Barely sixty to ninety minutes after hitting the sack following an
as-usual late night, one hard lightening and thundering in the pre-dawn
hours of Friday. It was just past 5 am, time to get up, and unplug the
ADSL modem (yes, now some villages too have broadband in Goa) from the
power mains. One also had to delink the telephone line connected to it.
It's the time of the year when the monsoons are just setting in. The
pattern of the rain can be almost predictable. It heats up throughout
the day, and, almost unfailingly, precipitates by evening or at night.
On Saturday, after we finished our GNU/Linux meeting at the scenic Goa
Science Centre at Miramar, one had to rush home... the laptop should get
wet on the two-wheeler; what would we do for demos if it did?
Conveniently, it rained quite heavily as we spent some idle minutes (an
hour?) chatting at the Cafe Prakash. When it was time to move on (Cafe
Prakash is fairly unforgiving in its 8 pm closing time), the rain had
almost stoped. "It will start again. Just see by the time you reach
Porvorim," Soter predicted. It turned out to be an accurate prediction.
It rained for maybe two or more hours on Saturday evening.
The weather here has cooled. Just before the rains, it had become almost
unbearaably hot and humid. The cool winds of much of April and May had
gone, and it was getting really sultry. Everyone writing out from Goa
was talking about the heat, it seemed.
Now the rains are here. Almost.
Probably these are what the weatherman would term pre-monsoon showers.
Given the human condition, we are prone to grumbling. Earlier it was the
heat. Now it will be the floods, heavy rains, and breakdowns in the
power and telephone networks. Not to forget flooded urban areas of Goa.
Meanwhile, if you're reading this in Goa, don't forget that the
beginning of the monsoons (and it's end) is the time for lightening.
Which means you need to take care of your computer equipment and your
modem. ("My monitor just wouldn't come on," complained Glen. "And my
computer itself wouldn't start," said Soter, yesterday.) Humidity levels
are high. Try to use your equipment regularly.
But, when there's lightening striking, make sure your computer is off.
And also disconnect both your modem and computer (and also your TV) from
the power mains, as well as from the telephone line. A number of modems
have been lost to lightening... and apparently it can strike your
sensitive and costly equipment very easily if left connected (either to
power or phone) when there's lightening overhead. --FN
--
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Frederick 'FN' Noronha | Yahoomessenger: fredericknoronha
http://fn.goa-india.org | [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Independent Journalist | +91(832)2409490 Cell 9822122436
----------------------------------------------------------
Britto's old boy? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/brittos
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