Powerless...

After four days of no power and losing everything in our refrigerator, our breaker box was inspected after the installation of a new master switch. It passed. The local power company turned on our power.

The next day at around noon our power went out.

I could hear my roommate feverishly flipping breakers and sobbing.

Half the power came back on when she finally got the master switch to switch back on.

We have power in my room, her office, their room, her husband’s office, and the dining room where our refrigerator resides.

We lack power in the kitchen, laundry room, living room, and central air. In California where we have been having sweltering heat. This means no internet. I’m writing this using phone data.

My roommate desperately called an electrician she had started a conversation with and networked with while in line at Trader Joe’s. He’s a master electrician who teaches electricianlings at the local union.

He came out and opened the panel up and got a look on his face indescribable as anything other than, “What the shit?”

Our water heater was not properly connected to a breaker. Several breakers had disconnected cables. One leg of our power was out.

He fixed the wiring for us at no cost, said that he thought that the problem was the power company.

The inspector should have caught the above picture. Having not done so is a problem—he didn’t do his job.

So we called the power company who came out and did diagnostics.

He found there was a discontinuity between the incoming power and the master breaker. He also tried to twist the screw on the master breaker and it was loose. He was able to turn it five whole turns.

This means the person who worked on it didn’t do it right and the disconnected cables indicate fraud—he intentionally fucked shit up to make more work.

We might not have needed to replace the master breaker in the first place meaning I spent 900 dollars on a hotel room for nothing.

He had told us we didn’t have to pay immediately and could pay him over time since our home was rendered unlivable during his repairs. He’s officially fired and isn’t getting paid. At all.

And this hurts because we’ve been patronizing this guy since August 2019. It feels like such a betrayal.

I’m so depressed.

The teacher union electrician is going to have someone contact us who can come out tomorrow (well later today). We’re going to have to schedule the power company and the electrician to come at the same time so they can shut down the power and the electrician can work then turn it back on for testing to make sure everything works.

My roommates are a disabled man on SSDI, a person with lupus who has been out of the workforce because of covid, being immunocompromised and all, and me, a disabled student who can’t work customer jobs due to PTSD.

We have 1400 dollars to cover repairs. I don’t know what we’re going to do if the cost exceeds that. That includes all of my financial aid outside of enough to pay for my phone bill.

Once we get the quote for repair I’m applying for a crisis grant from my school because no power/no internet means that I can’t do my school work or attend class. I can not go to campus because my housemate is immunocompromised and they’re allowing antivaxxers on campus under religious exemptions.

My roommate is selling the last of her stocks which she had initially gotten for a retirement fund. She’s trying to get access to money her late mother left her but locked her out of until she turns 55.

She also made a claim with the insurance because the main breaker breaking and needing replacement and all the replacement costs are a safety issue though I doubt the insurance will help.

Everything seems so hopeless.

My professors have been understanding and are willing to work with me.

If things don’t work out I’m going to have a full blown breakdown and turn into a ball of malfunction. I’m probably going to check myself in for inpatient psychiatric care.

I haven’t eaten in sixteen hours.

I’m going to choke down three hostess mini donuts that I usually use to dislodge pills from my throat for lunch and dinner then Klonopin myself to sleep.