Monday, September 15, 2014

Hot Find - a Coal operated Iron

Welcome to Africa 

Sometimes we have electricity and sometimes we don't...... 

The reasons given by the powers that be are complex, but they go something like this :


- somebody stole the cables
- the infrastructure is on the brink of collapse, so we have to share what little power there is ( load shedding )
- the people who run the national electricity provider have stolen all the money and now there is no money to upgrade the networks and conduct maintenance
- the average salary at the national electricty supplier - Eskom-  equals what I earn in three years, but they are idiots and have destroyed a perfectly good infrastructure through corruption, nepotism and sheer incompetence 

Having been warned by people who are " in the know " to get prepared for electricty outages - I am on a mission to do just that . I dont want to be caught short !


My options - buy a bicycle operated washing machine, convert my appliances to gas, diesel, wind, wood fired, anything but electricty and all will be ok.
To this end, I have been keeping my eyes open for solutions to beat my nemesis - the national electricty supplier Eskom.
Then one day recently - while strolling through a kitchen market in Chiang Mai Thailand ........


Eureka ! I found a coal operated iron ! Not even an antique but a real brand new one !

My mind flashed back to a remote Jain temple courtyard in Rajasthan where I had seen one of these in operation by laundry wallahs doing piles and piles of white cotton sheets under a massive fig tree .

Operated with hot coals which have to be replenished from a gently burning wood fire nearby , this style of ironing seemd romantic and slow like the days gone by. I was sure my maid would LOVE me for this.

And so I arrived home with my trophy find in my luggage - my first non electricty dependant appliance. This was a few months back - my maid Samantha just graciously smiled, nodded knowingly and then put the iron on display on the kitchen window sill where it sits today - as yet unused. 




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