Electric light went out every day and what was worse, we never knew when. Usually, it was out during daytime, at night, or in the morning. But mostly in the evening from 18.oo to 20.oo with small variations (especially in winter). The scariest was when I was caught in the elevator, I had to wait for 2 hours in complete darkness and silence. I felt as if I was in grave, as if I was dead and buried. Horrific. And when the power was on again, I was again frightened (especially if the elevator bulb was broken), as I didn?t know why it was that the elevator jerked like that all of a sudden. In the ten-floor blocks with blind halls it was almost impossible to walk in the dark. I for one was very much afraid, since I did not know what could be expected. If you had a candle, there still was a chance you could brace up and climb the stairs. Some neighbors were thoughtful enough to put candles on top of the flights. (M. C. J., 96)

This was one of the major problems of people all around the country, not only in Bucharest. Power cuts were so frequent you always had to have a lantern on you, otherwise you had to feel your way up or to wait until power was on again.

As for heat, there was never enough in wintertime. We put on as many clothes within as we did without. Gas, too, was insufficient or even completely out. We did have hot water, but only rarely. (M. C. J., 21)

I had an accident at the factory, because we had to save electric light. I worked on the first floor, and the locker room was on the fifth. There was no light in the stairs case, so when I got down from the fifth floor to the first, I fell and hurt my head. I was taken to the emergency room, and was x-rayed all over. They finally found a haematoma in my head. (I. C. M., 171)

In the ?80s, electric light in our block was out every night, from 6 to 9 PM. They said the power was needed at the ?August 23^rd? plant, so that it did not have to cease production. We were not very happy about that, but resigned ourselves and accepted the situation. There was nothing we could do, nowhere to complain. Everything stopped: the elevator, light in the hall, light inside the house, the fridge, the TV set. It was worse in winter, when night fell early. We had candles and a gas lamp and kept them within reach. (98)

The winter nights were a nightmare. We couldn?t find gas for the old lamps we had from our grandparents, so we lived by candlelight. The children had to do their homework under medieval conditions, with candle or lamplight. (A. B., 13)

Our block was worse than the others, because one of the former lodgers had been in a conflict with the administration and as he worked for the Bucharest power-providing center, he had power in our block cut off more often that in the other blocks. And so we had less water and less heat. We used to watch out of the window and see light in the surrounding blocks. (A. B., 78)