Rui CarmoThe sadistic idiots from the power company (which, incidentally, has a stupid smile as a logo) are it again. So, after going to bed at nearly 2AM, I was woken at 4:30AM again due to another power cut.
One of the PSU fans is again making a godawful noise, and there is a non-computing gadget called a freezer (you know, where your food is kept) that woke us up at 6:30AM when the power was restored.
I can get by on very little sleep, but this is absolutely ridiculous.
There is, as usual, no public notice that work is being conducted out of hours, nor will I dare even try dialing their call center outside "normal working hours" to figure out what it is. Not bad for a company that, in its mission statement, purports "to guarantee high quality service exceeding our customers' expectations and ensuring their loyalty".
Loyalty? Hah. Does the word monopoly ring a bell? And you will notice that the word "reliability" isn't on that page. Their mission statement is somewhat correct, though - taking out power to an entire city block for two nights in a row (or more, I bet) is, in a somewhat twisted sense, exceeding my expectations.
In corporate-speak, it might even be a "best practice" they wrung out of many workshops with other power suppliers in Third World countries, banana republics and suchlike.
Minor Update: Not only did the call center not know about any unscheduled work in our neighbourhood (apparently scheduled maintenance can only be legally done on Sundays), there was a rash of broken car windows. Liability, alas, is not something that sticks over here...
Off to work, then.
Incidentally, 10.3.9 seems to have subtly broken Quicksilver, which now freezes when my iBook resumes from sleep. Wonders never cease.
This Dilbert struck a bit too close, too:
