My wife and I could not easily see the old year off. It was a miserable New Year’s Eve for us. I got tired of TV program “Kohaku”, Red and White Year-end Song Festival, in the middle of the program. I chose to watch the rest leisurely on the video during the daytime on New Year’s Day. Then I decided to take a bath. However, the lamp went out while I soaked in the bathtub. When I asked my wife, the whole house was pitch-dark. Apparently, the breaker tripped due to overuse of the heating equipment.
I tried to return the cock of the breaker to its original position, but it did not return. I have experienced it several times in the past, but this time it did not come to my mind. I have no choice but to ask the company it in such a case. The “company” was not the electric company but the gas company. I integrated the contract with the electric company into the gas company because it has become possible to make a one-time contract for the electric power and the gas since last year. I checked this and that. Anyway, I searched for the contact of gas company. It did not go well because I relied on a flashlight in the dark. In addition, the wire telephone was useless because there was no electric power. The contact which I finally found did not get the point at all. I was asked to find another contact, and finally I was able to talk.
The contact answered me that he would arrange for a technician of repairing from now on. However, it took time because it was midnight on New Year’s Eve. I had shivered with cold because all the heating system had stopped, moreover I had been thinly dressed after took a bath. I got a reply from the contact after a while. He said they could send a technician to us on New Year’s evening. I thought it was too slow. I could not be patient until then. I consulted with the contact again. He and I came to an agreement that it quicker to ask the electric company which was the original contractor, instead of the gas company which was the current contractor. He also gave me the contact information of the electric company.
I could get in touch with the electric company soon. Their technician was working on another house on that time, so they would be going to send him to our house as soon as it was over, it would be around 1 a.m. I was wrapped up in futon and waited him while it was getting cold. The entrance chime of my house did not work due to the power outage. I should notice if he sounds a horn intensely, but I may not notice knocking the entrance door with hand. My body was cold and shivering, but I was waiting awake without sleep.
Eventually the engine sound of a car was transmitted. I heard the knocking on the door. The joya-no-kane of Yugyo Temple was over before I know it. The work was just to replace a small equipment in the part. It ended after 1 a.m. He did not demand us the repair fee due to deterioration of parts. My wife and I could finally see the old year off and greet the New Year.
By the way, what if the electric power and gas were reversed in this case? The electric company came to fit a contract window of the gas. What kind of reply will I get if I contact them with gas leak? What if I get a reply “tomorrow afternoon”? Anyway, the second half of the program “kohaku” was not recorded in the video, of course.
(Yoshihiro Fujiwara Jan. 1, 2021)
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