Sigh, another fun filled night at the Tencza's. The power blew for a bit. That happens a LOT here. Not just our house, but about 5 or 6 houses, as far as we can tell, it is a bit dark you know.
However we have the added bonus of the Foxtel box (Australia's cable/satellite company) (yes, there really is only one and they handle both cable and satellite, it's bizarre) makes this LOUD popping noise when the power is killed suddenly. And worse...Connor is terrified of it. Scared to death. So she's laying sobbing on the floor and I'm making a mad dash for the flashlight...sorry, I just can't call it a torch. The super good, expensive one, the one I bought to use in these situations is dead. Dead because even though it charges 24/7 and should always be on, the fact is that it has a limited battery life...only about 1000 hours or so. And when your 7 year old likes to borrow it to help his friend stalk his cat under the back porch and then uses it as a nightlight 9-10 hours a night, every night for a couple of months...well it died.
So I race into Teddy's room to get the wind-up flashlight. The one I bought after realizing he had killed the last one. Since it's DARK I can't see the stupid thing. I grab what I think is the light and try to open up the arm to wind it and only then do I discover that it is a Transformer. I'm winding the arm. DAMNIT! Finally find it and make my way out to living room and there is poor Connor crying her eyes out, poor Teddy looking bewildered trying to get her to stop and of course Tessi, who sees me and starts shrieking, "My turn, My turn!" She wants to wind the flashlight. Of course, what else did I expect.
A few minutes later the lights and more importantly the tv came back on. Connor spent the next hour until bed time reminding us that the tv popped and that she didn't like that.
Yes, Connor I know. I think even the neighbors figured that one out. I'm off to the shops today to get another spiffy flashlight and a spare wind-up one for Tessi. One must be prepared for emergencies.
An American family living in Australia. While we all speak English here, I wouldn't say we all speak the same language.
