Problem solving

The energy crisis in Albania has gotten worst in the past week. The hours of blackout have increased on a daily basis, and the times when there is lack of service have also changed. More than 6 straights hours without electricity (from early morning to early afternoon) seems now to be the norm, followed by one hour when one could cook something for a late lunch, and then everything is off again for another 2 hours, at least. Sometimes, in the evenings electricity may also go off again, unexpectedly, for shorter periods of time. The newly elected government is scrambling for solutions, but even buying extra power from neighboring countries is not easily accomplished all of a sudden. Planning, planning, planning is the key….!

After about one or two hours at the most that electricity is off, a water shortage comes into play. The pumps pushing the water up to the tanks on the roofs cannot work and everyone turns to the supply that, individually gathered in large bottles and containers, is forever present in every Albanian bathroom and kitchen.

People have to adapt somehow to all of the above, and they do. They are so used to these situations for years now, although they are slightly improving, that they shrug their heads and mumble sadly …”this is Albania”! The visitors that lodge at hotels or the casual guest that stays only briefly here, are not really affected by these predicaments because the business community, as I previously explained, have their own generators that take over and cover the needs.

I, living in a rented apartment, although in a new modern building in the city center, have to cope like everyone else. I switched to showering late at night, and I know housewives are doing the same with their laundry too. By morning one can see, on a lot of balconies, their wash, breezing in the wind that is barely perceptible in this city (see picture below). By noon the sun usually comes out from under the clouds and it shines beautifully, but, as it goes down, the warmth of midday disappears very quickly, and, being almost winter time with short days, it’s dark and quite cool by 4pm.

Yesterday, I had an additional problem that required a quick, but no easy solution here. All l of a sudden in the middle of the afternoon my house phone was unusable. I felt lost without my lifeline to the outside world!! Thanks to my cell unit I was able to contact some friends for help. Although they tried to report the problem by calling, we all agreed that, due to the late hour, nothing would be accomplished until the morning.

And so it was. We met at 9am and personally went to the main office of AlbTelecom. I know, from a previous similar experience a couple of years ago, that it may take a week to get a phone restored here. Sure enough, the ladies at the front desk, were not very helpful. First they vented that the line may have been cut for lack of payment, then, without checking anything or speaking to anyone in service, they told us that I would have to wait (as per procedure!) until Monday.

When they understood that the answer was totally unacceptable to me, they directed us to the payment office in another building. There, finally, we found a lady, who took at heart the case, confirmed that the bills were regularly paid, and personally accompanied us to a third building, at the servicemen’s office. The scene there was no better that the first one we encountered: a lady customer was being yelled at by a supervisor, while she was complaining that her phone line was not working for a week!

Fortunately for me, and the judicious presentation of my case on the part of my friend, I got the attention of an employee, who confirmed that the problem may have been caused by work performed in the area the day before, which I had suspected anyway. He called the serviceman in the field, and asked me to go back home and deal with him directly. He assured me he would be there, and he was. I was pleased that I could talk to him directly since he spoke also Italian. He excused himself for not being able to stay and deal with the problem personally since he had to attend a funeral, but he made sure that another technician came soon after and promptly brought my problem to a satisfactory solution. Lucky me!