Saturday, May 8, 2010

Foot-in-Mouth Disease

I think we've all been there, done that, etc.

I'll try to keep this short, but I really couldn't wait to post this:

For the past few days, we've been experiencing power outages all over the island.  It's been as hot as Hades here recently,  unusual for May,  which does nothing to alleviate the growing anger at the power company.

At the onset of this dilemma, we, like many others, called the customer service department (ad nauseum) to ascertain when power would be restored.  They first started out with some cock-'n-bull story about,   "dumping loads".  No shit! (and pun definitely intended).  Eventually, they got 'Bionic Betty' (my term for those automated answering systems) to spew out some pre-recorded excuse for the lack of service:

"Please accept our apologies but we are experiencing some technical and mechanical difficulties at this time.  We are working on restoring the power to your area as quickly as possible.  The Grand Bahama Power Company wishes to thank you for conserving power."

"...conserving power."  Really??   Like we have a choice?!?!?

Oy vey.

So, yesterday they had two articles in our one and only local newspaper (The Freeport News) about the power situation.  One of the articles quotes the Chief of the power company remarking, among other things, this gem:

"We apologize for any inconvenience that this is causing our customers.  We are trying to spread out the inconvenience as much as possible."

Really!  I shit you not!

15 comments:

  1. Well, you've got to give credit: honesty is unusual among spokespeople.

    ReplyDelete
  2. True. And I have to admit it did provide a bit of levity to a frustrating situation.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really sorry to hear about the power outages, but hey, at least they're spreading out the inconvenience.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Ziva! Thanks for dropping by! I really like your "Inferno" - I kinda cruised by at the time of the Icelandic volcano eruption (how ironic).

    Thankfully the inconveniences here are now just limited to a selected few.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I hate power outages! But in the heat! Damn! How is life on the rock? I went to Alcatraz once but I don't think I could live there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Linda! Thanks for stopping in.

    It's a bit cooler here today and we have a nice breeze. But in the summer, it's a cooker and we have no a/c - old house, old equipment, high electric bills.

    I've never been to Alcatraz myself, but our rock is quite a bit bigger than that (and we are free to walk about).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, on the one hand, you've got power outages. But on the other hand, you live in the fucking Bahamas! ;) I guess the power company will fix the problem when they reach. Unless you all get vexed enough to toss them off the rock.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I live on an island too, but it's that Montreal island. Sure, it can get tropical in the summer, but it can't compare with your Bahamian beaches.

    Sucks about the power outages but it makes me think of this book called "The Sex Lives of Cannibals" by Maarten Troost. Have you heard of it? It's one of the funniest travelogues I have ever read. I highly recommend it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. MikeWJ: It's not always "Better in the Bahamas", especially in the summertime - it gets snot melting hot! Besides, I'm not living here necessarily by choice - long story. (Hmmm - I think I said that wrong - oh well.)

    Ha! The power company has now resorted to placing a notice in the paper yesterday, which basically says (as I interpret it): "We screwed up so bad that the fuel surgcharge for May is going to bankrupt you. Sorry about your luck."

    Mike: I miss my snow! Really! Hell, I was born in the coldest month of the year (Feb), so my skin is a little thick, as is my head at times. Ahhhh yes, the beaches - well, they are white! And I think I can build a snowman out of the sand.

    "The Sex Lives of Cannibals"? Never heard of it, but I'll look around - sounds hilarious. The only travelogue I've ever read was, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams.

    MikeWJ and Mike: Y'all gotta change your names - I get confused sometimes. I know! Henceforth you will be known (to me) as "BonyMike" and "CheesyMike", respctively.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, I almost forgot. CheesyMike: Thanks for dropping in!

    ReplyDelete
  11. At least they are honest, gotta give them credit for that. I wish we had the heat, it's so cold here. I have never had the heat on this late in May.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey Jen! Thanks for the drive-by. It was rather cold here this past winter that I even had to wear socks! No worries for you though, it will warm up soon.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh, you're not there by choice? Did you murder somebody and have to flee there? Are your millions in stolen assets hidden in an account there? Are you ex-CIA, living in seclusion under an assumed identity because "you know too much?" Or is it just that you're an accountant, and your company opened an office there and forced you to run it for them? So many possibilities....

    ReplyDelete
  14. I like BonyMike so much that I'm going to introduce myself that way and insist that everybody else call me that from now on. Also, I think it's better than CheesyMike, which sounds a little...well, cheesy.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Actually, I used to be Sean Connery's cat, but I didn't survive beyond my 6th life which disqualified me from earning 007 status. So, I was reincarnated as my mom's daughter and part-time office administrator. Then some major stuff happened and, for lack of a better phrase, I got stuck in a pothole.

    Really?? You're gonna use "BonyMike"? Awww, I'm flattered and honoured. *blush*

    Well, I guess I'll have to call CheesyMike just "Mike" from now on. But what do I do in the event another Mike pops in here??

    I'm so confused.

    ReplyDelete