I had gone blind.
I woke up scared.
I kept blinking hoping I would wake up, but I was already awake.
It felt like I was blind.
And deaf.
At night, I'm used to leaving the TV on, so, in a way, the Universe keeps spinning without me.
By next morning, the bedroom will have already witnessed horrible crimes, K1 fights, music, misleading news, moronic analyses, moronic humor, escapes from concentration camps and wars with aliens - you know, the usual stuff in our world.
But it's as if the world had stood still.
The TV was off.
It felt as if I had crossed over to the other side, where there is neither pain nor joy.
I touched my eyes, to make sure everything was fine.
I stood up.
There was a glimmer of light through the window blinds.
I was still there!
I was still alive! My game wasn't up yet!
I remember what my first wife used to say when it happened - "They left us in the dark".
Alright.
I went to the electric board, I turn on the flashlight.
The fuses are fine.
In my slippers, I waded through the snow, towards the electric board in the yard. I pushed the black button, nothing; I pushed the red button, nothing; I pushed the white button; still nothing; I started over five times; nothing.
My ankles were wet, my soles were freezing.
I went up to the first floor, there was another electric board over there, and I had another on in the basement.
I called the power company; the man on the phone told me he didn't know anything. He said they had several complaints from people in my neighborhood.
Everybody else but me had power: the neighbors across the street, the neighbors behind my house, the ones to the left and to the right. I was the only one in the dark, it's like I was from a different movie.
I light up a candle.
I never knew how much light a candle could give.
I started reading.
It was midnight.
I went to bed at 3 AM.
I was late in the office the next day.
Once I got there I found out that Hăhăianu wanted to return to Transelectrica.
What was he thinking?!
It's not like he was right or anything, was he?
I read in the daily press review:
"On Friday, when a significant part of the country was seriously affected by low temperatures, snow and blizzard, Transelectrica sent out a press release which said tha, «because of the deficit of electricity» in the Romanian energy system, there are no resources to cover the consumption and export needs during certain peak hours".
"The company announced that it did not have the necessary reserves to keep the system operating properly, meaning that Transelectrica was forced to cut its exports according to its operating procedure.
Later, PM Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu asked the Minister of the Economy to dismiss Hăhăianu, and on Friday, minister Lucian Bode fired him".
Well, that's unfortunate.
The man was telling the truth.
When Ungureanu demanded that Hăhăianu be fired, I liked his attitude - this new PM doesn't fool around!
Except that Hăhăianu was right.
Ungureanu, on the other hand, was wrong.
What the hell kind of a world is this, where despite having been right, you have to beg to get your job back?
We are idiots.
We are deaf, we are blind.
We might as well poke our eyes out ...
• POWER OUTAGES IN BUCHAREST
• February 16th
On Thursday night, the energy grid once again had several failures in a few neighborhoods of Bucharest. Eroilor, Cotroceni and Ferentari were some of the areas affected by the power outage, and it was expected that power would not restored prior to 21:00.
The areas in question were left without power due to a failure of the installations of Transelectrica.
Another power outage in Bucharest. Several neighborhoods were left in the dark.
Update 20:40 - The electricity supply was estimated to resume around 23:20, in the CFR Progresul area, and around 22:30 in the Cotroceni neighborhood.
In the Auchan Titan - 1 Decembrie 1918 Boulevard area, it was expected that power would be restored at around 21:00.
In the Ferentari Square area, power was set to be restored at around 21:00.
In the 2nd District, the Doamna Ghica Street and all the buildings of the Popa Soare street were expected to be affected until 21:30, and 23:30, respectively.
The incident comes as, just one evening before, almost half of Bucharest was left without electricity. A power outage occurred on Wednesday evening in the North East of Bucharest. The Titan, Obor, Pipera and Timpuri Noi areas were affected, as a result of a failure of the installations of Transelectrica.
Across the rest of the country there also were disruptions in several cities in the counties of Olt, Giurgiu or Ilfov.