of lights--it sure is an original.

It's a mix of architectural styles--Hindu, Muslim, Rajput, even Gothic.

It's most noticeable Gothic influences were the vaulted ceilings inside.
Inside.
Where they don't let you take pictures.

There are some very beautiful things inside.
Such as the peacocks in the stained glass ceiling.
The octagon shaped marriage pavilion.
And the brightly colored columns in the public durbar hall.

But you know what the palace authorities have done that--sort of--makes up for not being able to take pictures?
They've put together a pretty spectacular virtual tour that really does show you what it's like to walk through the palace. You can even change the camera angle to look up at the ceilings, just as I like to do in real life.

The palace was built after the old one burned down. The builders did their best to make this one fire proof--and a hundred years later it's still here. That's pretty good considering all the electrical circuits running through the building.

Electricity was a new thing in 1912, so the royal family was pretty modern to move into their new palace with everything ready to be lit up.

And not just lighting up the inside for practical purposes--there are over 96000 lights on the palace. It was constructed this way as part of the original design, not an after thought.

And they are not little twinkle lights, either, but regular 15 watt bulbs.
Electricity in 1912 was a fairly new and extravagant thing. I can't imagine what it must have cost then.

Even now the electricity bill must be out-of-this world high.

But it's really pretty.

Melted plug

I had to call the electrician today.
Actually, I began calling him yesterday (I think there are around 26 calls to him logged on my phone); it was only today that he decided to come.
The hot water heater and water filter share a an electrical outlet in the kitchen. During the night, when the power was low, the outlet sparked and melted the plug for the hot water heater. There are a number of outlets in the house where this a potential problem. I decided to have them all fixed.
So the electrician came. Actually: after I called him about fourteen times, he said, "I can't come now. Call my father, he's also an electrician."
So I called Mr. Senior Electrician. He said he'd come in ten minutes.
Two hours later when I called him, he said he'd come in five minutes.
There were about a dozen calls and then he came. He listened to all that I needed him to fix, nodded and seemed to understand. He said he would go and get the needed materials and be back. He even left his toolbox behind as a measure of good faith.
TWO HOURS later he really did return. With a second guy. "There's a lot of work," he said. "I brought a laborer."
Great. Do the work, then.
While Mr. Senior Electrician took apart all the little outlet boxes and neatly stored their screws, the other guy did...the labor.He pounded holes in the wall, cracked the kitchen tiles, and made a mess. He got tired of it so he told Mr. Senior Electrician to go get him a drill.
Mr. Senior Electrician hurried off and I heard his motorcycle start up down below. He was back in ten minutes. What! His tools were that near by yet it took him more than two hours to get to my house?
He went back to work on the screws.
And the other guy installed five new wall outlets.
Hooray, no more meltdowns. Everything can be plugged in again, and there is once more hot water in the kitchen.
I watched the work being done on each of the outlets. I watched the electrician test them and saw the power light up.
All except for the last one; I didn't see that one tested.
After I'd paid the electricans and they left, I went around the house cleaning up after them. When I got to the last plug, I realized there was a problem. One of the power cords had been wired to the wall and it couldn't reach the outlet. What kind of quality work is that!?
It took half an hour before I could even get Mr. Senior Electrician to answer his phone again. But when I told him there was a problem, he actually made it to my house in fifteen minutes.
He groaned when he saw the error, fixed it, and went off again.
NOW I have five new working outlets.
Shew, that's enough for today.

New fuses and good service

A fuse blew yesterday morning. I didn't notice it most of the day, but I did wonder why the refrigerator wasn't running. Then I realized none of the plugs along that wall were working.
Sigh.
I'd been dreading having to find an electrician. Because I knew that's what I would have to do find him, somewhere out there in the bazaar.
My fuse box was in terrible shape. Dangerous shape. I wasn't going to mess with it myself.

In the bazaar, I told the man at the first place where they sold light bulbs that I needed an electrician. He said he'd send one over, where did I live?
I also asked him if I could buy a stabilizer in this bazaar. No, that's in a different, bigger bazaar he said. Then he added that if I needed one, he'd arrange that for me.
Really? Cool.
He sent out a guy on a scooter to find me a stabilizer and said it would be delivered within the hour when the electrician brought it.
I think that's marvelous service.

Later the electrician showed up and, yup, he had the stabilizer for me. I told him about the fuse and showed him my box. He was actually excited about it. He made it all look very nice and neat.
Much less danger. Next time a fuse blows, maybe I can handle it myself. But if not, the electrician gave me his card.

Wire is not a mobile

The a/c installer had finally come to finish his job--after 2 weeks of being MIA--and he was again refusing to finish the work because he didn't have enough wire. Not only that, but he was also insisting that it wasn't his work, but an electrician's.
I knew, though, that I had the wire he needed. Somewhere. It's hard to keep track of things when so many other people move them around.
Anyhow, I asked where the wire was. The carpenter--who can't seem to understand a word I say, no matter what language--believed I was looking for my mobile phone. So he had the other six men in the house at that time scrambling all over in search of "madame ji's" mobile. Until finally one of them understood I was looking for the wire for the a/c.
Then it was funny. "Mobile," they all laughed.
No: wire.
Ayah.

No electrician necessary

There are electrical things in India that do not come with their own plugs. Why this is baffles me. Obviously a person does not purchase a hot water heater, iron, or air conditioner for decorative purposes--they mean to plug it in. So why does that person then have to go out and buy a separate plug for the end of the cord? Why isn't it included?
As for attaching the cord to the plug, this is an electrician's job. The man who comes to install your a/c will not do it for you (at least not without much grumbling and muttering that it's not his job).
I consider it a safety hazard to have three open wires sticking in to a wall socket, so I determined to do the work myself. I bought the plug, found my screw driver, and put it together.
Then I called someone who knew about electrical things to make sure there was nothing important I'd left out or was unaware of--to make sure nothing blew up when I plugged it in.
But all was well, I'd done it correctly; and now I have a safely working a/c with attached plug .

89 million men

Today there were:
2 painters
2 carpenters
5 trash collectors
1 landlord
1 delivery man
1 washing machine service man
4 air-conditioner installers
3 electricians
----------------
For a total of 89 million men in my apartment.

And I don't care if that is bad math.

Maybe that means there was some work getting done. Or maybe that just means there was a whole lot of chaos, mess and stress. It's hard to be certain.

Here is just one small corner of the mess they leave behind everyday.
And a view of their noise and other general chaos.

For my birthday, I'd like water, please.

I'm moving this week.
This is a way bigger job than anyone anticipated.
We thought there would be some repairs and fix ups--a few days' work-- and lots of cleaning.
The landlord thought there would be some minor repairs and a little cleaning--a day's work.

The reality is much different.

Yesterday:
One of the men who came yesterday to remove the old furniture and other trash (why do people keep old medicine containers or not throw out their coke bottles?) broke a window in carrying it out. His hands got cut and that was the end of the junk moving out.
There was no electricity and the electrician was no where to be found.
There was no water to begin washing away the pounds of dust. And further inspection revealed the water pump has actually been stolen.

The dust is thick over the old furniture that needs to be removed, the peeling cupboard doors needing replacements, and every other inch of the place.

The floors are actually white marble. Can you tell? :(
There is so much dust you can see it in the air in the photo.

Here's some video so you can see and hear the work taking place.



See the view from my balcony? Perhaps there's a silver lining in sight?

The electrician came today and now there is power. Hooray!
So tomorrow, I'm hoping for water...