Working through the blackouts

I have mentioned here before that Ecuador has been a bit of a wild ride in recent years.

2024 came with challenges: the internal armed conflict, and the blackouts. Up to 18 hours without electricity.

I am very fortunate to work at a place that is equipped with generators. Only during the peak blackouts, we had power cuts of maximum 1 hour per day as the generators got overloaded. We installed a battery system at home to keep on the lights and be able to work. I got an UPS for my office that can last for over an hour.

In the beginning, every power cut meant a short time of the energy going off (and my desktop getting switched off) as we switch from the general net to the generator. Restoring internet connection takes about 20 minutes.

And certainly, the situation affected my work. Before getting the UPS, my desktop would get switched off at the change of power. I tried to switch if off in advance, but sometimes I was working on something in a very concentrated way, and may have give a little scream of surprise when the power went off while I was in the middle of typing a sentence.

Losing internet connection for 20 minutes has been a hassle as well – from having to adjust Zoom and Teams calls, to starting oral exams too late.

And yes, luckily the generators have held us over, but the whole situation is just stressful: having to check the ever-changing schedule of power cuts is just a Mental Load. Having to adjust what to have for dinner all the time is a burden (we had the 6pm – 9pm power cut so often at home, and have eaten so much bread this year).

I hope 2025 will be the end of the power cuts, but the drought in the Amazon is not going to get better in the next years, so until there is a long-term plan, we will be seeing this situation recurring.