Pescom

My friend Ginny wrote a modern day, uniquely South African fairy storybook based in a nature reserve in Pretoria.

Among other things, she rips off Eskom, calling them Pescom in the book.

Pescom stands for the Pesky Fire-Fly Company and they provide light in the Glen. They are just as unreliable and irritating as our own electricity company in South Africa.

Until the “Eskom se push” app came out, it was a nightmare trying to figure out which stage you were on and what number your house was on the grid.

There was a horrible, unwieldy table that my dad printed out and stuck together to make a chart.

He laboriously highlighted each teensy numbered block that represented our area. And still, we got it wrong. The stages would change or load-shedding would miraculously stop.

Nothing drives my mother crazier than having meticulously prepared for a power outage at a certain time, like at 7pm, charged solar-power jars, had dinner prepared long in advance, lanterns ready, cellphones 100 per cent charged, and then nothing happens.

Plus she’d reluctantly come to terms with missing her favourite programme that evening.

We finished dinner just before 7pm that evening and sat around the table, waiting for that ‘click’ when everything shuts down.

Nothing.

Mum went to the kitchen to double check the time on the oven clock.

That’s a pain in the butt too – you know how many times I have reset those digi-clocks in the last few weeks?

It was only five minutes past the hour and there was still time for the municipality to hit the ‘off’ switch.

Still nothing.

At 7.10pm my dad declared the power was going to stay on and mum could watch her programme after all.

I shuffled off to my room and read by light bulb, instead of the solar power jar I had all charged and ready.

The next night, we were on the same schedule and the power was due to go off at 7pm.

Mum was more relaxed this time.

She’d also stashed all the lamps back in the kitchen cupboard (my mum’s a neat freak you know).

Pow! At exactly one minute past seven, the power went out. Mum howled with rage and dad said naughty words because he’d forgotten to charge his cellphone and only had five per cent battery power left.

You just never know, do you?

Sending light and love people.

Sibo