We first tried to think of a short trip or activity that would take the entire day, so that we could be away. Eventually, we decided it wouldn't be that much of a hardship to be without electricity. The major problem would be remembering not to open the refrigerator door! In truth, the house wasn't even near electrical wires when I first visited here from Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.
Downtown was not part of the area that would experience the power cut.
So, we finally did take a trip to the main downtown section of Minuwangoda. It's less than two kilometers and we sort of went so I could get a haircut that I've been putting off for months. Jay said it would be cheaper here.
The haircut was fine but as Jay didn't check, he was shocked when they asked SR 800. He was expecting it to cost around 250. The request was a little less than $US 4. After a little discussion, we ended up paying just 500 rupees but Jay still feels that was a ripoff. I don't mind putting $US 2.50 out into the economy here even if it's double the normal price as COVID restrictions have put a real dent in the economy here.
We also went to Keel's Supermarket to pick up a few things we'd forgotten during yesterday's grocery shopping trip. We successfully used PickMe, the Sri Lankan rideshare app to come back in a 3-wheel tuk-tuk.
I had to have my pre-lunch coconut arrack and apple soda without ice. As the SMS message said, we got power back at 5:35, only five minutes later than expected.