Snap. I've Got the Power!

Literally.  After yoga today, I walked home with Hayes, said a quick goodbye and came up the elevator ready to prep some chicken for our dinner tonight.  As I turned the corner, made a quick call to a friend and opened the door.  I flipped the light switch in the kitchen only to find that it didn't work.  Strange.

So I flipped the switch in my dining nook.  Nothing.  Instantly I knew what had happened.  My power'd been cut.  I was still on the phone with said friend and mentioned it.  They asked me to check my neighbors but I knew that if the elevator worked, it was me alone.  I quickly hung up before saying something mean (I've done that to this person before) out of frustration.

Then I called Hayes to let her know that I had a "slight technical difficulty" and could we move dinner to her house.  I filled bags with the contents of my fridge and then my phone rang. 

For some reason I thought it was the power company calling me.  Seriously?  Why would the power company call?  I then heard, "Megan Looney!"  So strange since I hadn't heard my Vonage phone ring.  Could that be Captain Obvious that since your electricity was turned off that's why it went straight to your cell phone?  It was Jez.  We hadn't chatted in forever!  She, Baby Ruth and her hubby are doing great and settling in as new parents.  So great to chat but suddenly I got overwhelmed with getting the power back on.   We'd chatted for about half an hour when I cut things off and felt the urgency to get my power back. 

So I gathered up my bags and headed across the lot to Hayes building.  We started cooking and she was wonderful to call CEP, Brasilia's electric company.  They said I had outstanding bills and the only way I could get my power tonight was to pay by using the internet.  I had brought my bill with me and tried logging onto HSBC's website to pay.  There I found out I needed a password from a letter I'd received in the mail.  I came back home, first found a flashlight and then found the letter with the code I needed.  I quickly walked back across the parking lot to her apartment.  Luckily she's one of the 205 girls.

We logged on, only to have to log off another time and realized that the password I thought I'd set at the bank a couple of weeks ago wasn't working.  I had to come back again to my apartment with my Maglight to get the real one.  Luckily the ever so thoughtful Davina had not thrown away the old envelope I'd written it on.  I then walked back over to Hayes' apartment and was able to set my new password.  Yay! 

Then we realized I needed a bar code to pay the bill.  It's common here to pay your bills at an ATM machine and scan the bar code.  So, she called CEP again and found out we could go online to get it.  So another new password, well, not so new but one I can remember, and a log in later we paid both bills. 

I paid both the bills which I already thought I had paid and we called CEP's other number.  This time the woman speaking with us wasn't quite as friendly as our first rep.  Erin, of course being as sweet as she is and Portuguese perfect navigated through her questions, shared our payment numbers and all was set. 

Then, 2.5 hours later it was time for dinner.  They told us it would take about 4 hours for me to regain my power.  That meant electricity returned at midnight.

Around 9:30 I started to get tired.  Also, I'd crashed Hayes' apartment for such a long time and put her to work.  It was time to head home.  We made a hairdrying plan so in the morning if my electricity still wasn't on that I could dry my hair at her place.  I returned home, took the elevator up and hoped for the best.  I put my key into the lock and opened the door.  I saw a faint green glow from my ipod speaker.  Yes!  The power was back!  And now, here I am 30 minutes later finishing up this post. 

So what I have I learned?  1.  Now I'm all set for paying my electric bills online.  2.  Even if you do think you've paid all your bills in Brazil, don't think it's true.  Even if you don't receive them in the mail, it's your fault so stay on top of things and pay attention.  Gee, if that's not obvious.  3.  I'm very lucky to have Erin Hayes as my friend.  She's awesome in every sense of the word.   4.  I'm gonna sleep well knowing that my alarm will go off when it's supposed to because "I've Got the Power!"