# Dear Energex, Eat shit and die.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [March 13, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318 "2005-03-13T12:25:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/1 "2005-03-13T12:25:46Z")
Dear Energex,
Thank you for not supplying the western suburbs with a descent power supply over the last couple of days. My computer was in much need of those 3 restarts you gave it, and it is with much pleasure that I reset all the alarm clocks in the house. I enjoy retyping all the work that I’ve lost due to a blackout. I also enjoyed downloading files all over again, thereby ensuring that I blow my 1Gb cap for this month.
My boss enjoyed the fact that all the computers in the middle of a working lesson got a restart which left us with a 5-10 minute down time, and with 1/4 of the computers in the room non-functioning because of some unknown electrical fault.
Your loss of supply consultant tried to convince us that it was a fault in our house. Of course she didn’t know that at that exact same time the power supply went off in other places in the western suburbs.
I appreciate it that this summer you have kept the 4 day blackouts to a minimum, but 3 blackouts in 3 days isn’t really all that much of a step up. But it’s good that you don’t have to pay out any compensation for power outtages now that they’ve brought in all those pesky rules and regulations, isn’t it?
Yours sincerely;
Irate Western Suburbs Resident
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/2 "2005-03-13T17:23:16Z")
Yeah, that sucks.
Set your word processor to auto-save every minute or two, and you won’t have so much stuff to re-do.
And i don’t understand why you had to download your files again. I mean, once they’re on your hard-drive they should stay there. Unless, perhaps, they were only in the Temp folder.
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### Author:  [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/3 "2005-03-13T17:29:01Z")
It sounds like a UPS might be a good investment if this is a regular occurence.
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### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/4 "2005-03-13T17:29:07Z")
> [@Go You Big Red Fire Engine](#):
>
> Dear Energex,
> Thank you for not supplying the western suburbs with a descent power supply over the last couple of days. My computer was in much need of those 3 restarts you gave it, and it is with much pleasure that I reset all the alarm clocks in the house. I enjoy retyping all the work that I’ve lost due to a blackout. I also enjoyed downloading files all over again, thereby ensuring that I blow my 1Gb cap for this month.
> My boss enjoyed the fact that all the computers in the middle of a working lesson got a restart which left us with a 5-10 minute down time, and with 1/4 of the computers in the room non-functioning because of some unknown electrical fault.
> Your loss of supply consultant tried to convince us that it was a fault in our house. Of course she didn’t know that at that exact same time the power supply went off in other places in the western suburbs.
> I appreciate it that this summer you have kept the 4 day blackouts to a minimum, but 3 blackouts in 3 days isn’t really all that much of a step up. But it’s good that you don’t have to pay out any compensation for power outtages now that they’ve brought in all those pesky rules and regulations, isn’t it?
> Yours sincerely;
> Irate Western Suburbs Resident
You desperately need to invest in UPS’s. Won’t keep you up during long blackouts, but you did mention a “5-10 minute” downtime, which you should be able to ride through with a sturdy enough UPS. It would also at least give you a chance to save your work.
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### Author:  [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/5 "2005-03-13T17:50:47Z")
> [@dmartin](#):
>
> You desperately need to invest in UPS’s. Won’t keep you up during long blackouts, but you did mention a “5-10 minute” downtime, which you should be able to ride through with a sturdy enough UPS. It would also at least give you a chance to save your work.
Agreed. A UPS should be a no-brainer in this case.
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### Author:  [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/6 "2005-03-13T18:00:54Z")
Definitely what the others have said about the UPS.
Get yourself one (or more than one if you have to power a few computers) that has a high enough VA rating to provide you 15 minutes of power in the event of a blackout.
At the very least, it’ll keep you from having to redo all that typing, and it saves wear and tear on your drives too. Randomly powering them down like that isn’t good for them.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/7 "2005-03-13T19:13:02Z")
Man, if I was limited to only a gig a month, I think I’d shrivel up and die. A gig a WEEK would be severely limiting for me.
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/8 "2005-03-13T20:27:44Z")
It’s not essentially a black-out. It’s a flicker in the power which causes the lights to stay on but anything electronic to turn off and back on.
5 min downtime was referring to the computers having to reboot, and restart their programs again. It’s only a regular occurrence in Summer. And normally not as frequent.
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### Author:  [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/9 "2005-03-14T00:07:09Z")
Yeah, I was surprised when my family came here that the energy company doesn’t seem that much better than the one in Papua New Guinea!
We’ve certainly had more blackouts and power fluctuations than we ever had in Sydney or Canada.
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### Author:  [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/10 "2005-03-14T02:06:29Z")
I second the UPS suggestion. It will also even out the flickers in the power supply that you describe, or any other transient power problems like this.
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### Author:  [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2005, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/11 "2005-03-14T02:22:00Z")
I realize this is the fucking pit and not IMHO or GQ, but you really need a UPS.
I just bought one that, after rebate, will end up costing 20$ (CND!) and will keep a home PC (with medium CRT) on for 10-15 minutes. We only have about 1 blackout a year around here, but knowing that my PCs and server are safe, (and will shut themselves down automatically if it goes on a bit long), and that I don’t have to worry about blown equipment from rapid flickering (as it seems you’re doing now) is worth the $$$.
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### Author:  [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-energex-eat-shit-and-die/294318/12 "2005-03-14T09:39:48Z")
Buying a UPS doesn’t change the fact that this shouldn’t be happening.
It’s not like I live in a rural area where blackouts can be expected. I live in the capital city. This shouldn’t happen. Last year it came to light that for several years, Energex has not been fixing the faults in it’s system properly. They’ve just been duct-taping serious problems and pissing away money for upgrades. After many suburbs suffered severe black-outs last summer, (ours was 4 days) the government actually started investigating. Now, if Energex severely fucks up again, they have to [compensate](http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10530880%255E1702,00.html).
While searching I found this;
> [@http://www.theage.com.au/news/Business/Energex-executives-get-big-raise/2004/12/08/1102182329339.html?oneclick=true](#):
>
> Executives of south-east Queensland’s beleaguered power company Energex will receive a 11.25 per cent payrise despite the company’s inability to guarantee supply.
>
> The wage increase is the result of a decision made last year by the Energex board’s remuneration committee to compensate for a cut in executive performance bonuses by the state government.
>
> Ironically, the bonus cuts from 30 to 15 per cent had been implemented because of the **failure of Energex to adequately do its job.**
[bolding emphasis]
:smack: