Broken Cable Detector

A few nights ago there was a short circuit in one of our three-phase electrical wiring system which resulted in the whole kitchen area  going into total darkness. My husband called the TNB and they came one hour later at about 10p.m. to fix the problem. They replaced the burnt fuse and electricity was restored in my kitchen. However, at about 5 a.m. the next morning, the same thing happened again. Once again, my husband called TNB and they came at about 6 a.m. to replace the burnt fuse, but this time they decided to secure the whole ensemble within the meter with a wire.I was so graetful that everything was back to normal, but at about 2 p.m. it happened again. Much to my relief, the guys from TNB came again but they advised my husband to have an electrician check out the underground cables for the possibility of an electrical leakage.

My husband managed to get an electrician to come over and investigate the problem. It was already 5 p.m. and I was immensely worried about all the perishable items that I had just stocked up for the week in the refrigerator. The electrician was finally able to detect the cause of the problem, a leakage in the underground cables. He promised to send his men over tomorrow morning to dig out the cables. So, until tomorrow, he redistributed the electrical supply using the two remaining phases. This was good enough for me.

As promised, the electrician sent two of his men to start working on the problem the next morning. Now, the question is where to start digging. About a year ago, when we had some renovations done, the underground cable was broken at one point. Of course it was repaired and there was no problem after that.  So,we told the two men that  most probably the leakage was at that point. They agreed with our theory and hence asked us the exact location of the broken cable. It was at this juncture that my husband and I started to argue. He was very sure of the spot which was about two feet away from the spot I was dead certain of. Well, my husband got his way and the two young men started digging. After digging for about one hour, I casually asked them whether they have located the spot where the cable was joined. One of them answered " Belum lagi tapi kabel dah dapat" . I was still sore that they decided to believe my husband instead of me so I blurted out " Saya dah cakap kat sini", pointing out to my spot  "tapi biasalah orang lelaki mesti hendak menang selalu", my eyes rolling in exasperation.

Fifteen minutes after that, I had to go out and get some food for my cat, Tuah. I asked one of them to move their van which was blocking my car. While his friend was starting the engine, this other guy with whom I had  an exchange of words a few minutes ago meekly looked up at me with a smile on his face and said  " Kak, dah jumpa dah bahagian kabel yang putus dulu". pointing a mere inches away from where my husband indicated earlier. It was his way of telling me that  my husband was right. I looked at him straight in the eye and remarked  "Ya, orang lelaki betul lagi". He smiled triumphantly at me. I knew he was satisfied that I conceded defeat. I suppose these little victories give them the momentum to complete a hard day's work. Well, I made one astounding discovery - the male species are equipped with a built-in satellite-like broken cable detector. !!!!