In which I pretend to be an electrician

I apologize for my rushed account of the TIPA show last night, but I was out having coffee with some friends afterward and didn't want to be on my computer and antisocial for too long, but I knew once we left I wouldn't be able to upload my post. The show was fun, even if there were moments that reminded me of one of those bizarre “hip” Christian church services with the full band and the personality cult. During one musical number, on the curtain behind the musicians there was a big picture of HH the Dalai Lama superimposed over a space scene with stars and galaxies, and stuffed doves on wires bobbed with the motion of a multicolored wheel off to the side. Kinda weird. Generally speaking, though, it was a good time and I had fun.

After some surprisingly decent cheesecake and a bit of dancing at the coffee shop, Alex and Rico walked me back to my place – a thoughtful offer, since it is a bit of a trip and I don't like doing it alone in the dark if I don't have to. It's just as well, too, because we also encountered a barking dog lurking down an alleyway, a first since I've been here. You'll be happy to know we made it back to Pause Dwelling without further incident.

I had only been in my room for about 5 minutes when the power went out. I waited a bit to see what would happen, because sometimes it's only a few minutes before everything starts up again. It didn't, so I went to sleep. Alex wanted to meet before HH's teachings began this morning anyway, so I needed some rest. To my surprise and annoyance, my lights still wouldn't turn on and the fan wouldn't spin when I got up this morning. I washed my hair in the sink because I'd really been hoping for a shower, but you do what you can with what you have. It's India.

At HH's teachings I basically tuned in and out the entire 4 hours we were there. He spoke more of compassion and secular morality, but this teaching had more religiosity in it than the one last week. He said things that seemed mildly condescending to non-believers, but I reminded myself that he is, after all, the leader of a major world religion, and so I can't really fault him too much for it. At least he said we all have the same goal in mind with regard to the avoidance of suffering and attainment of happiness, and that we all deserve respect regardless of our beliefs (or lack thereof).

I spent much of the time mulling over ideas for a sewing business I could start when I get back home. I really love my job at Duke's Catering (hi Mo! I miss you!), but unfortunately I've got bills to pay and part time work doesn't always cut it. I want to maintain a flexible schedule, and I do alright with a sewing machine, so I thought maybe I could make something work there with an online or perhaps consignment sort of thing. Regardless of whether it works out in the end, I had a good morning being creative and scribbling down notes and ideas.

On a related note, Dad, I want to go to DragonCon with you next year. DragonCon or whatever other Cons you may be planning to attend.... I've got some pretty kickass cosplay ideas.

The rest of you: go ahead and make fun of my geekery. We all know you're just jealous. ;)

Anyway, upon returning home from the temple, I found that my power still wasn't on. Wtf, right? As I headed downstairs to get someone to fix it, I flipped some switches in the other rooms (they keep the doors open if no one is renting them. I'm doing the same with mine right now in hopes that it'll air out and the sheets will dry... monsoon season is almost over but we aren't quite there yet. Damp sheets kinda suck). Sure enough, the lights worked in the other rooms. I went back and checked mine again. Still nothing.

The guys came up and after a minute of fiddling with the breaker they got it to work. I had to turn everything off, then we had to flip a tired little switch outside, and then I could go about getting that shower I wanted so badly. I plugged in my phone, set some water to boil in the kettle, turned on the water heater in the bathroom, and put the fan on to try to dry the few articles of laundry I'd hung in my room.

Everything turned off.

Well shit, I thought. I tried flipping the switch myself and couldn't get it to stick, so I had to go bother the guys again. I decided I'd have to do a little experimentation to see how many things I could have running at one time without tripping the breaker; I got it up to a light in the main room, the light in the bathroom, the kettle, the water heater, and I think I also had my phone plugged in, and it was no problem. I think that might be the limit, though.

Yup, India. It's not so bad, but I have started to get a few pangs of homesickness. I'm sure in the end I'll be glad I decided to stay until December, but if I had an open ended ticket home, I'd be tempted to use it in another month or so. I think when I get back I'll try to save some money and plan to check out Europe, or maybe Canada. Anybody want to be a travel buddy?