Well. today was a textbook example of Murphy Law in action. Wait, I should not have written 'was', it actually is 4pm EAT and still huge chunk of time ahead of me till I wander around and find my bed. Who knows what still may happen to me this afternoon and tonight? It scares the s..t out of me big time.
Everything went wrong so far. Woke up with a mega headache which double Panadol could not chase away. Had to drive to Musoma to fight with Tanesco - power supply company - who yesterday sent their sentinels to cut me off from national power grid, as - allegedly - I refused to settle my bills. Yeah, right! If only I had those bills delivered to my post office box in fact! So they generously allowed me to entertain power and light and hot water in my shower, but I had to come to their office today to pay the bills. The gave me the exact amounts due.
So I drove with my sisters to town this morning. With annoying headache. First waypoint - NBC Ltd. bank in Musoma. Oh, how convenient - a parking place for my car in front of the bank. Great! It has been a big problem to find a space there. Entered the bank in a better mood. Wow! Almost nobody inside. Happiness in bucketloads now in my heart!
Sorry, bank network down. So, no balance statement, no withdrawal of cash, nothing. Till I was leaving Musoma at 1pm, there was still not a slightest sign of improvement.
Ok, no money, no honey!
Went to post office to check if my 'Avatar' movie on DVD arrived which I generously bought me for birthday present as the sale of DVDs was launched officially on April 22, 2010, the very day of my birthday.
No sign of DVD. Yeah, what should I expect? Actually, 7 days delivery guaranteed means nothing these days here. I should not complain.
Next stop - bishop's office, to see one of his secretaries responsible for immigration issues. I wanted to check if we really need a residence permit for a volunteer coming for field work to Kiabakari for six months only. I hoped we wouldn't need, just an extended visa would suffice.
Wrong again. We need residence permit - for one year. And it can be done only in Dar es Salaam. And probably she will get her residence permit the day she leaves Tanzania going back to Poland, judging the speed of bureaucracy in those offices...
Next waypoint - Tanesco offices. I was wrong again allowing in my mind a tiniest hope of having my bills corrected. Nope, I have to pay in full, they showed all records and argued. Ah, well...I have decided already that as soon as possible I will switch to LUKU type meters (LUKU - Lipa Umeme Kadiri Unavyotumia; Pay Electricity As You Use). Instead of reading meter, one buys a voucher with combination of numbers, punches them down on the dial on the meter and it shows how much kWh you have just entered. When you use power till 0.00 units, then it shuts you down and cuts off the power. With mobile phone services - when you can buy power units with messages, it is very handy and you have kind of control of your usage of power.
So, I have to drive back to Musoma tomorrow, to bank to get the money and pay for those nasty bills...
When I finally got back home, I got a message from a very good friend of mine with depressing news. Oh, well...What should I expect today? Good news? No way!
Still so many hours till midnight...What will go wrong still today? If I post anything tomorrow, it will mean I survived.
'The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train'
Hope I'm wrong.
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