Writing in the beginning:
Dear friends and family, thank you for heart-warming messages and kind offers. I have talked to my parents and have had them understand the situation here. We will take good care of ourselves and will move when it is necessary. Thank you all for kind supports.

As the name of this blog, Sorry-ology, denotes, the blog owner is expected to be quite pessimistic and melancholic in her writing as she is trained to be sensitive exclusively to the bitterness of life. (So dull! I know!) So be warned of any negative thoughts and feelings that this blog might provoke.


In one of the previous entries, I mentioned using flashlight when there is blackout and managing household work with dimmed indoor lighting.

Soon after last weekend's quake, the supply of batteries and all sorts of illuminating equipments in town all went out. Instead of going for batteries and flashlights (the truth was that none could be found) we acquired some solar light. These solar lighting rods are originally designed for gardens and have been one of my most-wanted items on my wish list for gardening.

On the top of each lamp is a solar panel that transforms sunlight to electricity and recharges a battery inside it. When the small sensor next to the panel can no longer sense sunlight, the lamp would be turned on by the recharged battery. The light that each lamp can offer is only minimal, but it is enough to help us get around in the house in the dark. I have been very fond of this idea of clean energy that this small gadget has embodied. It does not seem to involve very complicated mechanics and appears neat and affordable. What a legacy of the sun that is channeled by modern technology!

Next week, we will have solar panels implemented on the roof following the plan that was scheduled before the quake. I am very excited about the idea of having the house powered up mostly by solar energy in the daytime! I have to admit that there was a point at which my moral courage and commitment to the environment were daunted by the high cost that this change will cause (even after the subsidies from the government and the city council). I am very ashamed of that moment of weakness. Fortunately, K has been there supporting the plan and made it work. With the solar panels, in the future we will be able to recreate power, use it, and sell it to the electricity company to reuse in other needed areas. It is probably unlikely that we will be able to make any monetary gains out of it, but there is nothing to lose. At least, we are making efforts to make it a better environment.

The daily presence of the sun is assuring and comforting. It is probably how the arrangement of the universe has meant to be: always there is the sun to rely on, to be used and reused without many consequential damages to the earth. And perhaps it is only now that the technology has brought us to the realisation of such a grand design.