thai wiring incident # 4,567

So I have posted many times in the past mentioning simple shocks or electrifying moments I have encountered since I arrived in the Land of Smiles.

However, yesterday was the mother of all mothers.

I have had the odd shock taking my flash drive out of cheap computers in internet cafes, often just shaking it off or moving on. (I now usually ask the cafe attendant to take it out for me, telling him it's stuck...once bitten...)

Sometimes if I haven't dried my hands properly after a shower and I pop in a DVD and my finger touches that little metal part...Well...I get a buzz and Rin and I have a good laugh at my expense.

Walking up a footbridge the other day my head smacked into something at eye level, and I just giggled, noticing I had walked into about 30 different electricity lines all attached together, right in the line of walking.

I remember breaking my glasses in Phuket when I was running to catch a "song-thaew" (like a pick up truck with seats in the back that take you to the beach...) and I ran eye first into a power line. 'Note to self: walk slower.'

Here and there we just have to deal with little shocks that keep up alive I guess. Like taking the paddles to the chest on a daily basis, just to make sure the heart is still working. I am used to it by now. Always clenching my teeth as I plug in a fan or do my laundry.

Yesterday I was teaching my favourite student named Janny. She is a student from school and she is 4 years old...an angel. We had finished learning in our 'classroom' which is air conditioned, and were moving into my living room to play 'Winnie the Pooh English' on my computer. It was particularly hot, so I moved a fan to point right at us as we enjoyed our game. As I moved the fan, I saw that the cord had come out of the wall. As I looked where the plug should be I noticed that there were simply two scruffy bunches of wires sticking out every which way. I asked Rin what happened, and he said: "Sophie." Of course. Meanwhile Janny was teaching Sophie how to sit by screaming at her in English and hitting her bum. Rin told me to simply put one of each of the scruffy bunches of wires into each socket hole.

Yah, right.

I shoved the wires in, trying to keep Sophie from eating Janny, while wiping the sweat dripping from my nose, and suddenly a big blue of fire broke out in front of my eyes, rose up to just above my head, and burnt out, while I screamed and all the power in our house turned out. A tingling feeling I had felt many times before was amplified and slowly moving into my brain. I was most worried about Janny, who was in turn, most worried about me, as she stood frozen with her eyes wide as saucers.

I managed to shake it off and tell her I was just joking.

The afternoon proceeded as I gained feeling back in my arm and began to see with clear vision (I was seeing blue spots for about an hour.) Another exciting day in paradise.

Lesson learned: Never shove metal objects in a socket, no matter who tells you to.