On Tuesday afternoon, 2 days ago, we received a notice from our power company that they are going to place planned power outage over 2-day period from 8pm to 4:30pm. We should not be using computers or TV because sudden power outage can damage the hardware. This threw me off a little bit. I wondered how to survive without electricity so many hours. So I called up the person who was responsible for the project. The power company plans to put silicon into the wire tubes to make them last longer. Since the work schedule cannot be minutely accurate he could not tell me on which day of what time period we are going to lose the power.
On the first planned outage day, though we still had power, I did not use electric gadgets, such as a computer or TV. But since I still had power I could spend most of my time reading. Today, the planned outage finally came around 9am, making our house dark and cold. The rain and strong wind were raging outside, albeit intermittently. It was so dark inside the house that I couldn’t even read. So I decided to go out for shopping, first to a department store and then to a grocery store. It was an annoying experience, mostly because my routine was suddenly incapacitated.
I realize that I am largely a creature of habits, like most people, I think. When I was young and more romantic, I often welcomed events that forced me to change my habits and routines. Now I often find following routines is more comfortable and acceptable. I think routines can give an order to the flow of time. I wonder if it is a sign of becoming more mature, or simply becoming older and jaded.
“I love short lived habits, and regard them as an invaluable means for gaining knowledge of many things and states, to the very bottom of their sweetness and bitterness; my nature is altogether arranged for short lived habits, even in the needs of its bodily health, and in general, as far as I can see, from the lowest up to the highest matters… The most unendurable thing, to be sure, the really terrible thing, would be a life without habits, a life which continually required improvisation: that would be my banishment and my Siberia.” – Friedrich Nietzsche