Blown fuses: getting plugged-in in Bangkok

I love my little apartment and it took great strides this weekend in finally coming together. On Friday my new chair, footstool, and end table were delivered. Two more end tables will be coming in September. On Saturday I bought a new night table at Ikea and got it assembled this morning.  All of that means that I am now ready to choose paint colors so I can paint, frame and hang pictures, and then tackle the guest room.

But I'm also having a small issue this week with the electrical outlets in the apartment, or shall I say, the lack of electrical outlets.  It's been an issue since I moved in, but it came to a head this week when I started blowing fuses :)

Imagine this.  In the entire apartment, there are a total of 8 individual plugs: four sets of 2 each.  One in each bedroom, one in the kitchen area, and one in the living room.  Into these 8 outlets I must plug in a refrigerator, hotplate, toaster oven, living room fan, TV, laptop, speakers, internet modem, 2 living room lamps, bedside lamp, bedside fan, cell phone charger, and on occasion a rice cooker, electric grill, or guest room fan.

This week my problem was that I was grilling meat and veggies and wanted the fan on (since the grill makes the kitchen hot) and was boiling water for pasta at the same time.  All 3 of these things, and the fridge, were plugged into the same set of 2 outlets with a power cord and it just kept blowing the fuse (which of course is located above my head so I had to drag a chair into the kitchen so I could reach it to keep flipping it.  Eventually I gave up on the fan and had to eat the pasta side dish later since I couldn't cook it at the same time as the meat and veggies. 

The problem, really, is that I am a Western foreigner living in an apartment that is not designed for a Westerner and all of her gadgets.  I guess I am lucky that I don't requite a hair dryer or a curler or a straightener of any kind, considering there isn't an outlet to be had in the bathroom and I'm already in enough danger with my web of power strips and extension cords that I wouldn't want to be dragging one across a wet bathroom.  Don't worry, I shall try my best not to burn the place down and though I managed to give myself a good 220 volt shock at one point last year, I have yet to electrocute myself in the new apartment.  I'll do my best to keep it that way :)