2007_06_01_archive

The Med

A few shots from the last couple of weeks in the Mediterranean. Click

to enlarge.

Big beers. I love the look on Tony's face (at right) in this photo.

Leaning.

Jodi and Laura, hanging out.

A few buddies in Sorrento.

Scooter walk.

St. Tropez.

Posted by Sean Berry Links to this post 1 comments

Labels: Some Travel Pics, Travel

Unplugged

From One News (New Zealand):

Mercury Energy sent a technician to Folole Muliaga's home to

disconnect the power as the family was behind on their power bill.

Folole, 44, was suffering from a cardio-respiratory complaint and

needed oxygen from a breathing support machine to survive.

Family spokesman Brendan Sheehan says the technician who arrived at

the house to disconnect the power supply spoke to Folole and she told

him she needed electricity to operate the machinery. Sheehan says the

technician said he was just doing his job, turned the power off and

left.

The woman died a few hours after the power was disconnected.

That has got to go down as one of the biggest "oops" moments in

electrical technician history. For its part, Mercury Energy says that

no one told the tech that the woman needed electricity to stay alive.

The real story will probably never be known, as it is a he said/she

said affair, and the she in this case is dead.

How much did the woman owe Mercury Energy? $170.

There's two ways we can look at a story like this. The first one that

everyone seems to be taking is to say that big business and big

government are a bunch of jerks that don't care about their

customers/citizens. Killing a woman that owes you $170 dollars when

you make millions a year in profit is not exactly looking out for

anyone's best interests. Except your own.

But there's another way to look at this case. If you're on an oxygen

machine that requires electricity to keep you alive, do you pay the

bill on time, or not? And if some guy comes over and unplugs the

juice, do you just sit there and die? What about picking up the phone

and telling someone, anyone, that you need to borrow their power

outlet or you are going to bite the dust in a few short hours?

People need to stand up for themselves. This case will have all kinds

of trials and recriminations, all of them saying that the power

company was evil and at fault. Who knows, maybe they were. But the

woman would still be alive today if she had taken things into her own