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Flitworth
Level 3: 314 points
Alltime Score: 5119 points
Last Logged In: April 24th, 2018
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250 + 80 points

The Power Outage by Flitworth

December 16th, 2007 4:36 PM

INSTRUCTIONS: Cut the power to your dwelling or place of business for at least one day. The power company will help, if you manage your bill payment correctly.

In the winter, going without power is cold. If it weren't for the ambient heat of the other apartments I'm sure I would have lost feeling in my hands altogether. I cut the power to my residence by unplugging everything (except the phone, for emergency purposes only, I am obsessed with the idea that my father will choose to stroke out the minute I am totally unavailable...no one called). I put a cardboard flap in front of the bathroom light so that I wouldn't forget and turn it on during the night. I also used nothing with batteries for the full 24 hours from 12:20am Sunday to 12:20am Monday, with the exception of a wall clock I had no interest in dismounting and dismantling. I turned the thermostat down to 9 degrees Celsius*.

Statistics:
Number of hours sleeping without power: ~10 (including one night and a nap)
Number of hours out of the house during the time: ~4
Number of hours huddled under blankets: ~18
Number of hours reading in house: ~5
Number of hours cleaning, playing solitaire, taking notes, wondering if I was missing something of grand importance online: ~5

The hardest part of this was going without music or podcasts for a day. I usually run music or something vaguely educational in the background while cleaning or doodling and I felt far less efficient merely cleaning. I am accustomed to multi-tasking and that does not occur quite as easily when there is no one around and you don't use anything electric. I also, sadly, could not make tea, hot food or instant coffee because my gas stove has an electric starter.

I found that bathing by candlelight is really relaxing.

I went out to search for holiday gifts in the afternoon as time is running short and I am far behind. I had to take the subway, which uses electricity, but I opted to go to an outdoor market, rather than a store, as it does not use electricity. The ride was about 30 minutes long and I spent the time observing other riders and practicing reading Korean script rather than getting lost in sounds of my own choosing.

The last few hours were the hardest because it was cold and dark. Once I finished all available reading materials I could not think of much to do. I originally had planned to practice using nunchuks but the cold utterly sapped my energy and I alternated between curling up in bed and playing solitaire the old fashioned way.

I decided to do this task (and I just noticed the point value and am somewhat intimidated) as an inauguration to unplugging my refrigerator for the winter. I discovered that my laundry area/enclosed balcony is cold enough to keep foods in for the winter and decided to reduce my use of energy. I found a box fitting to act as fridge pro tempore and decided to stop procrastinating and just go for it.

The other reason I wanted to do this task is because I've become fairly addicted to having my computer running whenever I am home. I wake up, turn it on, make tea, and doodle around every morning. I have skipped going to the gym, been late leaving the house, and stayed up far too late on a regular basis because of senseless doodling online and I wanted to break that spell.

Lessons Learned
Indoor heating is highly underrated. I shall be thankful for every moment I am not in torpor.
On any given day, nothing particularly grand happens online that requires my attention.
Candle light is soothing but hard on the eyes when reading.

NOTE: I admit that 250 points is a lot. I have very mixed feelings about the point value. On the off chance anyone was enticed to vote for this I would discourage it as 250 is more than enough for an activity that lacked any great epiphanies. If you have considered completing this task I would suggest doing it with a friend and going back in time to do it in the summer. Also, if you go back in time to complete a task you'll certainly get a lot of votes.

UPDATE: Milk, with the lowest fault tolerance of all the foods, has survived a day in my box fridge. I'm surprised. It is not ice-cold as it would be with the appliance fridge but it has not gone sour.

*Traditional Korean heating involves heating water and running it through pipes under the floors, I was warned not to turn the thermostat entirely off in the winter.

+ larger

Off
Acoustic Refrigerator
Reminder Flap
The New 'Fridge
Populated Refrigerator
Contents
The Single Light Source
Notes

16 vote(s)



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12 comment(s)

(no subject)
posted by Burn Unit on December 16th, 2007 5:49 PM

One advantage of giving a shit and yet not giving a shit about points is that you can afford both positions when you're far enough in front of or behind someone that a couple hundred points either way isn't going to hurt yourself (the giving a shit part) or you're confident the writing of the task might have an inherent shortcoming the creator(s) didn't consider when awarding the value they did (the not giving a shit part). If you are able to hold these contradictions in your mind comfortably, you can vote for someone taking on the many challenges and risks they did. Also, it didn't say go without power (i.e., no dings for riding the subway) and it requires a slightly looser reading of the phrase "cut the power."

As a hip, urbane dotmodernist, I have no such problems. Vote.

(no subject)
posted by rongo rongo on December 16th, 2007 6:45 PM

It's great that this is tied to something you'll keep doing (using the weather as a refrigerator) and also that you did it under winter conditions. A literal reading would say that unplugging things is not the same as turning off power to the dwelling, but I think it's neat that you jumped in and did this---it's one of those tasks that's been around a while with no one venturing forth.

The gas stove...
posted by Frostbeard on December 16th, 2007 7:42 PM

Could you not have just opened the gas flow on the burner and lit up a match to start it even though it has its own electric starter? or does this stove automatically click on if you even turn the gas on slightly?

(no subject)
posted by Flitworth on December 16th, 2007 8:40 PM

Burn Unit: For me I simply care that the point value reflect the effort and since 250 is so much for what took will power but not effort I just hate to get more credit than is due. Thank you, though.

rongo rongo: thanks, I definitely felt like it was worthwhile to make a go of it.

Frostbeard: I have a bit of uneasiness around gas stoves as it is (even though they are superior to most electric burners) so I did not risk meddling with it. I also haven't found proper wooden matches in Korea, which would have been far preferable to my butane lighter.

(no subject)
posted by Frostbeard on December 16th, 2007 9:22 PM

ah i see. how long have you been in Korea now? i've got a friend who has a brother there teaching English and stuff. he met a Korean girl and got married and they had a kid, which is hilarious because my friend is this gigantic italian-american guy, so seeing pictures of a small asian baby that he refers to as his nephew is a weird experience. it sounds like good times over there. i've had some korean food over here and while it probably isn't super authentic it definitely all seems to have a fermented earthy taste that i like, but find it hard to get used to without having it often. it's nice to see that you are still tasking despite your worries about the cultural aspect of tasking.

(no subject)
posted by Charlie Fish on December 17th, 2007 3:42 AM

I think you applied much more asceticism than the task necessarily required. The points are well deserved. Have 5 more.

(no subject)
posted by Flitworth on December 17th, 2007 4:22 AM

Frostbeard: I've been in Korea about two months. It is an interesting experience but I wish more of my tasking were in the public domain. As of yet I do not have the linguistic capacity to do a lot but hopefully in the new Era I will be able to engage more people in the area as a part of playing.
The food is quite interesting. You are spot on about the earthiness, especially since kimchee is the defining Korean food and it is traditionally fermented underground.

Charlie Fish: I cannot tell you how good lights and a hot cup of tea feel now. Coming home from work today I had a momentary thrill of "I get to turn things on." Thank ye for the vote.

(no subject)
posted by adam. on December 17th, 2007 7:08 AM

wow, i am staying clear of this task. thanks for the heads up!

(no subject)
posted by Flitworth on December 17th, 2007 7:11 AM

Adam, if you've a fireplace and a significant other I'm sure this is a much more enjoyable task.

(no subject)
posted by Lincøln on December 17th, 2007 9:49 AM

Vote for Acoustic Refrigerator.

(no subject)
posted by Tøm on December 18th, 2007 12:23 PM

Awesome, this task made me chuckle a few times when reading through what my Saturdays might consist of, and I've been looking forward to a completion for a while :)

Another vote for Acoustic Refrigerator.

(no subject)
posted by miss understanding on December 19th, 2007 8:42 AM

The other reason I wanted to do this task is because I've become fairly addicted to having my computer running whenever I am home. I wake up, turn it on, make tea, and doodle around every morning. I have skipped going to the gym, been late leaving the house, and stayed up far too late on a regular basis because of senseless doodling online and I wanted to break that spell.


I have this issue as well. While I have gotten a bit better with it, I still struggle. At the very least, I have been able to detach myself from myspace, which was harder than I like to admit.

Another vote for the Acoustic Fridge!