Power Vs no power

Today started with a very early knock on the door.

My school caretaker to advise me that there was no power at school.

Fortunately I was ready for work anyway so I rushed down with him to check things out.  (forgetting my coat on the way because I was on the phone as I went trying to contact the power company)

Yup!  No power in our entire admin block.  Which meant no light, no heat, no internet or network, no computers, no phones, no staffroom facilities and no sewage.

Oh dear!

Fortunately the power was on in the rest of the school so we were able to open and sort of function.  

Many phone calls and tradesmen later, the outcome is depressing.  By evening they've managed to bring in a generator to get the building and all our services running which is an enormous relief.  Tomorrow they will begin the trench digging and laying of new cables.  This could take many days and will take many dollars.

My staff have been fantastic today.  The front office staff and our Executive Officer soldiering on in the cold.  Thank goodness it wasn't a 0 degree morning, it started at about 3 degrees (so much warmer than 0!) but never warmed past 9 degrees all day.   Honestly, I did tell them they could/should go home but they are a truly dedicated bunch.  

The main server being down meant we had no internet which also means no access to the cloud, printers or markbooks for teachers.  So they have been amazing too.

I got to escape my cold office at one point as I had a meeting in town, and I must say I did crank my car heater up to thaw me out on the way there.  

On the way I got a text saying the others going to the meeting were running a little late, so I ducked down to the beach for a quick photo.  It's a busy and social place, even on cold winter mornings.

Thank you to everyone at work for their good humour today.  Normal services to resume at some time tomorrow (she says hopefully).