Cut Power

So, Saturday as I was getting ready for the day, there was a knock at the door. I answered it and it was the Adarsh Vista Electrician, along with some other guy. They were talking really fast in some language I don't understand, but for all I could tell, it could have been English, just a really fast Indian version.  Anyway, I went and got Baby (thank heavens I have her!). She came to the door to be my translator. Apparently we hadn't paid our power bill, and the man was there to cut the power. I asked him what I could do so that he wouldn't cut the power. He told me that I needed to give him a check for the 4000 some odd rupees that we owed. This is where India gets difficult. We have been here a year, and I am still not added to our checking account. Only Alan could write a check, but at the time he was on hole #6 at Clovergreens. I tried to explain that I would bring a check as soon as he came home. He told me to give him cash and Baby quickly advised me not to give him cash. I told him I didn't have the cash (a lie) and that...all of the sudden mid sentence he walked to the side of my house and started cutting wires with some scissors!!! AUGHHH!! My power was cut!!! The man quickly left and was on to the next house that hadn't paid their bill.

I hadn't seen a bill for the month so I called Vijay on the phone. He is always the one to get the mail and pay the power bill. I asked him if he had it and he told me no.  Baby and I searched for about 20 minutes for an old power bill so that we could get the account number off of it and go pay it. Baby ran out the door and to the power office to pay the bill. In the mean time, I took Annie for a walk and ran into a friend in the neighborhood. I asked her if she had ever had her power cut and she told me no, but that someone she knew had and it took 2-3 days to rehook it up!! I told her what had happened, and she immediately got on her cell phone. She was yelling at someone, (in another language) and when she hung up the phone she told me that the electrician would be back to hook up the power.
I am so glad for people in the neighborhood that look out for each other, and for people who can speak Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil!!
And come to find out Vijay did have the bill. He forgot that he had it, and didn't pay it. When I looked at the bill, we were only 5 days late paying. Whoa!! I haven't had my power shut off in the US, but I'm pretty sure you have to default for a few months before it is cut off.