intruder!

When I came home yesterday, I saw that all of the clocks running on AC power(i.e. the clock on the VCR, the microwave, the audio and so on) were screwed, most of them showing the flashing 0:00 as the current time. There are two possible reasons for this to occur.

1. a blackout or a brownout
2. circuit breaker shutting out electricity

Obviously from the pic I posted above, the cause of the blackout was the breaker. Then what caused the shut out? Wait till you hear this! My mom told me that right after the breaker shutted out our electricity, she called the guys from Tokyo Electic Power Co. for an emergency inspection. The guy told my mom that the electricity leakage came from the outdoor unit of one of our two central air-conditioners. The TEPCO guy wasn't able to figure out the direct cause of the leakage, but he advised my mom to call the customer support of the manufactuer of the unit, which in this case was Toshiba.

Given the advise, my mom called the Toshiba customer service yesterday which came today for an inspection and possible repairs of the unit. Inspection reveiled an unbelievable truth. The cause of the leakage was...a centipede couple dwelling inside the unit, connected the electric circuit, which shorted out both the unit and themselves. Hmm...it was a familiar story, at least for my family. We had an identical case just like 2 months ago. The technician from Toshiba smiled bitterly, telling us that similar cases are common in countrysides, since the temperature inside the unit is comfortable for living things, which in this case were the centipedes.

I must admit...this incident is hilarious, but it also made me fond of the amount of nature remaining in the area I reside in. I live in Zushi, a city 50km south of Tokyo, which is now considered an upper-class suburb of Tokyo-Yokohama. The residential development is pretty much impregnated here, but I still sight fireflies during the summer. Insects, geckos, lizards and squarrels are commonplace, although they are displeasing to see. But here's the problem. The thing the centipedes dwelled in is an outdoor unit of an air-conditioner. We can't just cover them up with bags or nets to prevent this. Let's just hope that we'll be able to spend a "centipede-free" summer. Air-conditioning stopping in August? PLEEEEZ, HELL NO...!!!