Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Musings of an Unquiet Mind: Why a Brownout is a Blessing

at 5:23 AM
The title of this particular category came from the title of my first blog ‘Musings of an Unquiet Mind’. The content of this particular section can range from my theories on why it’s harder to get a ride when it’s raining to the consequences of suppressing ‘the shiver’ after peeing just because there are other men on either side of you. I may use photos to illustrate my point and inject a little poetry here and there, but the whole point of the exercise is to regurgitate ideas and thoughts that have overstayed their welcome in my head; so take everything with a grain of salt. You’ve been warned.

100805_brownoutblues_0004
The Martians are coming!
Last Thursday, August 5, power went out at our place. This localized phenomenon is what is referred to as a brownout. If you look it up, it’s defined as an incomplete blackout. Does this mean it aspired to be, but didn’t quite reach the standard needed for a full-blown blackout? All I can say is that it didn’t seem like it failed to reach such a standard for those of us who were left in the dark.

__________

There are too many things to hate about a brownout. In fact, too many words have been written to curse this unfortunate event; so, I’ve decided to write down a list of reasons as to how a brownout can be beneficial.
  1. shaving a few pesos off the monthly eye-gouging electric bill
  2. becoming a socially-responsible and ecologically-concerned citizen of the planet (albeit temporarily and not by choice) by practicing Earth ___ <— insert the unit of time that the power is actually out
  3. experiencing a fleeting weight loss due to dehydration from excessive sweating
  4. often accompanying no. 3, toning one’s arms from fanning oneself
  5. ‘forcing’ one to finish off the leftover ice cream in the freezer (nullifying reasons 3 and 4)
  6. allowing one a valid opportunity to pretend that the flash light is a light saber (cue whooshing and crackling sounds)
  7. enjoying a few precious moments of respite from the neighborhood videoke hounds (No, you don’t sound anything like Jon Bon Jovi. Trust me.)
Numbers 8 and up are left blank for you to add your own reasons for enjoying the occasional brownout. Please sound off in the comments section below.
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 10, 2010 at 10:56 AM

    A light saber does not go whoosh Dude.
    I think it goes whoomp.
    Or is it oommmmp?

    Anyways
    Stair climbing up and down 11 floors.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 10, 2010 at 11:09 AM

    You're right about the light saber sound, dude. I know how it sounds like, but just couldn't quite describe it in words. :)

    Wow, 11 floors! I never knew brownouts could be that good for your cardio. Well, that stamina will come in handy when the zombie apocalypse starts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. CarloAugust 10, 2010 at 11:55 AM

    Jots, how we're you able to achieve this shot?

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 10, 2010 at 5:03 PM

    Kaloy, the image is that of an LED rechargeable lantern. It was shot using a 17-50 mm lens at ISO 400 with an aperture of f/4.0 and a shutter speed of 1/500 s.

    I started out at 1/125 s and continued to set a faster shutter speed until the light coming off the LEDs were no longer causing too much glare.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 10, 2010 at 5:50 PM

    I see that you've been watching Zombieland Dude.

    Yes I agree, the zombie apocalypse, happens to be one of my recurring dreams. Or is it nightmare?

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownAugust 10, 2010 at 6:00 PM

    Yeah, Zombieland is truly an awesome movie. Dream or nightmare would all depend on how much food, water and ammo you've got. :)

    ReplyDelete

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